#j-novel

[friedwizardwhispers]

When is the apothecary diaries coming back from the war ? (I would love first chapter of Volume 16 coming out).

[catmaid-san]

Re-reading Overlord Volume 12-13.

Looking at Ainz-sama and Co. Were desperately trying to advertise Runecraft weapons... To no avail, was so damn hilarious!! It never gets old!! Lol lol lol!!!

[alexeiadrae]

Hi, I know you’re practically a near die-hard Slayers fan and I read alot of your fics which are set in the novel continuity. I’ve been in the fandom via the anime and occasionally the manga but I’d really like to get into the light novels now.

Of course, in this day of age, finding a physical copy of any of them is nigh impossible (or massively expensive). I noticed J-Novel but is there any other sources I should be aware of and which is the most preferable?

Thanks for your question. Right now I highly recommend supporting J-Novel in translating them. They are doing an incredible job with the series and from what I understand the translation is very accurate. They are coming out with hardcopy versions of the novels. They are omnibus collections, three novels in one, and the first one has been released and the quality is outstanding and worth every penny.

The first one containing the first three novels can be ordered here, the second containing novels 4 thru 6 will be released March 2022 and you can pre-order it here.

There are also e-book versions of novels 1 through 10 available through J-Novel, and if you subscribe you can get access to the novels as they are being translated. I am currently able to read the 11th novel even though the e-book version has not been released as they translate it thanks to their subscription plan.

I've spoken with people who can read Japanese and they attest to the quality of the translation. TokyoPop was the company that translated the first 8 novels and then gave up, and as you mentioned those copies are difficult to find and buying them won't support the current translation effort or Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. And while there are things that I adore about the TP translations accuracy is not one of them. There are various fan translations of novels 9 thru 17 floating around, and while I am deeply grateful for the time and effort of all of the people who translated them, reading them won't support the current official translation project, so I would strongly recommend supporting the J-Novel Slayers translations so we can have print copies of all 17 (and, hopefully, counting) novels.

[roramitchell]

So I was translating...uh, let's be honest, Google Translate was doing most of the heavy-lifting here...a chapter from the delightful Japanese light novel series, "Ascendance of a Bookworm" by Miya Kazuki, when I came across the phrase "ham carpaccio". I nearly had a heart attack because carpaccio may be seasoned, but the meat is ultimately raw.

...Don't do it Quof-san. Don't use the word "carpaccio" to refer to pork when you eventually translate that chapter into English.

Like its compatriots steak tartare (beef) and sashimi (fish), the proteins in carpaccio are not significantly denatured by heat, salt, or acid.

...I know you're asking, "But Rora-chan, what's the big deal?"

Because this series is about books and knowledge... and not just any knowledge, but Ferdinand-sama-level take first place or I'll berate you with a harisen knowledge.

And pork, a meat to which specific vermiform parasites are endemic, SHOULD NOT BE EATEN RAW. By all means, cook it, cure it, or pickle it...but then don't call it carpaccio.

[theslayersblog]

J-Novel is publishing Slayers!

Original Tweet.

[arashian4life]

I officially own Kato’s novel, Burn., in paperback!! It just got released in paperback last month. When he announced it on his blog, I had to have! I just need his other two now.

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts on the J-Novel Translation of King of the City of Ghosts, Ch 4

-There’s been a lot of discussion on the discord about how seriously to take the world sitting on a staff thing. Reading this I sort of wonder about a multiverse conception rather than planetary, with different universes sitting on a staff rather than the planet they inhibit type thing.

-In J-Novel, it clarifies that the girl who the old prophet in Dils spoke to was Lina’s sister.

-Once again, TP has the usual paragraphs appearing out of nowhere thing. When Phibrizo returns in the J-Novel translation, it is obvious that Lina was not surprised.

-Interestingly, in J-Novel, Hellmaster acknowledges that Lina is fond of Gourry. I sort of get the feeling in J-Novel that he released Gourry so Lina would have a taste of having him back and to yank the heartstrings a bit more now that he knew how much Gourry meant to her. That this was a conscious decision of Phibrizo’s is supported by the fact that when Lina hit him with the weaker Giga Slave he didn’t release any of her friends even though it took a lot more energy for him to subdue.

-This also got brought up in the chat, so I’m going to include the J-Novel translation involving Hellmaster’s explanation for why Mazoku can’t cast Black Magic spells: “Unlike the lesser demons and brass demons that manifest in this world through the possession of animals, pure demons such as I are essentially beings of pure spirit. Chanting a spell that borrows power from another being would be a refutation our (sic?) own power-an act akin to suicide for us. Invoking a shamanistic spell to serve some immediate goal wouldn’t be so bad, but spells that borrow from other high-ranking demons—let alone that one—might destroy us before we even finish the chant.”

-And, as we were talking about Lina’s thoughts when she lost control in the anime, here’s how it went down in the TP translation:

The darkness expanded.

