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Status | Active |
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Founded | 2016 |
Founder | Sam Pinansky |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | San Antonio, Texas |
Distribution |
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Publication types | Books (digital and print) |
Imprints |
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Owner(s) | Kadokawa Corporation |
Official website | j-novel |
J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licensed over 150 light novel and manga series and have published more than 800 e-books. [1] It has licensed titles from many Japanese publishers, including Hobby Japan, Overlap, Kodansha, Drecom, Earth Star Entertainment, Kadokawa Corporation, Micro Magazine, Shufunotomo, and Softbank Creative. It was acquired by Kadokawa Corporation on April 28, 2021.
After coming to the conclusion that "there was a whole universe of content out there in Japan that's hardly available in the west at all," [2] Sam Pinansky began working on the business model for J-Novel Club in 2015 and "took inspiration from what the fans had started to do on their own, as well as the more traditional models for book publishing." [3] J-Novel Club's overall purpose was "to create and grow a worldwide market for Japanese light novels translated into English." [4] The original name for the project was "K-Novel" because "kei" is Japanese for "light" (as in the K from K-On! ), but before launch the "K" was changed to "J" (for Japanese) to avoid confusion with Korean novels. "Club" was added when it was noticed that the .club top-level domain name was available. [5]
J-Novel Club was founded in 2016 by Sam Pinansky and announced they would release light novels in weekly installments for their members before releasing the finalized books on e-book format. It launched with the titles Occultic;Nine , Brave Chronicle: The Ruinmaker, My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, and My Little Sister Can Read Kanji. [6] Shortly after they announced two more light novels: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash and I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse. [7]
On January 19, 2017, J-Novel Club announced it would be collaborating with manga and light novel localization company Seven Seas Entertainment, who would publish print editions of two of J-Novel Club's light novels: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash and Occultic;Nine. [8] On July 3, 2017, Seven Seas announced they would be publishing print editions of two more J-Novel Club light novels: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest and Clockwork Planet . [9]
On July 5, 2018, J-Novel Club announced it would be printing physical versions of some of its light novel series. [10] After launching its print line with In Another World With My Smartphone , as of August 2021, J-Novel Club has 25 light novel and manga series in print.
On November 20, 2018, J-Novel Club launched an online manga reader with five launch titles: [11] A Very Fairy Apartment , Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles , Infinite Dendrogram , How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom , and Ascendance of a Bookworm .
On October 7, 2019, J-Novel Club launched a Kickstarter project for Invaders of the Rokujouma!? print edition and successfully funded it with more than $100,000 over its initial goal. [12] [13]
On November 16, 2019, J-Novel Club announced the new J-Novel Heart imprint focusing on shojo titles. [14]
On April 2, 2021, the J-Novel Pulp imprint was announced with the titles John Sinclair: Demon Hunter , Jessica Bannister , and Perry Rhodan NEO . [15] This imprint focuses on translating and publishing German-language pulp fiction into English.[ citation needed ]
On April 28, 2021, Kadokawa Corporation announced they acquired the company. [16]
During their panel at Anime NYC 2022, J-Novel Club announced a new collaboration with Yen Press to publish their titles in print. The titles announced for a print release were Hell Mode light novel, The Misfit of Demon King Academy light novel, and the My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! light novel and manga adaptation. [17] J-Novel Club also announced that it is partnering with RBMedia and Podium to produce audiobook versions of their titles. [18]
On October 15, 2023, J-Novel Club announced that it is launching a subsidiary called "J-Novel Club Nina" for the European market. It will, at first, launch in French and German languages. [19]
On March 6, 2024, J-Novel Club announced that it had signed a print distribution deal with Hachette Book Group and Diamond Book Distributors for North American and international releases respectively. [20]
Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as well as select webcomics. The company is headed by Jason DeAngelis, who coined the term "world manga" with the October 2004 launch of the company's website.
Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese market. Its anthologies are home to some popular Square Enix manga series which were adapted into anime series, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Nabari no Ou, Inu x Boku SS, The Case Study of Vanitas and Soul Eater. The comics are later collected in paperback volumes under brand names such as Gangan Comics, Gangan Comics Joker and Young Gangan Comics, which identify the anthology of serialisation. These paperback brand names are formed by omitting any gekkan or shōnen in the magazine name and inserting Comics directly after the word Gangan.
Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published Yen Plus, a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press has published original series, most notably Svetlana Chmakova's Nightschool and a manga adaptation of James Patterson's Maximum Ride.
Maoyū: Maō Yūsha, also known as Maoyu, or Archenemy and Hero in English, is a Japanese light novel series by Mamare Touno that was initially posted in a play format on the textboard 2channel in 2009. Enterbrain published five main novels in the series, in addition to three side-story novels between 2010 and 2012, selling over 450,000 copies in total. It has received several manga adaptations. A 12-episode anime adaptation by Arms aired in Japan from January 5 to March 30, 2013. The series follows the exploits of a human hero and the queen of demons who join forces to bring peace and prosperity to their war-torn world.
