Hello All!
When I was just getting started on this road of light novel fandom, there was a website I found which made my life so much easier/better. That website was English Light Novels .com.
Now, I’ve mentioned this website before. A few months ago, I participated in a joint article where myself and several others did a brief overview of titles we would recommend to people who were new to light novels.
After that article, the owner of the site, Cho, asked if anyone would be further interested in contributing articles in the future. I had a great experience with the newbies article, and honestly, felt indebted to Cho’s website, so I volunteered. What came out of it were two articles I’m proud to have created/contributed to.
My articles dealt with two books; the recent Vertical Inc. release of Bakemonogatari and its prequel, Kizumonogatari.
Themes of Love and Loss in Bakemonogatari
For my first article, I tore into the deeper themes in Bakemonogatari.
After doing spoiler-free reviews for a year-and-a-half, it was gratifying to dig into the meat and bones of a book instead of leaving so much unsaid (I could do this in my reviews, but I mean them to help readers find new books, not spoil them). There was a freedom in truly expressing what the book meant to me and what I took away from it.
If you’re interested, you can read the article at this link – Love and Loss in Bakemonogatari.
Which Came First, the Bake or the Kizu?
The second article was a joint effort by Cho and I.
In Japan, where the Monogatari series was first released, Bakemonogatari came first, with Kizu, a prequel, releasing second. In English, the release order was reversed. The books are starkly different from each other, something Cho demonstrated in her component of the article. For my part, I theorized why the change was made for English audiences.
To read that article, follow this link – Which Came First, the Bake or the Kizu?
I’m proud of what Cho and I produced. I’d really appreciate it if you visited the site and showed those articles some support (admittedly, I’m late in posting this article myself). I’m looking forward to contributing to Cho’s site in the future.
Let me know what you thought of the articles!
All the best,
JR