All this while I've only been reading BL or Hetero Romance Tag novels because there's too much of them in supply and over time I realized, much of them have overused tropes that have been recycled over and over again just with different actors. I need a refresher or a palate cleanser before I can wholeheartedly enjoy them again. Oddly enough, I have quite the stack of shounen/seinen mangas and animes but I've never found one I like in particular for a novel so hopefully I could hear some good recommendations. PS. No novels with over 300 chapters. That was good when I was still young and had a lot of time and didn't feel guilty spending over a day finishing reading. Completed or not completed is ok. All types of tags are ok, I'm pretty open-minded. Also thanks for the recommendations.
Hmm.. well, if you want something relatively short, that's quite difficult because most shounen series are long (because of the aforementioned plenty of time to read while young). Try: - Dragoon (JPN) - Action-adventure / school life. About a boy who was supposed to be a rich young master villain, but who instead became obsessed with becoming a dragon-riding knight. Conpletely translated, 169 chapters. - God of Crime (KOR) - Action / thriller crime story. About a man framed for murder who gets sent back 10 years in time into his younger self with knowledge of all the criminals he encountered in prison as well as a system to help him gain crime-related skills. This time, he's out to find out who framed him. And prevent many crimes from happening, while he's at it. 164 chapters, completely translated. - Top Management (KOR) - Modern-day business management. About a young rookie manager in an entertainment artist management agency who gets a supernatural ability to see glimpses of the future (though it's often unpredictable and infrequent). Using those glimpses, he has to try and figure out a way forward in the dog-eat-dog world of managing an idol girl group. 213 chapters completely translated, author on hiatus.
Thanks! what's the average chapter count for a shounen series? I thought 300 chapters was pretty long in itself. If it's over 1000 or 2000, i think it's a bit overkill, especially if you get too into it and end up spending a week to read it because your self-control is too weak TT^TT
Romance stories are generally shorter because there's a pre-defined ending and overarching main plot - do the protagonists get together or not? Anything that stretches the will-they-won't-they too long becomes a bad romance novel by default. The same doesn't apply for action/adventure novels, because there can always be new villains / challenges / adventures. So they are often infinitely stretchable. Chinese action-adventure clocks in at around 2000-3000 chapters, Korean and Japanese ones at anywhere between 75-500 light-novel length chapters (i.e.5-6 per volume, 15-100 volumes).
World Strongest Rearguard – Labyrinth Country and Dungeon Seekers Spoiler: Description A heavily overworked businessman takes a nap on a bus headed to a corporate retreat. He awakens in a fantastic labyrinth city, immediately being informed that he has been reincarnated after dying in a bus accident and must work as a Dungeon Seeker. Confused, the former businessman heads to the registration point to get his job, only to be hit with two huge and horrible surprises: The first is that his pushy boss lady who had worked him to the point of collapse in his former life has also reincarnated here. The second his job received from registration is unknown and unreadable—no one will party with him and will treat him like an invalid if they find out this secret! He is forced to hire a sub-human mercenary to party with him, and things will only get worse from there as he is forced to confront the deadly nature of his new, reincarnated, occupation. The Tutorial Is Too Hard Spoiler: Description On a normal boring day, a message appears, inviting him to a Tutorial. A tale about Lee Ho Jae and his escape from the Tutorial. But he just happened to choose the hardest possible difficulty: Hell Running Away From The Hero! (Remake) Spoiler: Description When I woke up after a pretty crappy death, what greeted me was one of those famous fantasy worlds! I didn’t expect anything like becoming the strongest with a common job, or rising to the top with the weakest class… All I wanted was to live a slow farming life, but the world just wouldn’t leave me alone! And so I equally backstabbed good people and bad people alike, becoming a villain with a true sense of equality and just when I was about to retire and enjoy a proper life on a farm… “Master!” My former disciple at the evil organisation, currently the hero of justice came looking for me. Can’t you all just leave me alone? The Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich Spoiler: Description This is the story of a crazy lich who possesses an internal game system and brings catastrophe to the entire world. “Let’s look at the daily quests today… it’s the damned choose one-of-two-options-type again. Destroy a town with a population of 30,000 people or above; reward: 10,000 evil points. Steal lollipops from 3 children; reward: 1 evil point. If neither of the quests is completed, then 2 points will be deducted.” “Tsk! You think I’m stupid? If I really destroyed a town, a crusade of Epic-ranked Holy Knights would definitely come hunting me down. Even if I earned the points, there wouldn’t be any life left in me to spend them. I better just go be a kindly lollipop bandit.” I’ve already had enough of being a notorious lich. Who says that a lich can’t be a good person? I’m definitely going to beat this damned system and be an upright and dignified good man. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Spoiler: Description There is a certain large country in the central plains of the mainland. In the imperial court of its emperor, there is a girl. Her name is Maomao, a pharmacist from the pleasure district, who is currently working as a maidservant in the inner palace. The girl, who surely can not be considered a beauty, is keeping a low-profile waiting for her contract to end. She is confident that she will not be “visited” by the emperor. During that, she learns about the short lives of the children of the emperor. Maomao, hearing that the two surviving children are critically ill, begins her investigation for the cause—. Set in the middle ages of the East, the “Food Taster” girl continues to solve difficult cases in the imperial court one after another. Check out the descriptions and see if its to your liking.