Light Novels

[Quiver]

I...think I remember seeing a thread about these a while back...but it would have been an awful long time ago. So I feel semi-justifued in starting a new thread...?

...right, okay then. So: anyone here a fan of, or read any, light novels?

I've started getting back into anime recently, which led to me realising that an awful lot of shows these days are LN adaptations. And since I like reading the original stuff, that means I've started dipping my toes into the Light Novel genre. So...

Yeah. Figured it was worth asking if anyone else here has read stuff or has recommendations?

[Elithanathile]

I've read some, though mostly web novels, and seen a good bit of anime as well. I'm no connoisseur, by a long shot, but I've got the basics down.

The main thing is that there are so many out there, it's a good idea to figure out what genre you enjoy and then mostly stick to those.

One that I would wholeheartedly recommend is Toaru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index) which has an anime as well. It's one of the best reads I've had of light novels, and the characters+comedy make it really enjoyable. As for anime, the few that I would advocate are Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Mindblowing. Seriously.) and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.

Mini P.S: I would also recommend Acchi Kocchi (Place to Place) if you enjoy the most adorable purely comedy anime you will ever see.

I know there are many more I simply haven't gotten to or aren't in my tastes, so take a look around and figure out what you're into.

[Darkness Ascendant]

I really would like to get into Light Novels, but my library aint got any. And my parents are sure as hell not buying me any lmao

[Elithanathile]

1 hour ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

I really would like to get into Light Novels, but my library aint got any. And my parents are sure as hell not buying me any lmao

I don't have any official ones either, but a few spots I use are:

https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/?title=Main_Page

http://www.readlightnovel.com/

and http://www.novelupdates.com/

Not to mention that a good portion of incredible LNs have been made into anime or manga

[Quiver]

@Darkness Ascendant Following off the above post, I'd really recommend Fate/Zero...but then, I'm a fan of the Nasuverse and the Fate franchise, so.

Otherwise...do you have an e-reader? I think some stores should sell digital copies...

[Darkness Ascendant]

I do have an e-reader

although my Friend Hung has (alot) of LN so I might borrow some off him

I liked No Game No Life  Not speaking about the ecchi of course

Reading Light Novel.com seems like a good place 

[Quiver]

1 minute ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

I do have an e-reader

although my Friend Hung has (alot) of LN so I might borrow some off him

I liked No Game No Life  Not speaking about the ecchi of course

Reading Light Novel.com seems like a good place 

Yeah, I actually read No Game No Life's first volume yesterday.

I love the concept of that world, and the climax is pretty cool...but yeah, the ecchi stuff is really uncomfortable. 

[Darkness Ascendant]

Just now, Quiver said:

Yeah, I actually read No Game No Life's first volume yesterday.

I love the concept of that world, and the climax is pretty cool...but yeah, the ecchi stuff is really uncomfortable. 

I find ecchi amusing and stupid.

[Elithanathile]

I tried watching the No Game No Life anime, but never made it past the first episode due to that, so I agree.

Another anime that has the same basic concept (games, rules have to be followed) is Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? (Problem Children are coming from another world, aren't they?) Although I haven't seen the full thing yet.

Another possibility is Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka or DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) Which has a semi-rpg concept, and I liked the characters and storyline. Also, the title of the anime/LN has virtually nothing to do with the actual plot.

Another one with the whole "game" concept is Sword Art Online (SAO) which was actually the first anime I ever watched. Not sure if it's your cup of tea, but I certainly enjoyed it.

[Darkness Ascendant]

12 minutes ago, Bridge Boy said:

I tried watching the No Game No Life anime, but never made it past the first episode due to that, so I agree.

Another anime that has the same basic concept (games, rules have to be followed) is Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? (Problem Children are coming from another world, aren't they?) Although I haven't seen the full thing yet.

Another possibility is Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka or DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) Which has a semi-rpg concept, and I liked the characters and storyline. Also, the title of the anime/LN has virtually nothing to do with the actual plot.

Another one with the whole "game" concept is Sword Art Online (SAO) which was actually the first anime I ever watched. Not sure if it's your cup of tea, but I certainly enjoyed it.

I've seen that Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon.

I have seen SAO too, but I didn't like it.

[Elithanathile]

Yeah, I figured I might be partially biased since it was the first one I ever saw.

What about FMA:B? (50% Action, 50% Plot, 150% Pure Epicness)

Or Assassination Classroom? (Comedy+Slice of Life and a little bit of Action. Not sure how to describe it much after that.)

Or Rokka no Yuusha? (Action and Mystery, not too long, but totally worth it.)

