Toki o Kakeru Shōjo

[Wigbert]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_o_Kakeru_Sh%C5%8Djo
a light novel prequel-ing one of my favorite anime movies, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_W ... rough_Time

[rpapo]

Looks interesting. It's rather strange that for a book as old as that (1967), and as popular within Japan as it seems to have been over time, that there has been very little translation licensing activity for it. The wiki only mentions French, though almost undoubtedly there have been Chinese and Korean translations.

And I wouldn't call it a prequel, as it is actually the original story from which was derived various movies, TV serials, manga and anime.

Though technically not a "light novel", having predated that trend by several decades, it is of the same size and demographic, at 238 pages aimed at youth.

This appears to be the English version: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Runs-Through ... 1401219691

There is also a manga: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Leapt-Th ... 1604961058

[Wigbert]

This appears to be the English version: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Runs-Through ... 1401219691

is that the book? if it is, it has the same cover as the manga.
http://img17.tx.us.mangafox.com/store/m ... _cover.jpg
not saying it's not the novel cover as well.


assuming you're right, i guess it'd be out of place to translate an already licensed novel, but i'm convinced it's the manga that is selling.
(after glancing at a few numbers) you could be right though. your link seems to say the book is 192 pages long, and the manga only goes up to 100. but that's only if amazon didn't count the pages of volume 2, which equal 90. (and i'm sure there are one or two editor/staff/table of content pages inserted.)
(after more looking around) the second volume on amazon appears to have the same cover as the second volume of the manga as well; but i believe you're right about that manga. it looks like, on the amazon pages of both though, that they're both called "paperbacks", are both in the same format, and there was not (i didn't see, perhaps i didn't find) any indication that the former link was a novel.

was there?

[ShadowZeroHeart]

Looks interesting. It's rather strange that for a book as old as that (1967), and as popular within Japan as it seems to have been over time, that there has been very little translation licensing activity for it. The wiki only mentions French, though almost undoubtedly there have been Chinese and Korean translations.

And I wouldn't call it a prequel, as it is actually the original story from which was derived various movies, TV serials, manga and anime.

Though technically not a "light novel", having predated that trend by several decades, it is of the same size and demographic, at 238 pages aimed at youth.

This appears to be the English version: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Runs-Through ... 1401219691

There is also a manga: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Leapt-Th ... 1604961058

Looked it up a bit, and I believe BOTH are mangas. Girl who Leapt Through Time is the sequel to Girl who RUNS through time. The names are similar because of them being in the same series, the protagonist of Toki o Kakeru Shojo will appear in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time as an aunt. Did a brief search but the novel might not be licensed or translated. However, my search was VERY brief, so I might have missed out.

P.S. its an old novel, so it should NOT have volume 1 at the end, since usually they finish in a single volume.

[Wigbert]

Looked it up a bit, and I believe BOTH are mangas.
[...]
Did a brief search but the novel might not be licensed or translated. However, my search was VERY brief, so I might have missed out.
[...]
P.S. its an old novel, so it should NOT have volume 1 at the end, since usually they finish in a single volume.

this is good news.
...
probably.

thank you two; i hope that this can come into translation as info comes into light.

[rpapo]

I hadn't realized that the two names were for two different stories, the second a much later spinoff. Also, I thought it rather odd that the wiki article would not mention an English translation when they did speak of the French version. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: with professional translation costs being what they are, and demand for translations being relatively weak in general, there is a lot less demand for English versions of Japanese books than there is for manga. Manga is a lot cheaper to translate (fewer, easier words), and there's a lot more market for it.

FWIW, the 1976 edition of the original novel can be found on Amazon JP. It's not in their main inventory, but rather comes through one of their affiliated booksellers. Currently, there are supposedly three copies in collectible condition, ranging from 600 to 10000 yen. Of course, the discard bin (so to speak) has several dozen copies, all the way from one yen.

The revised edition, ca 2006, can be found at http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%99%82%E3%82 ... 4041305217

The problem with ordering onesie-twosie from Amazon JP is that they want about $25.00 to ship anything at all, though that's a per box charge, and if you're ordering light novels many of them will fit in one box. Of course, you get what you're paying for: they ship two-day FEDEX, so you have your stuff mighty quickly.

[rpapo]

BTW, if anybody cares to translate the first dozen pages or so, they're right there on Amazon Japan. Click on the book cover image and it takes you there.

[Wigbert]

BTW, if anybody cares to translate the first dozen pages or so, they're right there on Amazon Japan. Click on the book cover image and it takes you there.

i'm just about out of Jap1, so if it might help, if i have time i can translate it to romaji.
i'm not fluent with the whole language quite yet.

[rpapo]

And I've got my hands full already with two books in (very slow) progress. I'm a little further along the learning path than you, but far from fluent. I've been relying on my computer to help me recognize the meanings of the kanji individually, and then I have to put the pieces of the puzzle together with my head. It doesn't help that the author I have chosen to work on doesn't follow the rules very well. She's a rather free spirit, it seems: a non-conformist in many ways, including the language.

[Darklor]

BTW, if anybody cares to translate the first dozen pages or so, they're right there on Amazon Japan. Click on the book cover image and it takes you there.

i'm just about out of Jap1, so if it might help, if i have time i can translate it to romaji.
i'm not fluent with the whole language quite yet.

Uh, romaji? Wouldnt english be better?

[rpapo]

Frankly, the only useful part of conversion to romaji is the implicit breaking apart of the words. Breaking everything up into words (parsing) is an absolutely necessary step, but frankly, you don't want to lose the kanji, as they clarify the meaning quite a bit. There are far too many words that sound the same but have different meanings in Japanese.

[shoga]

I'm not EXACTLY sure what you're asking for, but if you're simply looking for a translation of the original novel that is the inspiration for the anime movie (& live-action films/manga etc), then the good news is that it's going to be released in May 2011;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Who-Leapt- ... 416&sr=1-2