Discussion Statistics of BL Projects (Feb 2020)

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Scrya, Mar 2, 2020.

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  1. Scrya

    Scrya Lurking all day long~

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    You think I was gone? No! I'm back with statistics on the current available BL projects on Novel Updates!

    Compared to my main thread, Novel Updates Analysis (Feb 2020), this thread contains data updated all the way to 28 February 2020. All time series chart will start from 23 June 2015, when Novel Updates was first released.

    I will be covering the following statistics:

    1. BL Projects in General
    1. Increasing Chapter Uploads
    2. Increasing Number of New Projects
    3. Distribution of Completed BL Projects by Number of Chapters
    2. BL Translators/Groups
    1. Increasing Number of New Groups
    2. Number of BL Projects Picked Up by Translators/Groups
    3. Common Tags of BL Projects

    4. Other Interesting Stats

    1. Longest Completed BL Projects
    2. Most Read BL Projects
    3. Most Recommended BL Projects
    4. Authors Whose Works are Most Translated
    5. Most Popular Authors Based on Readership
    _____________​

    1. BL Projects in General

    As of 28 February 2020, we have a total of total of 828 BL projects. Out of these projects, 240 are completed.

    In total, we also have a whopping 34,963 individual chapters uploaded. Though, take note that this includes chapters that are split into several parts, and does not account for chapters uploaded together in a single post. For example, if a chapter is split into 3 parts, it's counted as 3 chapters. (There's simply too many variants of how translators name chapter parts - c1p1, c1part1, v1pt3, etc, that I don't even bother cleaning them at all.) Similarly, if multiple chapters are added at one go, i.e. c56-58, it's counted as a single upload.

    1.1. Increasing Chapter Uploads

    upload_2020-3-2_22-45-58.png

    Over the years, we have seen an increasing number of chapters being uploaded. As of right now, we have a stable average of about 60 chapters being uploaded daily. The occasional spikes seen in the chart above are due to one-shot chapter dumps onto the site.

    The day with the most uploads (223) was on 2 December 2018, when Joell55 uploaded 198 chapters of Feng Mang.

    upload_2020-3-2_22-54-1.png

    Let's now sum up all the values by week for a more stable trend-line. It seems like within a range of a year, we can see more chapters uploaded near the end of the year, likely due school vacations and translators having more free time.

    1.2. Increasing Number of New Projects

    upload_2020-3-2_22-57-55.png

    Clearly we can see an increasing number of projects, especially Chinese projects being taken up over the years. The number of Japanese projects being taken up is increasing too, but at a much slower pace.

    1.3. Distribution of Completed BL Projects by Number of Chapters

    upload_2020-3-3_2-17-13.png

    Looking at the completed BL projects, most projects seem to be around 1-20 chapters in length, with a decent number around the 20-100 chapters range.

    _____________​

    2. BL Translators/Groups

    In total, we have 439 translators/groups who have worked on BL projects, and 265 translators/groups who are still active. (Having at least a single chapter uploaded since 1 June 2019)

    2.1. Increasing Number of New Groups

    upload_2020-3-2_23-8-43.png


    We see an increasing number of new translators/groups every year. In the year 2019, we have a total of 151 new translators/groups.

    2.2. Number of BL Projects Picked Up by Translators/Groups

    upload_2020-3-3_1-13-4.png

    Chrysanthemum Garden seems to have the most number of projects taken up presently, but Exiled Rebel Scanlations have the most number of completed projects so far.

    _____________​

    3. Common Tags of BL Projects

    upload_2020-3-2_23-14-28.png

    It seems like we have a large number of Modern Day BL projects on NU. Though it's strange that Handsome Male Lead did not take the top spot. It's also interesting to see that R*pe is in the top 10... Well, I won't judge. I'm just happy seeing Mpreg up there.

    Here's a wordcloud of the top 100 common tags used.

    upload_2020-3-2_23-17-39.png

    _____________

    4. Other Interesting Stats


    4.1. Longest Completed BL Projects

    upload_2020-3-3_11-17-57.png

    Currently, the longest BL project completed is The Legendary Master's Wife by Exiled Rebel Scanlations.

    4.2. Most Read BL Projects


    upload_2020-3-2_23-22-0.png

    Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil takes the top spot for the project with the most readers, followed Founder of Diabolism (MDZS) and Scum Villain.

    4.3. Most Recommended BL Projects

    upload_2020-3-2_23-23-13.png

    With the most number of readers, it's no surprise to see Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil being recommended the most. However, Reader and Protagonist is pretty close in the rankings too.

    4.4. Authors Whose Works are Most Translated


    upload_2020-3-2_23-25-7.png

    Priest seems to be the most popular author to go to for projects, followed by Long Qi and Mo Chen Huan.

    4.5. Most Popular Authors

    upload_2020-3-3_2-9-40.png

    The font is a little different here compared to the rest, because I had to change it otherwise the Chinese names wouldn't appear. Hahaha. In any case, the Chinese name is used if the first English equivalent cant be found in my sorted list.

    In order to determine the popularity of an author, I calculated the mean number of readers across all the author's works that have been/are being translated. As expected, MXTX is currently the most popular author presently among the readers.

    _____________
    What are your thoughts on some of these findings? Do you all think we will see the same growth in the number of BL translators and projects this year? Are there anything else that you want to know? Let me know while I procrastinate on my school work!

    EDIT 1: Edited a few charts due to accuracy errors in section 2.2 and section 4.1.
    EDIT 2: Added section 4.5. Edited section 1.3 and 4.1. to reflect more accurate chapter count numbers.
    EDIT 3: Removed group names next to the project titles for section 4.1 due to inaccuracies.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2020
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  2. Hasr11

    Hasr11 [Cat] [Fujoshi] [JP TL in Hiding]

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    It’s nice to see all them Danmei being TLed:blobnosebleed:

    But kinda wish there were more Japanese and Korean BLs...and longer chapters too...

