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.
A light novel is a type of popular literature novel native to Japan, usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting teens to twenties. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging.
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.
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.
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 was serialized online on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō from April 2013 to November 2024. It was later 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 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.
Isekai is a sub-genre of fiction. It includes novels, light novels, films, manga, anime, and video games that revolve around a displaced person or people who are transported to and have to survive in another world such as a fantasy world, game world, or parallel universe with or without the possibility of returning to their original world. Isekai is one of the most popular genres of anime, and isekai stories share many common tropes – for example, a powerful protagonist who is able to beat most people in the other world by fighting. This plot device typically allows the audience to learn about the new world at the same pace as the protagonist over the course of their quest or lifetime. If the main characters are transported to a game-like world, the genre can overlap with LitRPG.
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.
I'm in Love with the Villainess, often translated as I Favor the Villainess, is a Japanese light novel series written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata. It was serialized online between January 2018 and February 2021 on the Japanese novel self-publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Ainaka Publishing, who published the first light novel volume digitally in February 2019 under their GL Bunko imprint.
Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!, is a Japanese yuri light novel series, written by Kaeruda Ameko and illustrated by Miya Kazutomo. It was serialized online between August 2018 and April 2019 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Overlap, who published both volumes of the light novel in 2019 under their Overlap Novels imprint. It is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club. A manga adaptation by Seto Ririura began serialization on Shogakukan's Sunday Webry manga website on April 12, 2021.
Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World is a Japanese light novel series written by Shinta Fuji and illustrated by Susumu Kuroi. It began serialization online in January 2019 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Media Factory, who have published six volumes from September 2019 to November 2023 under their MF Books imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Masaki Kawakami has been serialized online via Kadokawa Shoten's ComicWalker website since October 2019. It has been collected in six tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Geek Toys aired from January to March 2023.
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.
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte, also known as Tsunlise (ツンリゼ) for short, is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Suzu Enoshima and illustrated by Eihi. It was serialized online between August and November 2018 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō, and all 47 chapters were later released on the Kakuyomu website in December 2019. It was later acquired by Fujimi Shobo, who have published two volumes between April and August 2019 under their Kadokawa Books imprint. The light novel is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club. A manga adaptation with art by Rumiwo Sakaki was serialized in Enterbrain's josei manga magazine B's Log Comic from June 2019 to September 2024. The manga was canceled on September 4, 2024 due to the lack of editing skills from the magazine’s editorial staff. It has been collected in seven tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Tezuka Productions aired from January to March 2023.
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.