[Darkness Ascendant]

9 minutes ago, Bridge Boy said:

Yeah, I figured I might be partially biased since it was the first one I ever saw.

What about FMA:B? (50% Action, 50% Plot, 150% Pure Epicness)

Or Assassination Classroom? (Comedy+Slice of Life and a little bit of Action. Not sure how to describe it much after that.)

Or Rokka no Yuusha? (Action and Mystery, not too long, but totally worth it.)

I've really just watched some Naruto, DBZ, FMA and alot of Pokemon

FMA is beast I agree

and Assassination clasroom is cool.

It doesn't help when Hung forces me to watch Prison School tho XD

[Elithanathile]

Never seen Prison School, since I heard it had a lot of ecchi stuff, so I avoided it like the plague. Same thing goes for Highschool DxD. Incredible world, decent characters, but they focus on the ecchi so much that I won't watch it. So I just read fanfiction on it instead.

[Darkness Ascendant]

34 minutes ago, Bridge Boy said:

Never seen Prison School, since I heard it had a lot of ecchi stuff, so I avoided it like the plague. Same thing goes for Highschool DxD. Incredible world, decent characters, but they focus on the ecchi so much that I won't watch it. So I just read fanfiction on it instead.

Highschool Dxd is pretty funny, and the ecchi is tolerable to a point. I swear if had  done more Devil scenes like the first one though XD

[Quiver]

13 hours ago, Bridge Boy said:

Another possibility is Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka or DanMachi (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) Which has a semi-rpg concept, and I liked the characters and storyline. Also, the title of the anime/LN has virtually nothing to do with the actual plot.

I actually picked up volume 1 of Is It Wrong To Try And Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon... which, seriously, that needs an abbreviated descriptor, because I do not want to type that every time. 

Anyhow, I admit: the title put me off a little, but the first few chapters were... better than I expected, actually. I was surprised at how complicated the magic system and the set-up of the world is; I'm not exactly a fan of Hestia's nickname because of the ecchi connotations, and the same goes for Loki and Aiz interaction...

But the main character is actually more likable than I was expecting, considering the title of the series. At this point, I feel like I'm shouting against the wind, since clearly, the stuff I dislike is ingrained as part of LN as a genre; it's recurred across the Suzumiya series, No Game No Life,  Dungeon and Goblin Slayer.

(And, of course, appears in anime. Light Novels kind of feed off of anime tropes, then get turned into anime which perpetuate those tropes; thus is the vicious cycle continued.)

I feel a need to point out This Stuff and that I Think It's Bad... but it's also stuff which appears so often that I have to begrudgingly accept it As A Thing.

[Elithanathile]

There is an abbreviated name of DanMachi for that one.

Yeah, I originally put off watching it for several months due to the name, but it ended up virtually never mentioning it. Can't help but feel it was a bit of a misnomer. I can't remember what Hestia's nickname was, but I can't really remember anything ecchi in the series.

Yeah, it seems nowadays that people figure that's what will get more people to buy the series, so they add more of it in, which is honestly pretty sad. It just ends up taking more time/space that could be used for plot and other things.

One of the series that I've heard is really good (from so many sources) is the Monogatari series. I don't think it has any ecchiness, and mainly focuses on dialogue and plot, although I do think they give it some action later in the series. There's 4 or 5 seasons of it, and most people seem to say that it's an incredible series. I haven't watched it mainly since I want to have enough time to not just abandon it partway through with how long the whole thing is.

Another one that I can think of is Magi. Good characters, great world, incredible plot, etc. I got through 2/3 of the first season, and haven't started it again, but everything about it was incredible. There's also another series about a character that shows up partway through. Even though I haven't finished it, I'd still highly recommend it.

Probably the last one I can think of right now is One Punch Man. It's kinda a comedy/action anime with a bit of plot, and is a very fun watch.

Of course, these are series that I've enjoyed, so again, not sure if they're you guyses cup o' tea or not.

[Voidus]

Dungeon ni deai (Already mentioned, also known as DanMachi) - Fun and amusing dungeon crawling
Death March (510 chapters and counting released for the WN) - One of my favorites, light hearted and fun for the most part, some great characters. And the translation is some of the best I've seen.
Only Sense Online - Another VRMMORPG style game, though this time the MC isn't sucked into a game, they just play it. 
Overlord - An interesting one, the anime was a good adaption but the LN goes on for quite a while longer and explores it all a bit more.
Arifureta - A bit heavier on the harem stuff than I like but good story, gets a bit grim at times though.

