What is a Light Novel?
A light novel is a type of written work that came to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s, where authors and publications began introducing works that were catered to young adults and used cover illustrations reminiscent of anime and manga. Light novels can span a variety of genres and lengths, such as a story about using a second chance at life to start the business of your dreams fitting into the pocket of your jacket, or a 600 page volume about far-flung humans coming back to an uninhabitable planet.
There have been many publishers taking their aim at bringing the vast world of light novels to English speaking regions, including Yen Press, Tokyopop and Seven Seas, but this article will focus on a fairly newer competitor, J-Novel Club.
What is J-Novel Club?
J-Novel Club is a publisher that began bringing over light novels in 2016 in order to bridge the gap between official light novel releases in Japan and their official releases in English. The latter of which would typically be delayed until the volumes were finished. Their process begins with transcribing the weekly releases, which are available to subscribers, then releasing ebook volumes upon finishing. Those ebook volumes are also assorted into physical editions that are available as well.
J-Novel Club also has other labels, J-Novel Heart and J-Novel Pulp, which focus on shoujo and josei, and European pulp fiction titles, respectively. These aren’t filed under separate websites but rather can be targeted through the tagging system on the main site.
Catching Up and Seasonal Anime
On J-Novel Club, monthly “Catchups” are a way of allowing readers to fully read a handful of series selected by the J-Novel Club staff. These series are typically a mix of “top titles and hidden gems,” and are useful in binge-reading a series or getting a better feel on the book if the preview wasn’t enough. Sometimes, there will even be times where the monthly catchups are in line with the current seasonals, like this month. As of this article, there’s a little over a week left left, but the following series are either premiering this season, or have a subsequent season being broadcast:
Second Seasons;
Misfit of Demon King Academy;
By the Grace of the Gods;
Premiering this Winter 2023 Season.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire;
Campfire Cooking in Another World with my Absurd Skill;
For further updates and your personal interests, you can follow J-Novel Club at their Twitter.