Read Light Novel

A light novel is one of the coolest modern Japanese cultures while anime and manga have been known more commonly as leading Japanese contents recently. However, don’t forget that light novels which are generated by Japanese pop culture (or subculture) becomes the basis of anime and manga adaptions. Current popular anime series are adapted from the light novels.

Speaking of Japanese novels, Haruki Murakami, Soseki Natsume and other modern authors are famous worldwide. At the same time, light novels can be positioned as part of Japanese literature.

The definition of light novels are not clear in a general way. To put it plainly, light novels often have an anime-style illustration on the book cover and some character illustrations are added inside the book as well. That kind of novels were sold in Japan from around the 1970s and it is said that light novels originate with that date.

Light novels became widely recognized when the legendary Slayers written by Hajime Kanzaki (illustrated by Rui Araizumi) was published in 1989 though there were a small minority of the fans in the whole society. Since then, now-famous titles have been released in Japan and the light novel is one of the most popular book genres as well as manga and novels in the present day.

Is it good to read light novels?

While a high proportion of them do tend to be pitched at young adult audiences, light novels can cover any genre, be of any length, and they don't even necessarily have to be easier to read than regular novels. Because of that, you can find a considerable amount of variety from light novels.

 

Are novels and light novels the same?

What is the difference between a novel and a light novel? In short: Light Novels are usually shorter and they also contain few illustrations. In addition they are easier to read. This is particular because the text contains much simpler and easier to read modern kanji.

 

Can adults read light novels?

Light novels are aimed only at middle/high-schoolers

Case in point being Dengeki, an imprint whose catalogue offers content for high-schoolers to young adults, getting all the way to readers in their 30's and even 40's.