[Darkness Ascendant]

arifureta looks cool

[Elithanathile]

Yeah, I've read the majority of Arifureta, and it's one of my favorite WNs. I never felt it was too heavy on the harem, mostly since he seems to stick to one girl as far as I can recall. The characters are pretty good as well, although some can be quite annoying. I will confess though that after I read the first arc, I was mostly reading the rest to see how the rest of the group reacts, and so can't remember too much past that. But I do highly recommend it.

I got into the Death March a bit later on, and it kinda seemed like it was a rehashing of some WN cliches. The writing/translation is good, but I mostly just periodically check in to see how it's going rather than read it through all the way.

Haven't read Only Sense, I'll have to check it out.

Haven't seen Overlord either. (I should really get to that at some point.)

A LN that I would recommend is Campione, a harem/action LN. While there is harem comedy antics, I don't remember there being much in the way of ecchi, and the harem tends to be present for framing the action. Part of the reason that I enjoyed it was because I'm a huge Mythology Nerd^TM and so I'll check out just about anything with that much mythology in it. It is a good series though.

Another good one is The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village and by extension, anything by Kamachi Kazuma. (Guy who wrote Certain Magical Index) I tend to like his stuff since the characters always solve their problems by using their wits instead of just sheer power. Zashiki Warashi has a mystery element to it as well that I enjoyed immensely.

A couple more famous names are Steins;Gate (Mystery sci-fi with time travel (wooo~)) and Re:Zero (Psychological Action Mystery with time travel) both series are very good, although the plot can feel a tad slow at some times to me.

The last one I would recommend is the Douluo Dalu (Spirit Land) series. The world and characters are very good, although translations aren't very good and the series is originally Chinese. After a certain point though, the series tend to seem to drag on and I tend to drop it at that point. The other thing is that I believe there is a 1, 2, 2.5, and 3, while none of them are complete, simply having the same premise and different timelines, but there's no real sense of completion in the series. Enjoyable read, but don't go expecting something that's going to stick with you for a long time.

Oh man, can't believe I almost forgot! I definitely recommend Densetsu no Yuusha Densetsu. It has enthralling characters, an interesting world, and an amazing plot. Seriously. watch it. It's worth it. It has hidden depths, and it's one of the series that I still pay close attention to. The magic systems pretty cool too.

[Quiver]

On 19/02/2017 at 3:43 AM, Bridge Boy said:

A couple more famous names are Steins;Gate (Mystery sci-fi with time travel (wooo~)) and Re:Zero (Psychological Action Mystery with time travel) both series are very good, although the plot can feel a tad slow at some times to me.

I haven't seen the anime yet, but I DID play the game. Just the original - the spin offs, sequels and etc don't appear to be translated yet...

... but wow. That game is amazing, and easily one of my favorite stories. The whole cast is fantastic, I enjoyed the writing...yeah. Cannot recommend that game enough.

(To the point where I really want a 'Science Adventures' RP set in that universe, but that's another story...)

[kenod]

A couple of my favorites are:

• Toaru majutsu no index (already mentioned)
• mahouka koukou no rettousei (The irregular at magic highschool), really interesting because of its programming based magic system and its analysis on the social implications of magic. It can put you of however if you dislike overpowered main characters.
• Tokyo Ravens, not updated for some time on Baka-Tsuki (don't know about other places), but interesting because of its take on Japanese magical traditions (onmyodo, esoteric Buddhism)
• Log Horizon, often compared to SAO, but here everybody playing the game get transported into the game world (instead of using VR and being unable to log out), also, the author actually understands MMOs, and the story focuses more on strategy and social dynamics of being transported to a different world, and the NPCs becoming living people.

In my case the biggest problem with light novels is that I can't read Japanese, so I have to rely on fan translations, and a lot of them don't really have a great update rate, or they get licensed in the USA, which on Baka-Tsuki means that the project gets discontinued and you can't view translations anymore, while the official translations are going to take a few years.

[Elithanathile]

I believe there is a Tokyo Ravens anime that can be found, but I don't know if that's further ahead or behind the translation. Might be worth giving it a check though.

[kenod]

The Baka-Tsuki translations of Tokyo Ravens are further ahead, but they seem to have been inactive for some time, as the last update was in April 2015 apparently, and I think that they probably aren't going to make a second season for the anime either.

[Elithanathile]

Something else I would add is that if you enjoyed a LN or anime series, there tends to be a lot of fanfiction out there for good series. Not saying that all of it is good, but there is some seriously impressive stuff out there. Just something else if you have some series you enjoy, and are looking for something to read.