Isekai effects on the LN market and its spill over into Anime and Manga

Just to clarify by Isekai, i refer to series with any sort of character that is taken to another world be it by dying or being transported or any other method. I do know that other world is not necessarily a new setting as it has featured in classics like Alice in Wonderland but I am referring specifically to the Japanese web novel phenomenon of Isekai. This phenomenon had in particular clear repercussions on the light novels but also the manga and the anime market.

This phenomenon initially started from various small sites like Shousetsuka ni Narou where people published their own stories but soon Isekai stories stood out and became the most read works. More stories in the genre started appearing and they became basically the main genre of the site. Publishers noticed the potential market for this genre and decided to publish in print these once free available web novels, usually the story was had a few changes or another but it was still the same story most of the time.

The light novel market being essentially being like any other market of entertainment it follows trends. At the time it was the trend for school battle harem series like Infinite Stratos and many series authors and publishers obviously pumped out stories within that genre, bearing in mind that the Light Novel market is not as big as manga or anime but it tends to try an appeal anime otaku. The smaller size means that target audience has to a certain extent similar tastes and at the same time it does not allow for a broad variation of the market in particular niches. In manga, you see various niche apart from the general mainstream in the form of magazines like Comic Beam that deal with subject matter and shows things would not necessarily be in the main stream. I am not saying there are not any niche light novels in the market, there are an Novels 0 a label for more adult centric stories is an expansion of exactly that but it fits the scale of light novel market.

This is important because the light novel version of web novels became hits and other publishers followed along to a level that some of the smaller publisher have under their labels mostly Isekai works. Of course, after it would often have various chapters of the story online already and after the publishing deal was complete, the story would be taken down. But since the story often had large parts of it written already, volumes could be published at a faster pace. So not only was it was showing results in sales but a story that was was a popular web novel was also a lot safer investment because it already had an audience, than an original story, so the publishers drifted to it in droves.

In particular, for me this had downgraded the quality of light novels, after all the large amount of interests drove publishers to get deal even for not the top popular stuff. These web novels can also range from good to very poor and I must say a lot of poor stuff has been published. Good stuff has too but there is only a so much and the problem this caused was that it hampered original novels. This is why I believe the LN market has degraded in quality after all it was not only in past that there many classics light novel series from various genres though similar in visual novel, anime like story but there was more variation in terms of what the story was. Isekai has largely destroyed even if it is a broad enough genre to allow for wriggle room in the way the story goes but in the end, the vast majority develops in similarly.

However, how does all this spills over to manga, well Light novels usually receive manga adaptions, a movement probably started by manga publisher and light novel publishers like Kadokawa. Likewise, the popular isekai novels usually also became popular manga and it spread and even smaller publishers that dealt mainly with Light novels are now publishing manga through online services and release tankoubons. It has not effect negatively the manga scene in particular but it is just really a phenomenon that caught on and spread to other mediums albeit similar, manga adaptations of light novels are not necessarily new after all but they seem to me to have reached a new level. One case in particular is the manga adaptation of That Time I got reincarnated as a Slime which was so successful and with the help of the anime managed to figure in top 10 best selling manga series of 2019. This leads to the repercussion this movement had in the anime industry.

Of course, the popularity of these works led to interests in animating them and in natural course of action many isekai anime started popping up recently and with many more still upcoming. Not all of them are successful but there were big hits like Konosuba, Overlord, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime and of course this gave a push for other adaptions some of which failed and some that are still yet to air but one thing is for sure the journey these series had from web novels freely available in the internet to light novel, manga and anime is incredible even if it had a negative impact on the light novel industry. 

Favourite Series of 2019 -

I have written about various series here and I will try to avoid listing them again here even if they might be one of my favourites for the year. I thought about only including series that actually began in 2019 but my range of manga reading is only so far and I could not think of many. Therefore, this will include various series that I enjoyed reading in 2019 regardless of the year they began or their status.

Neko ga Nishi Mukya - 

Yuki Urushibara, the mind behind Mushishi, latest work which is currently appearing in the pages of Afternoon. Its manga with all the creative of Mushishi with the comfort of Hitoshi Ashinano works. It is similarly to Mushishi for most of the time episodic but unlike Mushishi it has a goal which is for the main female character to return to normal but that will eventually happen when she feels in herself like it. 

