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I'm happy there is an uptick in Light Novel sales for years the conventional wisdom is western fans did not want to read them or that Light Novels did not sell well. Now people are supporting this medium of entertainment and I for one am really happy. Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon got liscincesd and that makes me really happy.

That will be the day when this happens (maybe it has happened): there is an ANN interview with a licensor or Japanese rights holder where they do flat out admit that a [series title] was licensed and achieved popularity in the West in part to fan translations.

Last edited by Shay Guy on Fri Jul 28, 2017 1:43 pm; edited 2 times in total

Kadmos1 wrote:

That will be the day when this happens (maybe it has happened): there is an ANN interview with a licensor or Japanese rights holder where they do flat out admit that a [series title] was licensed and achieved popularity in the West in part to fan translations.

J-Novel Club actually does say as much -- "Fan translation activity is a major factor in our licensing decisions". (Yen Press, on the other hand, says they don't pay attention to it at all, even in cases like Hakomari.)

Kadmos1 wrote:

That will be the day when this happens (maybe it has happened): there is an ANN interview with a licensor or Japanese rights holder where they do flat out admit that a [series title] was licensed and achieved popularity in the West in part to fan translations.

Detective Conan comes to mind. I can think of no other reason CR would begin the series 700 episodes in and expect people to watch.

I imagine few will admit to that, though. It's not in a license holder's best interest to admit fan translations are important. Their job relies on the minimization of acknowledging them and promoting them. Although they'll be the first ones to admit illegal streaming sites are a big deal.

-Stuart Smith

Apparently it's a super duper big deal to some of you guys that your piracy is justified... Rolling Eyes

Being able to buy digital copies of competent and professionally translated light novels have caused me to amass a pretty big collection. But they really need to adjust their prices. $10 USD for a ~200 page book is insane.

Fluwm wrote:

Being able to buy digital copies of competent and professionally translated light novels have caused me to amass a pretty big collection. But they really need to adjust their prices. $10 USD for a ~200 page book is insane.

Shameless plug: Ours are only 850 yen on bookwalker! ($6.99 elsewhere)

relyat08 wrote:

Apparently it's a super duper big deal to some of you guys that your piracy is justified... Rolling Eyes

Never really understood it myself. I pirate but there's no real reason to feel proud of it. Hell, getting more licensed stuff is great - the light novel quality at the very least can get noticeably bad with fan stuff. And it's not like you can't pirate the official releases anyway.

samuelp wrote:

Fluwm wrote:

Being able to buy digital copies of competent and professionally translated light novels have caused me to amass a pretty big collection. But they really need to adjust their prices. $10 USD for a ~200 page book is insane.

Shameless plug: Ours are only 850 yen on bookwalker! ($6.99 elsewhere)

I'd pay full price for some Outbreak Company, Sam. *shameless wink wink*

killjoy_the wrote:

relyat08 wrote:

Apparently it's a super duper big deal to some of you guys that your piracy is justified... Rolling Eyes

Never really understood it myself. I pirate but there's no real reason to feel proud of it. Hell, getting more licensed stuff is great - the light novel quality at the very least can get noticeably bad with fan stuff. And it's not like you can't pirate the official releases anyway.

Gonna have to agree, tho I wouldn't call them bad per se, and even then there's some there marginally better than the official version.

Megiddo wrote:

If there's an English light novel boom then why in the world has Kino's Journey not been brought over (again)?

While I think it can happen after the new anime airs, I also think the Tokyopop version and its aribitrarily rearranging of the chapters in the first novel (and subsequent, apparently, annoyance of the original author) did burn a few bridges and that's why no one has brought it back, market considerations aside.

I'd rather have Boogiepop back, personally....and also the Crest of the Stars novels in the complete version, not the 200-page butchered version by Tokyopop.

Any chance of Full Metal Panic!'s light novels being re-released and continued in English? The fourth Tokyo Pop volume being a two-in-one omnibus probably indicated that sales weren't so hot at the time.

Looking at this thread, it looks like we can all agree that Tokyopop is awful and the light novels they brought over all deserve a second chance.

fuuma_monou wrote:

Any chance of Full Metal Panic!'s light novels being re-released and continued in English? The fourth Tokyo Pop volume being a two-in-one omnibus probably indicated that sales weren't so hot at the time.

Realistically, the chance that some series get re-released/re-licensed is perhaps about the same as some series getting licensed.

Fluwm wrote:

Being able to buy digital copies of competent and professionally translated light novels have caused me to amass a pretty big collection. But they really need to adjust their prices. $10 USD for a ~200 page book is insane.

The one that causes me problems is Aria the Scarlet Ammo. Not only was it more expensive than most other English LNs (last I looked anyway), the preview pages were riddled with errors which doubly put me off. I mean, if it was cheap I might get it anyway but...