It's hell.Poke2201 wrote:Isn't english fun?
Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Moderators: Fringe Security Bureau, Senior Editors, Senior Translators, Alt. Language Translator/Editor, Executive Council, Project Translators, Project Editors
- Mystes
- Heaven's Blade Successor
- Posts: 15932
- Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 6:54 am
- Favourite Light Novel:
- Contact:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Kira0802
#campione at rizon for some #campione discussions~~ And other stuffs.
#campione at rizon for some #campione discussions~~ And other stuffs.
- ainsoph9
- Osaka-ben Gaijin-Sama
- Posts: 13824
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:30 am
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: leave a message at the beep
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
On that note, while I know one of the reasons why "light novels" are called "light novels," I always had the feeling that they could be called something else that is somewhat more fitting. The term just seems kind of awkward to me.
- Kinny Riddle
- Senior Project Translator
- Posts: 653
- Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 11:54 am
- Favourite Light Novel:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Stop wasting page space and going off topic, folks. Do you know how exhausting it is to scroll down through any posts that veer off from the main topic just to get back to one that talks about it again? Just on the last 2 pages, I think I counted nearly 50% of posts veering into the meta-discussion on what an "afterword" is, rather than responding to the main topic question itself.
That goes for all of your other discussions as well, since I'm at it.
Anyway, I always read the afterword, as it gives insights into the author's intentions on the plot and any replies to reader feedback he has received.
Occasionally, you get the lazy standardized afterwords, with Shana's Takahashi Yashiro being a notorious example.
Every afterword in his novel goes with the exact same format:
1. Greeting
2. Two summarising sentences about what the volume's main theme is all about
3. Moaning about his editor Miki-san
4. Very long paragraph listing the names and place of origin of all the letters he has received from the readers, mostly from Japan. Though occasionally he gets a few from Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
5. Thanking the editor, publishing staff and readers
That goes for all of your other discussions as well, since I'm at it.
Anyway, I always read the afterword, as it gives insights into the author's intentions on the plot and any replies to reader feedback he has received.
Occasionally, you get the lazy standardized afterwords, with Shana's Takahashi Yashiro being a notorious example.
Every afterword in his novel goes with the exact same format:
1. Greeting
2. Two summarising sentences about what the volume's main theme is all about
3. Moaning about his editor Miki-san
4. Very long paragraph listing the names and place of origin of all the letters he has received from the readers, mostly from Japan. Though occasionally he gets a few from Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
5. Thanking the editor, publishing staff and readers
- ainsoph9
- Osaka-ben Gaijin-Sama
- Posts: 13824
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:30 am
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: leave a message at the beep
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
That format just sounds very Japanese to me.
- Teh_ping
- Editor-in-Assistance
- Posts: 1729
- Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:32 pm
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: Magdala
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Here's a sample of Kamachi Kazuma:
And Inoue Kenji's version of an afterword:
Spoiler! :
Spoiler! :
- larethian
- I.D.S.E Humanoid Interface [LSB]
- Posts: 2191
- Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:50 pm
- Favourite Light Novel:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Kagami Takaya:
Spoiler! :
- Poke2201
- Project Translator
- Posts: 8033
- Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:39 pm
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Contact:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
I think I read some of Toradora's afterwords, some were very humorous.
onizuka-gto wrote:Big Boss was playing with the cosmic forces and forgot to switch the blog database back on.
- ainsoph9
- Osaka-ben Gaijin-Sama
- Posts: 13824
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:30 am
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: leave a message at the beep
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
One of the things about the afterwords of many authors and manga-ka that I have noticed is that they tend to talk about things that come off as completely random from the reader's perspective, especially since they typically have nothing to do with the novel. Do you think there is any particular reason why this is?
- Doraneko
- Project Translator
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:38 am
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: \アッカリーン/
- Contact:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Because frankly speaking, cookie-cutter afterwords that thank everyone on earth and his grandma and her dog are boring to everyone, including the author himself.ainsoph9 wrote:One of the things about the afterwords of many authors and manga-ka that I have noticed is that they tend to talk about things that come off as completely random from the reader's perspective, especially since they typically have nothing to do with the novel. Do you think there is any particular reason why this is?
I prefer authors who won't reserve their creativity even in the limited span of one or a few pages.
My light novel review blog: ラノなの!@ novel.co.nr
- Mystes
- Heaven's Blade Successor
- Posts: 15932
- Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 6:54 am
- Favourite Light Novel:
- Contact:
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
Actually, I see that they tend usually to talk about their personal experiences or such. My guess is that they don't think that a 2 pages-comment about their work would be interesting.ainsoph9 wrote:Do you think there is any particular reason why this is?
BTW, Daisuke Suzuki introduced his own characters as real characters, or ou can also says that he makes himself 'fictional' in the afterword. Both works. However, the main point is that he interacts with his character(s) and talks often about the next volume. And sometimes, it's pure characters breaking the fourth wall. Though I guess many authors do that, there's not an ounce of narrative passage in. Purely dialogue.
Kira0802
#campione at rizon for some #campione discussions~~ And other stuffs.
#campione at rizon for some #campione discussions~~ And other stuffs.
- ainsoph9
- Osaka-ben Gaijin-Sama
- Posts: 13824
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:30 am
- Favourite Light Novel: Ahouka!
- Location: leave a message at the beep
Re: Poll: Do you people read the Afterword of Light Novels?
While cookie-cutter is boring, that kind of formula is not by necessity. Talking about the novel and things of the sort like Gatou Shoji does for FMP can also be a way to keep things interesting. The funny thing is that Gatou Shoji was never able to truly keep his promises in the afterwords to lighten things up.Doraneko wrote:Because frankly speaking, cookie-cutter afterwords that thank everyone on earth and his grandma and her dog are boring to everyone, including the author himself.
I prefer authors who won't reserve their creativity even in the limited span of one or a few pages.
It is nice that they talk about their lives and such, but I think many of them do somewhat of a poor job helping the reader relate to their life experiences sometimes. There is generally not enough intro to make the reader understand where the author is coming from and why they are saying what they are saying. Hence, it comes off as obtuse.kira0802 wrote:Actually, I see that they tend usually to talk about their personal experiences or such. My guess is that they don't think that a 2 pages-comment about their work would be interesting.
BTW, Daisuke Suzuki introduced his own characters as real characters, or ou can also says that he makes himself 'fictional' in the afterword. Both works. However, the main point is that he interacts with his character(s) and talks often about the next volume. And sometimes, it's pure characters breaking the fourth wall. Though I guess many authors do that, there's not an ounce of narrative passage in. Purely dialogue.
The other side of this is, of course as you said, making the author somewhat fictional by drawing half-done manga drawings of themselves and the like. It is either that or being quite self-depreciating. Takaya Natsuki of Fruits Basket fame tends to do this a lot in her afterwords and sidebar notes in addition to telling personal stories. She sometimes does break the 4th wall, but it is not too common. The one thing that she does do well is make you kind of walk through her life to an extent with continuous stories throughout the volumes of Fruits Basket, which is not as nearly as obtuse.