J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s into English. It streams light novels and

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

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. It has licensed titles from many Japanese publishers, including

Hobby Japan is a Japanese publishing company known for publishing and releasing books, magazines, light novels, games, and collectibles. Founded in 1969, the company owns and distributes such publications as the eponymous ''Hobby Japan'' magazine, as well ...

, Overlap,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

Earth Star Entertainment is a Japanese publisher based on Shibuya, Tokyo. Accounted by the equity method of Culture Convenience Club, it was founded on June 5, 2006. In addition to publishing magazines and photobooks, the company also produces and sells home videos and m ...

Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese media conglomerate that was created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014. History The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was origi ...

, Micro Magazine, Shufunotomo, and

Softbank Creative is a Japanese publishing company and a subsidiary of the SoftBank telecommunications company. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Publications ;Young Adult * : Original Japanese language publication of the Math Girl ...

. It was acquired by Kadokawa Corporation on April 28, 2021.

History

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," 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." J-Novel Club's overall purpose was "to create and grow a worldwide market for Japanese light novels translated into English." The original name for the project was "K-Novel" because "kei" is Japanese for "light" (as in the K from ''

K-On! is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kakifly serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara'' magazine between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues, and also serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara Car ...

''), 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 A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...

name was available. 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 An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

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''. Shortly after they announced two more light novels: '' Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash'' and ''

I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse is a Japanese light novel series written by Namekojirushi and illustrated by Nao Watanuki, which has been published by Hobby Japan under their HJ Bunko imprint since June 2011. A manga adaptation drawn by Kouji Hasegawa was serialized in '' ...

.'' On January 19, 2017, J-Novel Club announced it would be collaborating with manga and light novel localization company

Seven Seas Entertainment 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 w ...

, who would publish print editions of two of J-Novel Club's light novels: ''Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash'' and ''Occultic;Nine''. 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 is a Japanese light novel series, written by Yuu Kamiya and Tsubaki Himana, and illustrated by Shino. Kodansha has published four volumes since April 2, 2013, under their Kodansha Ranobe Bunko imprint. The story is set in a clockpunk fantasy ...

''. On July 5, 2018, J-Novel Club announced it would be printing physical versions of some of its light novel series. 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: ''

A Very Fairy Apartment A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', '' Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles'', '' Infinite Dendrogram'', ''

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom , also known as ''Re:CONSTRUCTION - The Elfrieden Kingdom Tales of Realistic Brave'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Dojyomaru and illustrated by Fuyuyuki. The story follows Kazuya Souma, a humanities-student-turned-hero as he p ...

'', and ''

Ascendance of a Bookworm is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Miya Kazuki and illustrated by You Shiina. It was serialized online from September 2013 to March 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later ...

''. On October 7, 2019, J-Novel Club launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

project for ''

Invaders of the Rokujouma!? is a Japanese light novel series written by Takehaya and illustrated by Poco. HJ Bunko has published forty-one volumes since 2009 under their HJ Bunko imprint, as well as two side story volumes. A manga adaptation with art by Tomosane Ariike ...

'' print edition and successfully funded it with more than $100,000 over its initial goal. On November 16, 2019, J-Novel Club announced the new J-Novel Heart imprint focusing on shojo titles. On April 2, 2021, the J-Novel Pulp imprint was announced with the titles '' John Sinclair: Demon Hunter'', '' Jessica Bannister'', and '' Perry Rhodan NEO''. This imprint focuses on translating and publishing German-language pulp fiction into English. On April 28, 2021,

announced they acquired the company. During their panel at

Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held during November at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga ...

2022, J-Novel Club announced a new collaboration with

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic 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 ...

to publish their titles in print. The titles announced for a print release were '' Hell Mode'' light novel, ''

The Misfit of Demon King Academy also known simply as or is a Japanese light novel series written by Shu and illustrated by Yoshinori Shizuma. The series originally began as a web novel in April 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō whe ...

