Why are Light Novels so popular in Japan and imageboards? Translated

>Translated ones in particular are often poorly done or painful to read.

The fan translations are, at least. Most of YP's translations are passable at least, the majority of them are about the same quality as the original prose.

>Why are Light Novels so popular in Japan and imageboards?
Because they're numerous and cheap to produce. It takes no effort to churn them (which results in their large numbers) and there's usually a handful of LNs that will be to any particular person's taste. When it comes to anime adaptations, they lend themselves even better than manga, because LNs are often comparable to anime screenplays with some added narration.

Manga is still Japan's biggest money maker. I'm sure One Piece alone makes more money than the top 10 best selling LNs put together.

Light novel discussion belongs on /jp/. Please do not shit up /a/ with light novel discussion.

Thank you.

>>145956987
The same reason why mobile games are more popular than console ones: easy to make and cheap to buy. This brings even more variety and curiosity to the market.

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>Translated ones in particular are often poorly done or painful to read.
>Translated
That's half your problem right there. A lot of LNs are shit, yes, but they're not all bad.

I will never stop recommending Jintai to people who can read it, for example.

>>145956987
Okay? They're not going to go away and people won't suddenly stop liking them just because they upset you.

>>145957228
I was going to watch the anime for that, is it worthwhile?

The Monogatari series translations are quite good so far and definitely wouldn't work in manga form.

>>145956987
Why are young adult novels so popular in the west?

Most people don't like reading actual books, that's why.

>>145957311
No.

>>145957228
LN or anime? What do you recommend viewing firsT?

I don't really know either, I regret all of the time I wasted on them

I can probably count the ones that weren't complete and utter shit right from the start or ended as complete shit on one hand

Not that animu and mango are much better

Every medium has a lot of crap, but these three are just an endless sea of shit

>>145957311
Anime was AOTY 2012, go for it.

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>>145957311
It's an incomplete adaption, the episodes are out of chronological order and it lacks much of the main character's first person narration which is a big source of comedy in the original.

That said, I'd still recommend it.

>>145956987
I think it comes down to the fact that light novels chase trends and satisfy niche much better.

It's hard to make a manga that gets the latest trope and have it reach a large enough audience, because the whole process takes a long time and many mangakka already have their own personal standards on what they would draw and what they would not.

With Light Novels you just find the nearest hack or better yet, just copy paste what's already popular on online novel sites and just commission a few illustrations and a product is made. As a publisher you can respond to the market much more quickly.

It may not be the highest quality (it certainly isn't) but it's what people want to consume now.

>>145957331
Shit like GoT and the moon is a harsh mistress is hundred times better than shitty harems with next to no visuals. Even the adaptations are better too

>>145957567
GoT is literally fanfiction as of last season. Almost as bad as the walking pleb.

>>145957567
Those aren't young adult novels.

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>>145957567
>GoT

>>145957567
SoIaF isn't better than anything, and the less I talk about the show the better, you can't call that thing a adaptation anymore, it's fucking fanfiction at this point.

>>145957598
Its a multi-million dollar cgi budget jerking off in my face twice as hard as the madoka movie, if it happens to have plot or acting that's just a bonus rather than a requirement

Of course its bad in comparison to its earlier self, but great in comparison to the east and television in general

>>145957771
No, no it's not, you liking it doesn't mean shit.

>>145957553
Didn't the game market crash because of a similar reason? How come the japanese buy all this shit?

>>145956987
The plot quality (cohesiveness, setting, motivations...) is comparable to Young Adult novels. The prose tends to be worse, but not much. And given their sheer number, you're bound to find some that cater to your tastes.

I see nothing wrong with the medium. Why wouldn't they be popular? It's not like your average American reads Dostoievsk and Bertrand Russel instead of Twilight.

>>145956987

Light novels are popular all around the world I guess. When I grew up I read lots of easy to read books with pictures (not Japanese LNs with pictures, but in essence the same). I think there'll always be a market for books like these, but they're not exactly art.

>>145957652
Genre fiction = young adult

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>>145956987
because Japan doesn't know what good anymore.

>>145957995
Because NEETs and overworked office drones have zero fucks left to give.

>>145958069
Don't be stupid.

Next you're going to be telling me about the shonen "genre".

>>145956987
I don't understand your confusion. People have been watching capeshit for over a decade now.

>>145958069
Young adult fiction or young adult literature (YA) is fiction written, published, or marketed to young adults between 12 and 18. However, authors and readers of "young teen novels" often define it as written for those aged 15 to the early 20s.

Literally first google result for "young adult books definition"

>>145956987
>watch anime/read mango
>find out it's actually an LN adaptation
>read the LN
That's probably the most common reason for someone to pick a LN instead of an actual book.

>>145958006
Personally I see wrong with the medium is that despite it being nowhere as satisfy as anime or manga, or even a full novel to that extent, a lot of series are either massively behind in the anime/manga.
Or in another case, have no hope of renewing a new season. In both scenarios a fan for a particular series needs to turn to a less satisfying medium just to keep up to date with the story.

I'm sure we've all felt the frustration of having an enjoyable series miles behind of the LNs, with no chance of another medium picking the series up.

>>145958069
Uhh, no. YA is a specific demographic that has its own style and marketing. GoT is DEFINITELY not targeted to young adults.

When people say YA, they mean shit like The Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent and all that other teen pandering shit. It's the rough equivalent to LN's.

>LNs aren't real books
What is this meme. Of course they're books. What else would they be?

>>145958266

You know most LN adaptions be it manga or anime is really just commercials for said LN? That's why Kodakawa is never going to make a new Haruhi anime, there's not more LNs. This is also why LN adaptions usually have so horrendous quality.

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>I may do this thing that normalfags frown upon, but at least I don't do this other thing, amirite?

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>>145957515
>im 16 and I understand politics

>>145958199
>Search engine rip from wikipedia defining contrived pop culture term

LN's are marketed at 18-25 year olds, genre fiction is the equivalent. Young adult doesn't mean teen girl novels because some boomer on cnn says so

>>145958401

Picture books.

What is the difference between a Novel and a Light Novel?

>>145958479
If I wanted to buy a picture book and got a product full of text and have 1 picture per 30 pages I'd call it a scam.

>>145958486
The weight

>>145958401
You're talking to angry lit majors, you will never find common ground with them.

>>145958486
LNs are generally easier to read (LIGHT reading) and have illustrations.

>>145958535
>beat me to it

I will be your enemy forever now.

>>145958486
They're usually shorter.

>>145958440
It's so wonderfully pathetic too.
>>145958486
If you start counting shit written by folks like kawakami it's that LNs have pictures in addition to walls upon walls of text in them.

>>145958436
Yes, but some are still enjoyable, like Spice and Wolf.

k

>>145958486
A light novel is a cut down version of a novel. It has pictures on some of the pages to accompany the text, and there are generally less words per page/less pages per novel.

>>145956987
Light Novels aren't as good as full novels but they give a better perspective into some things than manga. Some series benefit more from being in this format.

>>145958486
What the publisher decides to call it.