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Answerman - Why Haven't Light Novels And Visual Novels Caught On In America?


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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Considering that many American gamers just aren't into titles that involve lengthy text-heavy cut-scenes, simple point-and-click, and little to no gameplay, I don't see light and/ or visual novels ever appealing to a wider crowd. But that's okay, as they have managed to somehow form a successful niche, if Clannad is anything to go by.
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Kadmos1



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PostPosted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:48 pm Reply with quote
Another reason LN may have not officially caught on here is the series length. Many popular LN are 12+ volumes.
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Knoepfchen



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 6:31 pm Reply with quote
unready wrote:
Quote:
Trying to come up with a reason why something hasn't happened is a bit like trying to explain why the sky isn't orange.

Rayleigh scattering of sunlight by air molecules shifts the solar spectrum towards the blue.

Sunlight is predominantly yellow, so the scattered light is predominantly cyan (i.e., the sky is "blue"). Also, when all the blue is scattered out, what's left is the red end of the spectrum, which is why the sun appears orange/red at sunset and sunrise.

Maybe a better analogy is why people watch "reality" TV or "pro" wrestling or something similarly inexplicable.


Cool Made me chuckle, thank you.

I would love to read visual novels. I just cannot imagine spending more time in front of a computer screen. I would jump at the chance to read them on my tablet. Until that becomes the norm or at least widely available, it's not something I'm likely to consider.
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Kadmos1



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PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:01 am Reply with quote
Copyright infringement/ piracy/stealing it maybe, but LN fan translations and manga scanlations often put a message that says to buy the official version.

An official LN release here and being successful can happen in part from fan translations. That is, enough of a fanbase for series means that a licensor can get an idea of which title to license. Also, among the people buying those official releases could have a significant amount of fans that read the unofficial translation.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4385
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 5:05 am Reply with quote
Cetais wrote:
I don't get why the asker thinks there's almost no Visual Novel translated.

In the recent years, Visual Novels started to pick up Steam, and they are quite popular on Steam now. There was a kickstarter for an official English version of CLANNAD, and they got 0,5 million. Muv-Luv got 1,25 million.
Mangagamer seems to take a lot of projects recently, and the same for Sekai-Project.

As for Light Novel, I know there's SAO, Accel World, Index, Spice & Wolf, Aria.... And that's pretty much every title released in English that I can think of.


there also high school dxd, shinmai mao no testament, and especially log horizon & owari no seraph(seraph of the end) that had their light novel version released in the US and with decent success.

too bad other light novels didn't had the interest to get an english release. especially when it came to the case for infinite stratos which was still popular during its time but had some problems with its LN that its completely up in the air at this point. the same can say for kyokai senjou no horizon(horizon in the middle of nowhere) and absolute duo which had interesting storylines, even though their all part of the whole ecchi/harem/fanservice label.

then theres tokyo ravens which had a very good anime series but unless there is a manga version or the LN comes stateside,that's all the series will have in the US which is ashame since its been heard that its a pretty decent and interesting LN.

at least some of the light novels have an easier time than the visual novels. cause lets face it. its highly unlikely that any US mainstream unless their die hard otakus would have an interest in the VN. cause its just as answerman said. a majority of the VN are completely ero aka 100% hentai Visual Novels.

the only VN that actually made the exceptions and had some staying power in the US were school days/shiny days and especially the fate stay night VNs which is an whole animal in itself thanks to the popularity of its anime adaptations. though only FSN have more popularity in the US when it came to its original source which was why there's the realta nua VN games for the PS Vita so the mainstream audience can get the VN without having to see the ero scenes. hopefully it will be popular enough that it would give type-moon to green light an anime version of hollow ataraxia. if fate/extra can get one,i'm pretty sure the same can be said for hollow ataraxia.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
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Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:37 am Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
Copyright infringement/ piracy/stealing it maybe, but LN fan translations and manga scanlations often put a message that says to buy the official version.