What is mesmerising from this series is the way it makes you feel comfortable in a way that mirrors series from Hitoshi Ashinano like Kotonoba Drive and many others. In a way that is more Urushibara's like there is an episodic story in each chapter that usually does not involve the main characters but they are called in to sort out but at times the solution is reached by themselves in order they are more involved and handle it in various ways. 

I personally enjoy this series because it provides me this comfortable atmosphere as well as episodic stories that deal with real human troubles, like the crossroads we face or how we might feel a pity disguises as arrogance or  how we need to let things ago as everything is transient. These are embedded into the stories not in an obvious way but in a way that the reader can understand without being told and reflect, but this has always been the case for Urushibara works.  She excels at this and I recommend any of her works if this is something you are interested in. 

The series is not officially translated yet, but there are unofficial translations available on mangadex by the group Hi wa Mata Noboru. 

Ao no Shima to Neko Ippiki - 

One of the various fascinating traits of Japan is large array of islands. In this series, the main characters moves to one of those islands outside the main 4 largest islands. It is a slice of life as the mc moves back to this place that he left and it is rather soothing this series. The main character has been hinted to returned possibly to take his mind of some personal issue and the series is most focused on his daily life with the daughter of his senpai, who is absent, and her cat. It is yet another mystery but the series does not delve too much into these but instead gives hints that the reader can build upon on.  The art is not sensational but it beautifully illustrates the landscape of the island whilst the story provides the reader with what life would be like in this island. 

Hakumei to Mikochi - 

The little life in the woods in incredibly fascinating to follow. It is a manga of their daily life obviously displaying exciting events rather than just their day to day life. It is not neccesarily a manga that has a goal or any plot that it is building up. In fact, I would say the story is largely aimless and for me that is fine after all if is a series focused on the life of these two in this tiny world then I could not see anything more aimless then life itself. After all, we just seek self preservation with comfort until death, there is no plot or fantastical story in life. It this why i find this the perfect slice of life series because not only it really shows life but a comfortable yet exciting life in the tiny world of Hakumei and Mikochi that I am always looking to see expanded. 

WSC decade

At the turn of the last decade, WSC had just commemorated its 40th anniversary with various projects and had found what would be its biggest hit of the century - Yowamushi Pedal. It was a decent end to the last decade which put the hurdle at a rather high level for the start of the following decade.

In highschools there was the football in Angel Voice, Samejima in his path to the world of sumo in Bachi Bachi as well as the heated road racing in Yowamushi Pedal. At the same time in Clover, it was time for fishing and punching, Nanba DeadEnd was equally about punching but also gags. In Mitsudomoe, the three sisters were at heart of crazy middle school hijinks and Squid Girl attempt to take over the world went less than smoothly. In 2010, there would be more fighting added to the magazine with Sugarless but also the guardian of hell Cerberis would make an appearance.

In 2011, it was the time for jail time with Prisoner Riku, Soon, the one dose of Saint Seiya was not enough and the arrival of The Lost Canvas would cover the frequent absent of Next Dimension. 2011 would also be the end of Nanba's fight. And the sky went grey with Sora ga Haiiro Daikara as Cerberis was also put to bed.

Zombies would awaken in 2012 in Bio Hazard manga adaption. Dokaben and Bachi Bachi said goodbye and left and but returned before they were missed with Dokaben Dream Tournament and Bachi Bachi Burst respectively. Versus Earth brought aliens and a fight for survival whilst Meitantei Mani bought about various different eccentric cases.

Lies and cute supernatural monsters showed up in Jitsu wa Watashi wa in 2013. In Shin Garouden, there was martial arts galore in contrast to the show of stupidity in Ikkinkonbo Z The weather went mad in Utten Kekkou and the artists of tinplate showed up to play baseball.

Baki decided to take a path his own in Baki Dou, at the same moment Utten Kekkou fizzled out   whilst volley balls were pumped in Harigane Service but the ones in Angel Voice were put back in the closet. Instead of fists it was time for swords to be lifted in Kurotora as Shin Garouden was put to rest. Bachi Bachi Burst rebranded to Samejima, Saigo no Juugonichi in its last instalment whilst Meitantei Mani retired. However, a new group of girls detective emerged to replaced her in Kyodai - Shoujo Tantei to Yuurei Keikan no Kaiki Jikenbo, whilst the stupidity in Ikkinbonzo Z migrated to Gmen.

