Discussion Should I have no more hope for JP novels?

I have to say that demands shape the market. Many Chinese fighting LNs are translated or being translated to suit the demand from readers who are tired of beta MC. But Chinese LNs are definitely not just about rustless fighting and killing and level-up. There are other types of Chinese LNs there. So don't tag Japanese/Chinese/Korean novels by singular characteristics. There are different genres of LNs in every country. Some other genres of Chinese LNs are being translated as well like RtW and CCG.

I think NU should work seriously on LN recommendations and introductions. Maybe we can make a list of introductions of untranslated LNs and let readers vote for the next one to translate.

 

Translators translate whatever they want, not what the readers want, most do it for a hobby after all.

I only know one translator that ever decided to translate what the readers wanted instead of picking up whatever he wanted.

 

My favorites novels are the japanese one, they are the only one i'm willing to put money in.
But most of the current jp novels are so so, the most popular one are licensed.

My favorites fan translated are the kr one currently, they are refreshing .

I read the chinese one by defaut , they are my 'junk food' only reason i read is because they have many translated chap.

 

I find, in general, that there are many novels that I do not find all the interesting (my reading list is <20 after all). Having said that, there are some which I do enjoy for a variety of reasons: Fluffy, comedic, development, etc. I started novels from my interest in anime/manga, so I tend to gravity to the JP novels by default. I see many complain about weak (or OP) characters that are wimps (they don't like to kill their opponents, have sex with any woman who expresses interest, or allows weaker people to talk down to them) or the opposite. There are also those that defy some of these, but I find that they are often not as interesting (note, some are still good, just in general amoral protagonists don't seem interesting to me). In contrast, I have also found several female MC novels that break away from the "stereotypical" JP novel and have found them to be rather enjoyable.
In the end, it really just comes down to preference (and patience to sift through them all - and hope that the author doesn't ruin it by doing something REALLY dumb).

 

No more hope? Sure, you don't really need hope to read.

Just look at the synopsis of the series, if it interests you, try reading, if not, don't read.

You don't need hope to read, you just need to have eyes.

The country of origin never decided if a novel was good or bad before I knew NU, it won't decide it now.

 

Having grown up around action movies and martial arts, it's no surprise that I would prefer CN novels, generally. JP mc's just make me want to NTR the heroine right in their faces and kill them.

Don't get me wrong though, there are a few exceptions but most JP novels feel too fluffy for me.

As for KR, it's a mixed bag.

My general rule is that if the MC is still a worthless wuss/pushover/doormat by 20 chapters, then I drop it like how the fat man dropped on Nagasaki.

 

It is the natural instinctive response to seeing someone whose beta levels are over 9000

 

Brace yourselves, brothers and sisters, coz this is gonna be long...

I think I know why people have different opinions. I have some understanding of all three positions (Korean, Chinese, Japanese novels).
I can be said to have grown up on anime and manga somewhat, considering it filled my high school days. No surprise I eventually found my way to novels. I liked them a lot, be it harem, shounen, comedy or whatever.

Then, I've stumbled upon Chinese novels. I was like, wow! There can actually be web/light novels (there is not that much difference in content between a light novel and a quality web novel, so I'll stretch it a bit here and consider them one and the same) with alfa MCs! I was so surprised and thrilled. I've grown tired of those beta MCs in Japanese novels who were clueless, weak and still got harem just because the author said so. I've instantly dropped Japanese novels with some exceptions, only several could excite me (irregular at magic highschool, no game no life, and hagure yuusha with the best JP harem MC I have ever seen).

Anyway, it was as if a whole new world opened for me. However, with time, I've read tones of CN novels, and I got more objective as well. I'm picky with my food now, and although I still dislike beta MCs, I also dislike many of CN cliches. Now, I like to read novels with QUALITY, and by that I mean those which are objectively well-written (characters, world-building, plot and all that stuff) because the author put in some effort and didn't avoid stuff because it was hard to write about (all xianxia female characters, they especially tend to disappear after their relation with MC proceeds to either love or the stage when they have had sex at least several times; rape-to-love is also such lazy, not to mention controversial, writing). I like it when there are no mistakes, when the plot isn't easy to predict (and I don't mean because of it being retarded or contrived). In this, I am just like those who question the very point of discussions such as this.

And this is where Korean Novels come in. There are fewer translators of those, so they don't have the pressure that their novel will be taken by someone else right in front of their eyes while they hesitate and read deeper to check its quality first. This is what gets many of xianxia translators with novels such as MGA or TDG, which are good-to-bad as someone mentioned above. Hence, Korean novels may be worse in some aspects, but the ones chosen are cream of the crop. Dungeon Hunter, LMS, Ark, ID (at least manhwa), Reincarnator. I also have expectations for Lazy Swordmaster, King Shura and Sword of the Emperor (started studying Korean -- I guess I'll be able to read it before anyone translates it...). Often those novels don't excel in many areas (like romance in some of them) but they have a good average in all of them and solid basics.

