I assume that means the initial crisis of Sony potentially buying Kadokawa is averted but enshitification will commence regardless. I still expect that every Kadokawa IP will still see some worsening going forward. It's just not going to be complete spoiled-mexican-sea-food-gonorrhea.

I laughed when I read "What Would Myne Do?" on the rule sidebar, mostly because it brought to mind profiteering and gleeful worker exploitation. (you taught her well, Benno)

More than that though, it also reminded me of a random idea I had never gotten around to sharing. I present to you the Myne is Secretly the Antagonist Challenge. When the mood strikes you, start reading the Bookworm series again from the beginning, but from the perspective that Myne is the antagonist of the story setting. Pay attention to the following themes, whether they are enacted by Myne personally or under her direction:

• Suppressed yandere inclinations
• Selfish demands on others
• Indifference to costs others pay to fulfill her ambitions
• Workforce exploitation
• Child labor
• Corrupt use of political influence
• Cult of personality indoctrination tactics
• Usurpation of power
• War crimes

Don't take this too seriously, it's meant as an exercise in good fun. Most characters need some antagonistic characteristics in order to have good depth to them, and protagonists are no exception.

Most importantly, have fun with this! Share your favorite moments that stick out when you reread or rethink the series from this perspective. Bonus points if you keep a running tally.

Digital Releases

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Audio Releases

Digital Releases

Physical Releases

Audio Releases

When I first saw this was a prequel, I thought it was going to be about the original journey with Himmel and Co. However, it seems like it will instead be a series of short stories about different characters prior to their joining the main Frieren narrative (Frieren, Fern, Stark, Lawine, Kanne, Aura are ones I found listed).

Title: Sword Art Online Alternative Clover's Regret Creators: Soitiro Watase (story), Ginta (illustrations), Reki Kawahara (supervision) Summary: Sword Art Online, as reimagined by famed fantasy author Soitiro Watase! Asuka Empire. A Japanese-style VRMMO created by Akihiko Kayaba from a VR engine entitled “The Seed”—a game once played by Yuuki, Ran, and Merida of the Sleeping Knights that hides many stories. Two young women—warrior priestess Nayuta and ninja Koyomi, who became friends in-game—come across a mysterious priest named Yanagi. The elderly man tells them that he's looking for a detective to solve a riddle with a one-million-yen reward. The girls are shocked by the outlandish sum for this peculiar request, and then they meet an equally peculiar young man, who claims to be able to do this job as well as any other detective. With all his stat points invested in Luck, the man is useless in battle, but he does still seem to have some tricks up his sleeve, like that unbeatable drop rate for rare items... The mystery unfolds as two young girls and their dubious detective partner try to solve the case in this cutting-edge VRMMO world!

Title: Hell Is Dark with No Flowers light novels Creator: Yoru Michio (story), Ruka Todo (art) Summary: Seiji Tohno sometimes sees the people around him as monsters. It is a curse that had driven him to a life of despair, living out of internet cafés with nowhere to call home...but all that changes one twilit evening when he stumbles across a huge European mansion. There, Seiji meets a bewitchingly beautiful boy dressed in a kimono with a white peony motif on the shoulder, who introduces himself as Shiroshi Saijou. This mysterious young man seems to know more about Seiji than he does himself, and before he knows it, Seiji has agreed to become Shiroshi's assistant in exchange for room and board. Little does he know, however, this “proxy service,”' as Shiroshi puts it, is none other than outsourced death! Sending monster-possessed sinners to Hell, will bring Seiji face-to-face with terrifying new creatures each and every day!

Title: My First Love's Kiss light novels Creators: Hitoma Iruma (story), Fly (illustrations) Summary: Takasora Hoshi's life is upended when a girl from her class named Umi Mizuike and her mother temporarily move into her family's cramped apartment. From the outset of this arrangement, Takasora finds herself annoyed by Umi's behavior...and her good looks. And though the two girls initially agree to avoid interfering with each other's lives, Takasora can't help but start to wonder where Umi keeps wandering off to at night… From the author of Adachi and Shimamura comes the bittersweet tale of two high school girls whose lives are thrust together under the same roof.

Plain, boring, and friendless Nukumizu Kazuhiko has witnessed something completely baffling: popular girl Yanami Anna was friend-zoned by her childhood friend and crush! In fact, all the popular girls around him are getting similarly rejected by the boys they like. Without realizing it, Kazuhiko becomes entangled in the relationship drama where all the leading heroines are losing out on love! Can he keep their spirits up and help them find happiness?

Genre: Comedy Romance School Life Slice of Life

6 Volumes (Ongoing) in JP

The popular Summer 2022 original anime Lycoris Recoil is getting a second spin-off light novel. The new book, titled Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days, will launch in Japan on March 8.

As far as I can tell, the previous novel doesn't have an English translation either released or announced unfortunately. So, I am not sure how good the prospects are of the series getting a translation in the future. It seems like a missed opportunity considering the popularity of the anime.

Hello everyone, both old and new!

It has become very quickly clear to me that the ani.social instance is a better fit for this community. Comparing the engagement alone over at .ml after 8 months and here after only 3 days is hardly something to dispute. And that isn't even counting the support from mods of "adjacent" communities. Special thanks to @[email protected]!

So I decided, with both a heavy heart and anticipatory elation, to go along with the migration and make it permanent. I closed down the .ml community and going forward I'll post my weekly updates only here.

There is also good news (more good news?)! Honestly, it has been a struggle to keep it up over the last few months, and actually seeing some engagement here right off the bat did wonders for my (renewed) motivation. So yesterday I channeled my inner motivational demon lord and set up 3 things for the community:

1. a Light Novel Wiki (reachable at https://lnwiki.bitkata.de/)
2. a Discord Server (Invite Link: https://discord.gg/VJ7yrfq2ex)
3. a clean Minecraft Server (add "yurgenschmidt.bitkata.de" to your server list)

Necessary (for currently 17 users)? No, but let's start the new home for the community with a bang ;)

I hope the community will thrive here and we can enrich our reading hobby with additional discussions.

Fantasia Bunko's website is listing the first volume of a new light novel by The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess author Piero Karasu titled Seijо̄-sensei no Mahо̄ wa Sunderu! (The Saint Teacher's Witchcraft is Progressive!) for release on February 20 (ed. note: in Japan).

The novel follows a powerful saint Tia as she becomes a teacher to three saint candidates after being banished from the royal capital due to accusations of heresy.

Hey everyone. What seems to have been established itself as the main anime related instance, ani.social, has been defederated from Lemmy.ml.

I am wondering if it would be better to move this community over here so I will copy my posts from lemmy.ml here in ani.social for a while as well and then see where more engagement is happening. Since I create the posts by hand (I can’t program a bot) I don’t want to have this a permanent solution, but I’ll give it at least a few months or until it’s clear where the greener pastures are.

So basically:

1. There is a new LightNovel community on ani.social now
2. You can all vote where the permanent home should be by using whichever you like better.