The judo club was shut down in Uchikomi because the zombies had returned in Bio Hazard.  The swords returned to the sheaths in Kurotora and instead the racket was picked up by the boys over at Shonen Racket. The vampire appeared but died in no time, and the robots and humans met in AI no Idenshi to sort out their problems.

The bad girls were let out in Rokudou no Onnatachi, and the animals became humans in Beastars. In addition the mystery club avoided disbandment in Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyuubu.

In Biohazard, the zombie apocalypse had ended as well as the trouble of AI and humans in Ai no Idenshi. The boys gathered the balls ands put down the racket down in Shonen Racket. In Himawari the delinquents became idols and the girls become magical girls in Magical Girl Site.

He had a dream to become a mangaka in Weekly Shonen Hachi. Finally, Prisoner Riku was no longer a prisoner. Urayasu became quieter with the end of Maido! Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku but there was not enough time to rest as Kotetsu and his troupe returned in Appare! Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku. The ball and boots were let out and the swords were unsheathed in Junior and Akatora. Baki Dou cahnged to Baki Dou and the girls revived the Judo club in 'Ippon' Again.  The Serve in Harigane Service was not enough and it returned with an Ace in Harigane Service Ace. The ink ran out for Hachi and the dream was over in 2018.

It was Ashigei that took one step to start  of the 50th anniversary celebration. Guriko did his worst in Worst Gaiden Guriko by fighting and Junior retired early and Akatora lost its edge.  Dragon, fox and many other goddesses of all types as well as tits showed up in Dorakon, whilst the criminal was let loose in Toubousha Elio. It was up to Shy to capture and fight the criminals as well as the heart.

2020 - Series and Authors to Look Out for 1

I have in this blog mostly on analysed champion stuff but I decided to branch out, after all I do read more manga than just the ones in champion magazines. It was then that i stumbled on the idea of waiting about  authors that still not have a series yet have shown potential in one-shots and the likes.
Perhaps to follow through in this process I will also look at new series that might be worth looking out for in 2020.

I will explore first two promising authors with origin in Champion magazines.

Fukuyama Hana - Sweet and Bitter Drama

After a short serialised of omnibus love stories usually homosexual but not always. They were not sweet love stories either and without spoiling some are rather bleak and saddening. It is not the topic of her work that makes me think of her as a very promising author but also the way it was presented and constructed. Her omnibus stories had a realistic touch because they were not overtly happy but also not overtly dramatic either, it had a balance. It was through this balance that most stories did manage to touch me in a real sense, not as tear jerker or a cute story but as a real human romance drama.

The panelling and perhaps the lack of bold emphasising lines in facial expressions for dramatic purposes made the series seem more easy to read, in a way that it was the reader role to read the characters subtle expressions. Similarly, the story is not told to the reader but are visually presented it, and by doing every chapter is more satisfying and surprising at the end.

From my research on her, she is openly lesbian, it is listed in her twitter profile. In addition, she was an assistant of Shinobu Seguchi towards the end of Shuujin Riku, and Ittan no Ko was her first publication. I believe she has a lot of talent for any genre but in the short term possibly I see her making a very good mature romance manga.


Arai Shuntarou - Subverting Expectations

Arai Shuntarou, first publication was Hoshi no Kyoudai in Bessatsu Shonen Champion, it came when he won the encouragement award of in the 5th edition of Next Champion. Since then he has penned down many one-shots in Bessatsu as well as Weekly Shonen Champion.

He is very creative and can write pretty much anything but his work have his own special vibe which originates from his sketchy style that adds a mysterious touch. In his most recent one-shot Ishumemuri, the mysterious mood the peculiar background creates is incredible.

His creativity is present not only in his art but also on his writing, this was shown in his short series 3, a yankee series.  In it every character had special shadows that stood out behind them which expressed an inner felling of the character. It is one of the uniqueness of his style.

His art has improved over the one-shots and his knack for writing one-shots with punchlines at the end that subvert expectations is incredible. In series this would be more difficult and perhaps a series that would allow him to express all that creativity would be the for the best. This is perhaps why I do not see him sticking to shonen manga specifically but delving in various other demographics and genres.