To sum up my rather long post, I think it depends on what you read first (also includes stuff outside CN/JP/K novels). If you began by reading CN, then you may like fluffiness of JP novels (and rest your mind from ceaseless bloodshed and violence). If you began with JP stuff, then you just can't take JP beta MCs anymore. Ofc, some ppl will differ. I also agree with the part that each of those 3 have different strengths (like JP light novels' romance which is vastly better than CN romance, usually -- I don't read novels for girls tho, so I may be wrong when it comes to them). Then, their strong points may fit with someone's likes and dislikes.

 

Why have so much hope in the first place? Go in with no expectations and you might feel less disappointed~

 

That was a very nice analysis all around, and I tend to agree.

Thanks for the recommendations, i will check them out.

Thanks for more recommendations, but can you please tell me what those 3 or 2 letter acronyms stand for?

 

I disagree...... while it's true that in the beginning, translator translate what he thinks was interesting and want to share it with others. Now it's all about cold hard cash from ads and donations.............. if you translate something that people dont really want, then you won't receive any money. So demand now shape the supply....

 

Yeah, sure, there are plenty of money grabbers out there in the translation community nowadays...

I simply prefer teams like yours though, working on what you want for fun seems a lot better than working on what other want for money... *shrugs*

Most novels I read are from relatively small teams that don't really care about donations, commissions or whatever else one might call it, so I actually assume most translators are still like that... Just that the big and famous novels are all translated by people that gain money from it, so the system gained a lot of spotlight... That's how I view it as a reader at least.

 

Money grabbers sounds so malicious. translators gotta eat too you know. It takes many hours and they can either translate, or work to put food on the table.

Yes, donation based translating is based more on popular demand then translators personal preference. But they are doing something they enjoy, bring something to the community, and get a one time payment that barely replaces a dayjob and doesn't provide ongoing income.

 

MGA = Martial God Asura, TDG = Tales of Demons and Gods. LMS = Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, and I really recommend this one, I think its the best virtual reality novel I've ever read. As for ID, I think thats the 2-letter one you mean, it's actually not an acronym... or should I say, perhaps the author made the title be an acronym in itself? I'm not sure. Anyway, the novel is barely touched by translators, and manhwa is discontinued after almost 200 chapters (the curse of Korean manhwas...) but there is still plenty of interesting action.
I wanted to post link to mangaupdates page of ID, or maybe its actually Id, but NUF said I was spamming bastard and I had to remove the link ;(

Ark is not an acronym, I think it's fairly obvious since I'm using just one capital letter, but I'm saying in case you wasn't sure or thought I was too lazy to use capital letters for the whole acronym :3 Also, I'll mention Dimensional Sovereign, which is being translated at Gravity now by a good translator... I think its the same person who translates the other KN there. It's not stellar, but it's a decent story

Spoiler: spoiling dimensional sovereign here a bit

but tbh, I liked the first half more, and I think it should stop somewhere around chapter 120-130 -- I think there was a chapter somewhere around there which could be a good ending, and the rest feels somewhat like dragging the story on, though I do agree that the way author carried on is plausible

 

Sure, go profit with the work of someone else generally without permission and doing it illegally.

... Is it that wrong to make it sound malicious? It is malicious to me.

Of course, not all are like that, WW bought the licenses after all, but illegal translation for profit is not something I really support...

*shrugs* Not like it really affects me though, the genres I like are usually translated by real fan translators anyway.

 

They aren't profiting, they are losing less money.

They charge an utter pittance per bonus chapter translated, not charge each individual per chapter read. A one time expense to help mitigate the cost to them

 

Not really, they do profit from it, they lose time and gain money, same as any other job out there, only that they're doing it with someone else's work without authorization... Save from a few exceptions.

This isn't the topic of the thread though, so I won't continue discussing it.

 

This is not what the word profit means.
A nonprofit business still has an income, but that doens't magically make it for profit and much less "money grubber".

 

JP and weak doesn't really makes sense to me? Aren't most JP MC kinda OP? >.>

Maybe those are just the type of novels I read >.>

 

I got bored of beta jp MCs and started loving alpha cn MCs, I find kr novels have a good start but by mid point they become so boring that there is no point continuing them (read ark, ark the legend, dungeon hunter and Seoul necromancer thingy) The only kr novel that still keeps me glued is dungeon defense but who know when it becomes tiring to read it as well...