But this time, it reached into my soul.

I can’t hold it back.

The moment I thought it, my consciousness sank into darkness.

J-Novel

The darkness expanded. Into my soul.

I can’t control it!

Just as that thought entered my mind, my consciousness plunged into darkness.

-As anticipated, in the J-Novel translation Hellmaster says nothing about expecting Lina to get the Demons Blood talisman like he does in TP. In J-Novel it is translated this, “You have those Demon Blood talisman, after all. And so I actually prepared a little trick for you, just in case.”

So in J-Novel it makes clear that what Hellmaster had planned was a way to ensure the spell would go berserk in response to Lina increasing her magical capacity with the talisman and not that he planned on Lina receiving the talisman. I actually liked the idea of Hellmaster being such a mastermind that he’d planned on Lina getting the talisman, but alas.

-OK, so knowing what is going on, it is actually funny as hell when Hellmaster is talking to LON, thinking she is Lina and railing at her for not understanding, when the whole time LON is standing there listening to him blabber on about his wonderful plan, not understanding who she is!

-In TP, Lina strangely says she is relieved to see Xellos there when she wakes up. In J-Novel, there is no mention of Lina being relieved, just that Xellos was looking at her with a “strange sort of calm.”

-And now we have these wonderful new translations of the first 8 novels! Sadly, J-Novel has already said they will have to slow down the speed with which they release the next ones, but at least they will be getting an official translation! When they do start translating the latter novels, while I will continue to share my thoughts, I will no longer compare translations for two reasons. First, regardless of how accurate a fan translation is, it was a labor of love and the translators did it for free, so I want to avoid nitpicking or being harsh and critical to people who worked hard to provide this for free. I am simply grateful for the people who put so much hard work into translating this series so that I didn’t have to spend years in the dark without these wonderful stories.

Second, I read an article today about the pressure official translators feel due to fan expectations, and I really want the official translators to do the best job they can without the weight of those expectations. So from here on out it will just be fannish thoughts, no translation comparisons.

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts on the J-Novel Translation of The Ghosts of Sairaag Ch 4, Epilogue, Afterword

-Well, this didn’t make it into the TP translation. Apparently Eris embedded the control ruby inside her body! Yikes! Which raises some interesting questions as to how she did this. Given the context of the quote I am going to reject the uber kinky and assume surgery unless they can magically teleport gemstones inside of people. Which is interesting because surgery potentially exists in the Slayersverse. The next point of interest would be if Rezo performed the surgery (blind) or if Eris did a local anesthetic type thing and cut open her arm and put it in.

Of course, the other possibility is uber kinky so...have fun smut writers who aren’t me!

-And so much about Eris was stripped from the TP translation. In J-Novel she says she loves Rezo and Copy Rezo says that after Rezo died Eris came to cry in his arms. This did not make it into the TP translation at all and Eris’s motivation was to command her own army. I do have to admit, I like Eris wanting to command her own army better than being in love with Rezo for her motivation, but it is what it is. Anyway, it’s unknown if they were actually intimate or if it was one way on Eris’s part.

-TP also really toned down what was done to Copy Rezo, which in the J-Novel version sounds like experimental torture, which puts a lot of context to his rage and why he wanted to kill Eris.

-This does make you wonder how much about his experiments Rezo let Zel know about. Obviously Zel had no idea about Copy Rezo, which could indicate that Rezo trusted Eris more (for good reason). It is also interesting that Zel never met Eris in the novels, especially given that Eris is described as being a part of research that Rezo never shared with Zel so even if they weren’t intimate Eris was close enough to Rezo to trust her with such sensitive experiments. Were Eris and Zel in different locations? Or did Rezo severely segment his life and ensure that various people never met? Once again, it’s hard to say if Rezo returned Eris’s feelings, but you would think a grandson or great-grandson would be aware of who his grandfather was romantically involved with even if they aren’t particularly close.

-There are also significant differences between the sections on prophecies and how they work. It is also clear that Sylphiel was the one who received the prophecy in J-Novel.

-Once again, I found the afterword illuminating. It’s explained that HK likes leaving open plot threads as a way to show that the character has a life outside of what we see in his stories (examples are Lina’s sister and Gourry’s grandmother) as a way to add flavor and give the characters more complexity and to feel more real, and that with some of those threads he has backstories (Zuuma is one, and this eventually made it to Revo, but Gourry’s previous adventure in Sairaag has no backstory) and others he doesn’t but hopes it will spur the readers imagination (and it’s certainly spurred my imagination!) HK is also so self-depreciating! Wow. At anyrate, I love these afterwords and the insight they give into HK’s approach to writing The Slayers.

-Well, barring the last chapter I would say that this was the most faithful adaptation that TP did. No hopes for The Battle of Saillune beating it as that one was noticeably poorly translated even if you don’t speak Japanese! Looking forward to reading a superior translation!