For today, it is these two but next time I will have more and perhaps a few series as well on top of promising authors.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi - Introduction, TV Anime Details and Expectations.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi - Kousaka Yasuyuki
Serialised in Young Champion Retsu
Genre - Slice of Life

Setting and Synopsis -
Houkago Teibou Nisshi starts off with the main character, Tsurigi Hina, who favours indoors activities, she has a love for knitting. Hina and her family move to the small beach town of Ashiya-machi in Fukuoka, Kyushu. She and her family had previously lived in Ashiya-machi as it happens to be the home town of her father. After a meeting with a member of the Teibou club, she gets pressured into joining the club and involved in outdoor activities like fishing.

Story and Comment

There is no story as such in Houkago, after all its a series about a girl coming out of her shell and discovering new things and various different ways to have fun that might have otherwise been difficult if not impossible in Kanto. I do believe there is both a fulfilment and a role in the development of the person in trying different things such as fishing and other activities of leisure but i do feel perhaps a bit irked is that it might be subtly saying indoor activities are not as fun and fulfilling as outdoors. Indoor activities like knitting, playing board games like chess and the likes can not only help with the development of motor skills but also help in the development and maintenance of the brain.  This might perhaps not be the intention of the author at all but It was just something that I felt like highlighting.

In addition, the plot device of that leads to the Hina joining the club seems to me like bullying, it is especially highlighted by the unwillingness of Hina at first to go to the club. Her enjoyment of the activities does eventually mean it is forgotten but it leaves a bitter taste of a poor plot device that is commonly used.

In other aspects like the technical side of fishing, the series seem to be well researched. So it can be something that could get people interested in fishing, in a similar way that Yuru Camp got many people into camping.

TV Anime Staff -

The series will be animated by the studio Doga Kobo. A studio that has a lot of experience with similar series to Hougkago Teibou Nisshi like Yuru Yuri and other series which are primarily slice of life and have no overarching plot.

Ookuma Takaharu will be the director, it will be his first time directing a series. He has previous worked as animation director, assistant director in various series like Sabage-bu, Mitsudomoe and Yuru Yuri. Similarly to the studio, he has vast experience in slice of life series.

In a similar vein comes Shimo Fumihiko with the series composition, she has also worked before in various slice of life series like Stella no Mahou, New Game, Anima Yell and many others.

Next is Kumagai Katsuhiro with the character designs which from visuals seem to replicate the original work's art style perfectly. His backlog of works is thin when compared to the others, but the visuals do look good so far.

It is in safe hands but what can it achieve?

Houkago is in a genre that is kind of a stable nowadays, series with a similar mood are present in almost every anime season with hits like Non Non Biyori, Yuru Camp and Gochuumon Usagi desu ka?  in recent years. Thus it might be a question of whether Hougako Teibou Nisshi provides something that slice of life series that were not too successful did not. It is the fishing element that for me makes Houkago stand out, fishing is not typically the topic of a lot of anime, specifically casual fishing. Houkago represents it as exciting activity in itself but it also shows the aftermath by showing different fishes and ways to prepare, cook and eat them. Fishing is after all a fun activity that can be practiced leisurely and competitively in addition it can be done socially in groups or alone. It is this that can be the standout feature of Houkago Teibou Nisshi, so i do believe it can be successful anime.

Darwin's Game TV Anime Details and Expectations.

Darwin's Game

Darwin's Game TV anime will start airing in Tokyo MX in January 2020. It began serialisation in 2013 and has been one of the biggest hits in the relatively new manga magazine : Bessatsu Shonen Champion. It currently has 3.6 million copies in print with 19 volumes out at the moment. In addition to this it is the first anime adaption of a series in Bessatsu Shonen Champion.

The studio in charge of the series is Nexus, a relatively new studio with few works under their name. like Granblue Fantasy. However, they have collaborated in a numbers of series before such as SHIROBAKO.

The staff is as following

Director - Yokumoto Yoshinobu
Series Composition - Shu Miyama (FLIPFLOPS MEMBER)
Music - Kenichirou Suehiro
Character Design - Kazuya Nakanishi

A relatively unexperienced director in charge of the series, his only previous work directing was Comics Girls another series by Nexus. He has ,however, a lot of experience as episode directors of various series. In this case, there is not a lot to expect but it is an upcoming director with significant experience in direction episodes and his only previous directorship over a series was a slice of life, comedy series, a rather different genre from Darwin's Game.