    WE NEED MOAR BL!!!:blobhero::blobhero::blobhero:


    Also shameless advertising but please go read the omegaverse I’m TLing~ it’s called Hamadeka
     
  3. DocB

    DocB "I see you, little mouse! Run along"

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    everyday we stray further from god
    Hey @Scrya when are you releasing you analysis about tentacles novels in NU
    Our god Cthulhu is waiting
     
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  4. 12

    12 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting read! Thanks for taking the time to do it! I never realised Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil was BL until today. :blobsweat_2:
     
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  5. Fuyuneko

    Fuyuneko winter cat

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    @Scrya Is there an easy way for you to tell what % of new translator groups does edited MTL in past few years?
     
  6. LaDyViL

    LaDyViL New Member Staff Member

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    If he's using NU's data, then it won't be possible since there is no clear distinction between which group does edited MTL and which group does pure translation. There's also groups that have a mix of each.
     
  7. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Come on, I deserve to be higher. At least I am not MTL and actually complete my projects unlike some above me. :blob_catflip:
    I demand a recount!! :blobsob:

    Maybe I should put @Scrya on the hit list for BL fans, so they can attack you with comments/messages.
    [​IMG]
     
  8. rainbowturtle

    rainbowturtle Well-Known Member

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    Thought the results of the longest completed BL novels seemed off, since God Level Summoner has 394 chapters, a lot longer than some of the novels above it. Then I saw this the comment about how this 'includes chapters that are split into several parts, and does not account for chapters uploaded together in a single post.'

    Really does throw off the results though.

    Also funny how Earth is Online is written as Flying Lines translated it, when they only did one chapter. Guess it was because it was the newest group
     
  9. Scrya

    Scrya Lurking all day long~

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    Oof, I will do a manual recount on the chapter length in the future. But kinda my mistake on the Earth is Online part~ Let me double check the rest too before editing the chart~
     
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  10. xiin

    xiin lazy <( ̄︶ ̄)>

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    stats are cool~ thanks for sharing!

    interesting that modern day is the top tag... :blobhyperthink:
     
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  11. Little Potato

    Little Potato Sexiest Potato Alive [SpaceBar's Master]

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    I'm curious. Do you have any statistics on the growth of translator groups? How many join biannually? What is the average life span of one? Would also be nice to have a comparison of how many join and how many go off the grids forever. Who has the most number of novels with both complete and incomplete works and what their genres/language are. What is their release rate frequency.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2020
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  12. Fuyuneko

    Fuyuneko winter cat

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    Would it be possible to write a script that copies the Chinese name under associated names and find the Chinese character count on the publisher's site for a more fair comparison? It seems like all of the recent BL novels are from jjwxc.
     
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  13. baka8roukanako

    baka8roukanako Well-Known Member

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    I wonder what's the most frequent genre overlap...
     
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  14. rainbowturtle

    rainbowturtle Well-Known Member

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    Might still be a bit off. As an example, God Level Summoner's author likes uploading two chapters as one long one. All their novels have over 300 chapters but might seem shorter. But yes, if this is possible then it would be a lot more accurate.
     
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  15. Scrya

    Scrya Lurking all day long~

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    Aite, found out the problem. Seems like I assumed the latest uploaded chapter would always be the last chapter, but Flying Lines uploaded the first chapter after you completed it.

    Anyway, recoded it such that it would take the first row of the chapter table in the NU's project page as reference. Should be correct now~
    Since this change would also cause some changes to the Number of Completed Projects per TL/Group chart, just to make sure, you completed 4 out of 4 BL projects, while the rest are being continued on Chrysanthemum Garden, right~?

    Woah, that's a lot~ I can certainly work on the biannual growth of translators. But how would you define "average life span"? Would it be from the first time they upload a chapter, to the last one they upload?

    I do have a part with the number of complete/incomplete works up! Under section 2 and 2.2.

    Mn, for the chapters part, I did scrape the "Status in COO" section after all, so if all the completed novels' page on NU have it updated, I should be able to get a more accurate number of chapters. But I will do it next time~
     
  16. rainbowturtle

    rainbowturtle Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I have four completed projects on my wordpress and my other completed projects should be included in CG's count
     
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  17. LaDyViL

    LaDyViL New Member Staff Member

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    There are no definite formats for that section. Most of the details on NU can be edited by members. So while you might scrape "62 chapters", some would have different formats on them such as "60 chapters 2 extras". Some members would even add "62 chapters (120 split translations)" on them, don't ask me why they would add Translator's info on a Status in COO section. Points to note if you're going to use the information from that section.
     
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  18. Scrya

    Scrya Lurking all day long~

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    Aye, then at least section 2.2 should be correct for now, and the group names for 4.1 are correct... hopefully. HAHAHAHAHA~

    And here I was thinking of extracting all the numbers and adding them all together, assuming that only the original chapters + extras are written there. But with your example, I would count 62+120 too. orz.

    Yeah, I will just leave the accuracy of the count for later.
     
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  19. Scrya

    Scrya Lurking all day long~

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    Alright, I updated the completed novel charts (section 1.3. and 4.1) with more accurate chapter count numbers. (Apparently manually adding up the chapters for 200+ completed novels is less brain-taxing than coding it out)

    Also added Section 4.5. which takes into account readership to estimate author's popularity on NU~
     
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  20. bittercoffee

    bittercoffee Active Member

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    Cool stuff, love the colors.
    Just a nitpick about 4.1, which didn't account for multiple contributors, number 10 was completed by a different translator.
    2020 is looking good so far.
     
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