'' 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. J-Novel Club also announced that it is partnering with RBMedia and Podium to produce audiobook versions of their titles.

Titles

Audiobook titles

*''

Black Summoner is a Japanese light novel series written by Doufu Mayoi. It began publication online on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō novel posting website in October 2014. Overlap began publishing the series with illustrations by Kurogin under their Overlap Bun ...

'' *''

By the Grace of the Gods is a Japanese light novel series written by Roy and illustrated by Ririnra about a man who dies alone who is chosen by three gods to reincarnate into a world of fantasy, using his past knowledge combined with new powers bestowed by the gods ...

'' *''

The Faraway Paladin is a Japanese light novel series written by Kanata Yanagino and illustrated by Kususaga Rin. It began serialization online in May 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Overlap, wh ...

'' *'' Hell Mode'' *''

'' *'' In Another World with My Smartphone'' *'' Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World'' *'' My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer'' *'' Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire''

Manga titles

*'' Animeta!'' *'' An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride'' *''

'' *''

Bibliophile Princess is a Japanese light novel series written by Yui and illustrated by Satsuki Shiina. It was serialized online from September 2015 to January 2022 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Ich ...

'' *''

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is a Japanese light novel series written by Ren Eguchi. The series originated on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in January 2016, before being published in print with illustrations by Masa by Overlap beginning in November 2016 under their ...

'' *'' Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Sui's Great Adventure'' *''

Cooking with Wild Game is a Japanese isekai light novel series written by EDA and illustrated by Kochimo. It began serialization online in 2014 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Hobby Japan, who published the ...

'' *'' The Coppersmith's Bride'' *''

Demon Lord, Retry! is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Kurone Kanzaki and illustrated by Kōji Ogata (first edition) and Amaru Minotake (second edition). It began serialization online in 2016 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōs ...

'' *'' Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins-'' *'' Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?!'' *'' Discommunication'' *'' Doll-Kara'' *'' The Emperor's Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride'' *''

'' *'' Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village'' *'' Gushing over Magical Girls'' *'' Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!'' *''

'' *'' I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped With a Fujoshi!'' *''

I Shall Survive Using Potions! is a Japanese light novel series written by FUNA. The series originated on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website, before being published in print with illustrations by Sukima by Kodansha beginning in June 2017. As of December 2023, ten volum ...

'' *'' I'm Capped at Level 1?! Thus Begins My Journey to Become the World's Strongest Badass!'' *'' Infinite Dendrogram'' *'' Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World'' *'' Karate Master Isekai'' *'' Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner'' *'' The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind!'' *'' Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party'' *'' Marginal Operation'' *''

The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar is a Japanese light novel series written by Seiichi Takayama and illustrated by Yukisan. The series is published in English by J-Novel Club. Chany is serializing a manga adaptation on Hobby Japan's website. An anime television series adaptati ...

'' *'' My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!'' *'' Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It!'' *'' Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want!'' *'' Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire'' *'' Rebuild World'' *'' Record of Wortenia War'' *'' The Saga of Lioncourt'' *'' Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles'' *'' The Skull Dragon's Precious Daughter'' *'' Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie!'' *'' Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Reckless Journey'' *'' Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Youthful Journey'' *'' Sweet Reincarnation'' *'' The Tales of Marielle Clarac'' *'' Tearmoon Empire'' *'' The Unwanted Undead Adventurer'' *''

'' *'' Villainess: Reloaded! ~Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons~'' *'' Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!'' *'' The Wind That Reaches the Ends of the World'' *'' Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster''

References

External links

* {{Kadokawa Corporation Book publishing companies based in Texas Publishing companies of the United States Ebook suppliers Light novels Kadokawa Corporation subsidiaries Manga distributors 2021 mergers and acquisitions Internet properties established in 2016 American subsidiaries of foreign companies American companies established in 2016 Publishing companies established in 2016 Companies based in San Antonio