Series composition will be done by one of the members of the original author of the series so there is not much that could go wrong in that aspect. After all, the author himself should have a greater understand of his work than anyone else in distinguishing the right pace of the series.

Music is rather important for me and the person in charge seems to have a lot of experience working in series with a similar vibe, so this should not be an area of concern.

Character design is from the visuals rather similar to the original work and perhaps that is for the best. The person in charge does not seem to have a lot of experience character design but the visuals do not show any problems.

Darwin's Game story wise is reasonably far into its story, a recent announcement said it will soon enter its last arc. Its sales have not shown any particular upwards trend in volumes sales and it has been that way for the past few volumes at least when it comes to oricon and shoseki, depending on how seriously one takes them for. This has in fact make me hold a particular negative view of the potential of the anime in bringing about a surge in popularity of the series.

The death game genre is a trend that has gone down in recent times, it was a highly saturated  genre in animation a few years ago, with various series like Ousama Game, Killer bites and many others. Many of these series were not really popular. Darwin's Game at the beginning seems very much like a death game but it gradually develops into a battle series involving factions and various scenarios in which life and death are not always at stake. Whether this is something different enough for it to stand out is questionable. It is also not for me to decide this but for the Japanese audience.

In terms of content without going into spoilers, it seems like the series will be relatively fast paced to cover the first major arc and whether this can be made by Shu Miyama to feel natural will be a something hard to achieve.

The PVs do not show too much and judging from that the quality of the animation can be very misleading as it is usually packed for obvious reasons with the 'better' animated parts.

Elio and Life on the Run

Elio and Life on the Run

Author - Hosokawa Masami
Genre - Historical, Action

Setting

Erio sets it self apart from other series in the first few pages with a historical setting, it is set in Medieval Spain, to be more specifically in the 14th century. A century marked by the spread of the plague causing the death of millions of people. The series does reference the plague so it takes place after the onset of it and hints that the setting is probably late 14th century. There were a series of conflict within the empire in the aim for the throne during this period and again this is referenced in the series and is mostly going to be explored in the series plot in the future. It is a ready made setting with a lot of significant developments which the plot can revolve around and unlike Japanese historical manga which are relatively common, western ones are not so this setting feels fresh.

However, using this type of setting takes a lot of research which is hard work instead of just writing out a story without any basic construction on the world which is pretty much what happens in most manga. In Erio first chapter, the main character is in a prison. This is a problem because prison were not really used in medieval times as a sanction. In fact, shaming, fines and death were the common sanctions for criminal behaviour. Prisons were only used to hold the criminal in wait for his trial. The main character as revealed in the chapter killed his brother, homicide would usually be punished with death. He was presumably judged guilty and imprisoned instead of killed which was what usually happened. I can only see this as a slip up by the author.

Chapter (Spoiler Free)

The chapter itself is feels rather polished, highlighting the experience of Hosokawa Masami. I say this because the chapter fulfils the role of a first chapter. It establishes the premise and introduces the main characters and gives them basic characterisation and hints at things to build in the future. However, it does not seem well constructed and by that I mean the MC being in prison does not seem like it was needed. By this I mean it just explains Erio strength and is creates a background for his character but both these things could have been done without this initial prison. In addition, the way the Lala and Erio met is not the most natural but this is not a significant issue at least I do not see it.
There were some forced exposition from character dialogue that did not seem natural and stuck out like a sore thumb specifically one case in the first few pages.

Art

The art in the series is rather good, the backgrounds are well drawn. Series in champion do not tend to focus in polished art style but one of the key points of Masami is his polished art style.

What stood out for me was the character designs, especially the faces. Masami has always had a more realistic style in relation to faces, with clear nose bridges and detailed eyes.  I say this because the eyes are most important facial characteristics in reading expressions and recognising faces. This is not particularly unique or new in any way but in Champion its the only series with this 'type' of artwork at the moment after Himawari which had similarly a more realistic style.

Panelling

The panelling of the initial chapters was stable action scenes were easy to follow as well as being intense and rather on point in choreography. I did not expect this to be a issue for Masami Hosokawa as he had previous experience in Sugarless, a fighting manga. In general this should not be an area with too many problems because of this prior experience from three previous weekly series, though the first one was a dud, the others both surpassed 100 chapters and were mild successes.