[catbert]

Panel will be held in the Charles De Gaulle room at the Hyatt on Saturday from 3:15p-4:15p.

I am proud to introduce the Introduction to Light Novels panel. This panel is for everybody; people who don't know what light novels are, people who may have heard of them before, or people who have been reading them for years.

This is a growing medium in the Japanese publishing industry. During the last few years the number of anime projects based on light novels has exploded exponentially. With many of these titles being released outside of Japan quickly, I hope that the western market sees the value in light novels and will be willing to take the risk and publish. They represented 23% of the bunko market in 2009 and have grown 13.6% since 2004 despite the rest of the market shrinking.

My purpose is twofold; I hope to introduce more people to light novels which will increase their popularity, leading to increased demand and hopefully more published titles. I also want to get people interested in reading again.

Here is an incomplete list of titles I have read in part or in full.
-Baka to Test to Shokanjuu (Idiots and Tests and Summoned Beings)
-Bakemonogatari
-Bungaku Shoujo (Literary Girl)
-Chrome Shelled Regios
-Code Geass
-Dantalian no Shoka
-Durarara
-Fate/Zero
-Hidan no Aria
-Kara no Kyoukai ~Garden of Sinners~
-Kaze no Stigma (Stigma of the Wind)
-Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Legend of the Legendary Heroes)
-Please Twins
-Read or Die
-Shakugan no Shana
-Slayers
-Strike Witches
-Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
-To aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index)
-Toradora
-Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
-Zero no Tsukaima (Familiar of Zero)

This post has been edited by catbert: 20 April 2012 - 07:19 PM

[dorkatlarge]

Several companies have tried to sell light novels in English. I honestly don't know if any title has sold well, or if any company has made money. Though I enjoy both comics and prose, I admit that I've only bought a handful of officially translated light novels.

Also, I'm curious if any official translators of LNs have earned fans' respect. Is there a particular translation (or company) that's consistenly reliable? Which companies have *not* cancelled series after only two or three volumes?

Do you feel that fans who translate light novels are competent and reliable?

Finally, manga translations are very slowly starting to show up on iTunes and e-book stores. We're still not sure if any company is willing to release its own translations on the web. So... where does that leave light novels? Is there any chance that we might see some translated LNs sold in digital form?

[catbert]

So few novels have been translated, the dataset doesn't exist to draw any definitive conclusions as to the success of what has been sold. As for the rest, I'll answer those questions and more at the panel.

[catbert]

Since Tokyopop is ceasing their North American publishing, anyone who hopes to pick up any of their novel titles should do so immediately. These include Chibi Vampire (8 volumes), Full Metal Panic (4 volumes), Slayers (8 volumes) and Trinity Blood (7 volumes). They are all currently in stock at Amazon.

[kenkendazo]

How odd...you read Bakemonogatari but not the Zaregoto series...

[catbert]

Suigetsu, on 01 May 2011 - 01:23 AM, said:

How odd...you read Bakemonogatari but not the Zaregoto series...

Gigantic backlog is gigantic.

[Dark Spellmaster]

I noticed you didn't mention the baccano series of light novels either. Could that come up on topic about how japan deals with american setting in light novels?

[catbert]

Dark Spellmaster, on 02 May 2011 - 06:27 PM, said:

I noticed you didn't mention the baccano series of light novels either. Could that come up on topic about how japan deals with american setting in light novels?

Well, I just went ahead and read the whole first volume so if you come to the panel and bring it up we can discuss it.

[catbert]

I'll be talking a bit about sales figures as based on data from publisher records collected by the following website.
http://grev.g.hatena...numbers?kid=135
If anyone cares to familiarize themselves with the data, which is dated up until October 2010, excluding some of the most recent volumes released.

[catbert]

Late in coming, but thanks to everyone who came to the panel. I can make my slides available if anyone wishes to peruse them at their leisure.

[Chizuru]

just wondering, since i couldnt make it this yr, will there b another light novel panel next for 2012?

[catbert]

Chizuru, on 20 June 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

just wondering, since i couldnt make it this yr, will there b another light novel panel next for 2012?

It is highly likely that I will run the panel again in 2012. My visual novel project is moving along and I am hoping to have it ready for selling in AA next year, but I may not be ready in time. If it is ready, I would prefer to do a panel about it and the process that went into making it. If that is the case, I may not feel up to running two panels in addition to spending most of my time in AA. But I did get plenty of positive feedback at the panel itself so if there is high demand I will most definitely make an effort to run it again in 2012.

[catbert]

Hey everybody, since panel submission time for 2012 is nearly upon us I just wanted to get a bit of feedback for running the panel this year. The current plan is to run the panel for one hour, but I have tons of material with which to extend if attendees so desire. Does anyone want that?

Secondly, I have kept to presenting on the format and the industry in general, leaving particular works up to fan panels (ie. Haruhi, Durarara). If enough people want, I can change this.

That's all for now.

[catbert]

Hey everybody, I submitted the application for running the Light Novel panel again in 2012. In addition to the current content, I will also be talking about how light novels are exponentially being picked up as choices to adapt as anime projects.

[catbert]

Main post edited

[Babyloser]

What time and day is this panel?

[catbert]

My thanks to all who attended the panel. I have some information for you about Red Dragon, the collaborative work I could not recall the title of.
Official Site
Type-Moon Wiki
ANN news release