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!, often referred to simply as KonoSuba, is a Japanese light novel series written by Natsume Akatsuki and illustrated by Kurone Mishima. The series follows Kazuma Satou, a boy who is sent to a fantasy world with MMORPG elements following his death, where he forms a dysfunctional adventuring party with a goddess, an archmage, and a crusader. Originally serialized as a web novel on Shōsetsuka ni Narō between December 2012 and October 2013, KonoSuba was published as a printed light novel series by Kadokawa Shoten under the company's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint from October 2013 to May 2020. The light novel series features a divergent plot.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is a Japanese light novel series written by Ao Jūmonji and illustrated by Eiri Shirai. The story follows a group of people who suddenly find themselves in a fantasy world with no memories from before their arrival, and chronicles their struggles to survive and make a life for themselves as volunteer soldiers.
BookWalker (ブックウォーカー), stylized as Book☆Walker and BOOK☆WALKER, is a Japanese e-book store that sells manga, light novels, and magazines from various publishers, as well as a few published by themselves. It is based in Chiyoda, Tokyo and was created by Kadokawa Corporation. The company was founded in 2005 before launching their store in Japan in 2010 and internationally in 2014, in which year a webtoon-focused mobile application counterpart, ComicWalker, was also launched.
Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a Japanese novel self-publishing website created by Yusuke Umezaki. It was launched on April 2, 2004. Users can upload their novels free of charge and the novels are also free to read. As of December 2022, the site hosts close to 1,000,000 novels, has over 2,300,000 registered users and it receives over 1 billion page views per month.
Cross Infinite World is a California-based language localization company specializing in Japanese to English translation and publication of Japanese media such as light novels and manga.
In Another World with My Smartphone, also known as IseSuma (異世スマ) for short, is a Japanese light novel series written by Patora Fuyuhara and illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka. It began serialization online in 2013 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō until it was acquired by Hobby Japan for publishing the print edition as a light novel. J-Novel Club has licensed the series for an English release, releasing each novel in six weekly parts since February 2017. A manga adaptation by Soto began its serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace in November 2016. The manga is licensed in English by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Production Reed aired from July to September 2017. A second season by J.C.Staff aired from April to June 2023.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryo Shirakome and illustrated by Takayaki. Originally a web novel, the series was published in print from June 2015 to September 2022. The series follows Hajime Nagumo, a bullied high school student who is transported to another world with the rest of his class and his school teacher to fight in a war against the demon race. After he is betrayed and left to die by one of his classmates, Hajime begins a journey to improve himself and find a way for everyone to return back home. The novels are licensed in English by J-Novel Club, with Seven Seas Entertainment publishing them in print. The English translation of the light novel was done by Murtaza Burhan. A prequel light novel was published in 2017.
If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord is a Japanese light novel series written by Chirolu and initially illustrated by Truffle until volume 2 where Kei assumed the illustration of the series. It began serialization online in August 2014 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Hobby Japan, which has published nine volumes since February 2015 under their HJ Novels imprint. The series is published in English by J-Novel Club.
Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside is a Japanese light novel series written by Zappon and illustrated by Yasumo. It began serialization online in October 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Kadokawa Shoten, who have published the series since June 2018 under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint.
I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss is a Japanese light novel series written by Sarasa Nagase and illustrated by Mai Murasaki. It began serialization online in May 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Kadokawa Shoten, who have published ten volumes since September 2017 under their Kadokawa Beans Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Anko Yuzu was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace from June 2018 to August 2019. It was collected in three tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation produced by Maho Film aired from October to December 2022.
I'm Quitting Heroing: Next Gig Is at the Demon Queen's Castle is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Quantum and illustrated by Hana Amano. It was serialized online from January to February 2017 on Kadokawa's user-generated novel publishing website Kakuyomu. It was later published by Fujimi Shobo with three volumes from December 2017 to October 2018 under their Kadokawa Books imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Nori Kazato has been serialized online via Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website since May 2018 and has been collected in eight tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Kadokawa, with Yen Press handling the manga's physical release. An anime television series adaptation produced by EMT Squared aired from April to June 2022.
Manga Up! (マンガUP!) is a Japanese manga service. Originally launched in January 2017, the service hosts manga series published by Square Enix. The service also serializes original works, many of which are derived from other media. In July 2022, the website launched internationally in English.
Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord is a Japanese light novel series written by Satori Tanabata with illustrations by Tea. It initially began serialization as a web novel published on the user-generated novel publishing site Shōsetsuka ni Narō in June 2018. It was then acquired by Fujimi Shobo who began to publish it as a light novel under their Kadokawa Books imprint in May 2019. A manga adaptation illustrated by Nokomi began serialization in Enterbrain's B's Log Comic magazine in February 2020. An anime television series adaptation produced by Jumondou aired from January to March 2024.