An official LN release here and being successful can happen in part from fan translations. That is, enough of a fanbase for series means that a licensor can get an idea of which title to license. Also, among the people buying those official releases could have a significant amount of fans that read the unofficial translation.

While I'm sure that there are instances of people pirating and then buying the material when it is licensed, it is really hard to tell. Seven Seas, awhile back, touched on this on their Tumblr. It seems like it may be more down to the series, rather than whether or not it is scanlated.

As they mention, they've had series that have had a lot of scanlations floating around do well, but have had some not do well. So, putting "please buy the official release if there ever is one" on a scanlated manga/LN doesn't always have the same impact, and who know what kind of impact it really has.
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Kadmos1



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 12:13 pm Reply with quote
While fan translations do fall under copyright infringement/ piracy/stealing, I have often seen a message that says to buy the official version to support the series. Also, sometimes authors or publishers do consent to fan translation, at for for scanlations and LN translations.

An official LN release here and being successful can happen in part from fan translations. That is, enough of a fanbase for series means that a licensor can get an idea of which title to license. Also, among the people buying those official releases could have a significant amount of fans that read the unofficial translation.
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Magicflier



Joined: 01 Feb 2015
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 12:51 am Reply with quote
MajorZero wrote:
Paiprince wrote:
No, just reading one VN then getting bored halfway through doesn't warrant you dismissing the loads of great works that have come out of this.

Dunno, I've read a good chunk of novels which sit on top places at VNDB and most of them have subpar to average quality compared to normal literature. I'd rather spend my time reading McCarthy or Ishiguro than choose route after route in your average VN. So yeah, as far as quality of writing goes I've yet to see anything substantial, just mildly entertaining fan-fiction and overlong pulp. But I always opened to any suggestions which can change my mind.

Tokyo Babel. It has a lot of English prose in it's writing, cross-translated very closely with the original prose of the Japanese language. Tokyo Babel is one of the few perfect examples a visual novel is actually read in the original language The translation is really up there.
https://vndb.org/v9205
http://store.steampowered.com/app/443380/
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 5:07 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
It is definitely a western school of thought to maximize interactivity and minimize non-interactive content. Extra Credits even had a video suggesting for some games to eliminate cutscenes altogether unless lack of player control is important at that point in the game.
I hate that train of thought. It simply leads to unskippable cutscenes with nothing you can do but jump around the room. *Actual* cutscenes have almost always been skippable, saving quite a bit of time, especially in longer games with lengthier cutscenes. Except if there's quick time events. If that's the only alternative on offer, I'd rather jump around listening about telnorps for five minutes.
Ali07 wrote:
I am on the fence when it comes to Black Bullet. The ending of the anime seemed to be heading somewhere interesting.
Don't be. The first novel already does better than the anime(especially with the exposition) and the second just blows it out of the water. They simply compressed everything by way too much.
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GhostStalkerSA



Joined: 17 May 2015
Posts: 425
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 6:41 pm Reply with quote
Cetais wrote:
As for Light Novel, I know there's SAO, Accel World, Index, Spice & Wolf, Aria.... And that's pretty much every title released in English that I can think of.

How quickly one forgets Haruhi Suzumiya. I still have all of the LNs in English on my book desk, which I picked up over a number of years from a combination of Barnes and Noble, Kinokuniya, and Forbidden Planet, plus maybe my local manga shop.

Just disappointed I didn't spring for the hardcover versions, but the Barnes and Noble I got the first one at only had the softcover edition.

...Haruhi Season 3 never... Crying or Very sad
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 8:59 pm Reply with quote
Polycell wrote:
Ali07 wrote:
I am on the fence when it comes to Black Bullet. The ending of the anime seemed to be heading somewhere interesting.

Don't be. The first novel already does better than the anime(especially with the exposition) and the second just blows it out of the water. They simply compressed everything by way too much.

Good to hear, I'll add it to my list...seeing as I have a bit more I can spend, as a couple of manga series I've been collecting finished recently.
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