Discussion [Observation] Top 25 in ranking on this site are almost all CN and KR novels

Is there a reason for this? I'm relatively new here on Novel updates and haven't been reading the Light/Web novels for long. Always had the impression that most Light/Web novels are Japanese. This makes me really curious:

- What are the main differences between CN, KR and JP novels?
I have some personal opinion on this topic already after reading numerous JP novels and comparing it to my recent favorite CN novel Release that Witch. However, this is just a mere observation. I'd like to hear others' take on it.

- What are the most popular genres within CN, KR, JP novels?
- Why is Top 25 mostly CN novels followed by KR ones?

 

everybody is just too lazy to change ratings
and chinese and kr have more translators...i think

 

Welllll in each and every novel you can feel I guess you can call it a feeling of how that country writes and thats cool, like JP novels have a certain type of Mc and type of romance in CN novels, especially their erotica ones they have big penis complexes and KR novels are generally original or well done, like thorough you could say.

 

CN novels have more edge, you dont often get the cutting grass at the roots mercilessness from a jp novel.

 

Jp = dense harem loving cliche Mc
CN=I ur father type MC.
KR=Gimme my Money B**** type Mc.
The real reason u don't see to many Jp's lately cause they have been © righted by the author and other publication
CN is now a free food but a few KR's are also been copyrighted nowadays

 

Real reason is because they are easier to translate without worry of getting in trouble with publishers. It was originally light novels, but soon the most popular titles were banned and new projects still get banned. Chinese and Korean web novels don't have this problem.

 

I would say chapter output is also a big deciding factor on this

 

Japanese - Beta MC's
Chinese Alpha MC's - Close to reality but with....BUGS!
Korean MC's - Tetra Protagonist - Means Beyond Reality - Most of the time-> Tragic or Sci-fi.

Chinese Novels has more hype train and....harems are always welcome. After all there are too much tragedy in our life's already. + They mass release . + Some of them are complete.

Now to...western.
Western MC's - Realistic.
Could be anything. But no hype cuz..there is no "You dare!!" ..."I dare" etc etc. You got that?

 

jp novels tend not to have tons of chapters and aren't translated rapidly (like a chapter every day)

Also, tons of people like me are really tired of the dense "beta" male with an annoying harem that doesn't progress anywhere for the whole series.

 

Everyone likes chinese and korean food. Nyaong.

 

I think it's mainly for two reasons. 1- Many people come to the novels world after watching anime/manga, therefore they are saturated of the JP way of doing things and their characters, and 2- JP, cause it's more famous because of animes/mangas, and is "older" in this aspect, have more of it good novels licensed.

 

I always noticed and wondered about that. Do you know why that might be? Culture?

Guys, do you think Japan's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbivore_men problem may have something to do with prominence of Beta male type characters in Japan anime/light novels etc?

 

I really like your analogy of kr novels (reminds me of weed and ark)

 

I think it was @Ai chan who explained this sometime back.

Iirc, violence has been completely suppressed in the japanese culture (don't quote me on that). So everyone whines about how jp novels have "beta-MCs".

 

Maybe or may not be. But Japanese tend to be very peaceful, shy, humble,non-violent ,etc etc. But they are more perverted. Technically, everyone is. But they are more honest with it.

 

Power levels.

In Japanese novels you don't feel like the power levels are properly aligned. It's always LOL cheat I'm a god for no damn reason LOL LOL LOL

In Chinese novels you can feel the power levels though. It seems as if power is more tangible you can feel every rise and rank.
It's not like being a God for no stupid reason. And you can feel like the layers in between truly hold meaning.

 

While the genre, writing style, and culture has a lot to do with it (beta vs alpha MC), I think people are neglecting the translators. For starters, I think I should point out that some of Japan's most popular characters in the west have a more Chinese attitude. What I mean by Japanese attitude is the grass-eating men, and what I mean by the Chinese attitude is the face-slapping protagonist. Series like Dragonball, One-punchman, and one-piece all have MC that fight bigger powers and do not give up. These series speak to the western people a lot more, hence they're really popular in the west. It just so happens that Chinese main characters in web novels also possess this type of character, the "martial hero" attitude, so inevitably the western people would like these novels a lot more than Japan's trope harem story.

But I think a major contributor to the Chinese novel popularity comes from translators or more specifically their translation system and their release frequency. I was "on the scene" when light novels were gaining popularity, and "I was there" when there was a shift towards Chinese web novels. I still remember when Wuxiaworld opened, in fact I still remember when I was reading things on spcnet. What transitioned me from Baka Tsuki to Wuxiaworld, from Japanese light novels to Chinese light novels was not only the content, but the release frequency too.

I went from Anime to manga cuz manga released faster. I went from manga to light novels because light novels came out before their manga version did. But eventually light novel releases were irregular, sometimes once a month, sometimes worse. There was no telling if it was on hiatus or not, and it is quite rude to ask when the next release will be. To begin with, many Japanese light novel translators followed a manga/anime release schedule, once a week, or once a month. Then compare this to Chinese web novels, where translators may release once a month, once a week, or even more. With so many more releases (and with the cliff-hangar way the web novels end in), I kept coming back until it became a daily habit.

This difference only became more noticeable when translators accepted donations and gave out bonus releases. At wuxiaworld, the results were immediate! They were pumping out multiple chapters a day from the start! Meanwhile, Japanese translators avoided promising bonus releases for donations, or they avoided donations in general to avoid possible legal issues. So Japanese translators followed the routine release schedule while the Chinese translators flooded the market with lots of Chinese web novels. In the end, how can the Chinese web novels not be more popular, whether it is number of series, release frequency, or number of chapters released, it far outweighs Japanese light novels. If Japanese light novels were released with such gusto rather than Chinese web novels, I'm sure the rankings would be a little more balanced, although it's hard to overcome that Beta-MC issue.

TLDR;; give release frequency/release volume some credit.

 

cuz most start from JP anime, manga, and LN so most want read something new that's all~

 

In Korean culture, there's a sense of 'Don't do it if you're not going to do it perfect' so that's why quality is generally up and ratings are better.

Chinese novels are also ranked high because of history and culture. Although China isn't as influential now, it was a massive powerhouse that suppressed the region around it. Most other novels take inspiration from ancient Chinese novels. And well, the Chinese have had a lot of time to perfect the art.

Japanese novels are generally just catering to the audience.