J-Novel Club Licenses 13 New Light Novel & Manga Titles including Slayers & More

Book distributor J-Novel Club has revealed new acquisitions as part of the Anime Expo Lite 2020 convention on Friday 3rd July to Saturday 4th July 2020. These titles range from light novels, manga and also new additions for their special shoujo-focused label J-Novel Heart.

Thirteen titles were revealed in total, with eight light novels and three manga launching on the same day for J-Novel Club members on its official website. One light novel will become available at a later date.

Starting off the license announcements with titles coming to J-Novel Club under the J-Novel Heart label!

Holmes of Kyoto

(Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes)

京都寺町三条のホームズ

Written by Mai Mochizuki

Plot Synopsis:

“Half a year after moving to Kyoto, high school girl Aoi Mashiro brings her late grandfather’s old scrolls to Kura, an antique store nestled in Kyoto’s Teramachi-Sanjo shopping arcade, for an appraisal. One thing leads to another, and she winds up working there part-time. The manager’s son, Kiyotaka Yagashira – nicknamed the “Holmes of Kyoto” – is uncannily perceptive, and together, they solve strange cases relating to the antiques brought to them by clients.”

A Lily Blooms in Another World

(Isekai ni Saku wa Yuri no Hana)

異世界に咲くは百合の花

Written by Ameko Kaeruda with illustrations by Shio Sakura

Plot Synopsis:

“Miyako Florence isn’t sad when her fiancée breaks off their engagement after two years. It’s all according to plan! Whisked to the world of her favorite otome game, Miyako frees herself from a dull noble to pursue her true soulmate: the game’s villainess Fuuka Hamilton. Proud Fuuka only has eyes for their mutual ex-fiancée! Miyako confesses her love to Fuuka and proposes that they run away together.

Fuuka agrees on one condition: Miyako must make her say “I’m happy” in 14 days. With conniving nobles, strange diseases, and magical rituals pulling them apart, can Miyako win the villainess’s heart? A tentative bud blossoms in this twisting romance from the author of Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!”

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist

(Mahou Sekai no Uketsuke Jou ni Naritai desu)

魔法世界の受付嬢になりたいです

Written by Mako with illustrations by Maro

Plot Synopsis:

“In a world of everyday magic, Nanalie has always dreamed of becoming a receptionist at the prestigious Sorcerer’s Guild. To achieve her goal, she needs to attend a magic school full of princes and the daughters of nobles. Determined to prove that a commoner can be the number one student, she must compete with Rockmann, the son of a duke. When she graduates, she lands her dream job and they go their separate ways. Nanalie enjoys spending each day alongside her familiar Lala and her kind co-workers, but it seems that fate won’t let her escape her entanglement with Rockmann that easily…”

The next license announcements are light novel titles coming to J-Novel Club under the main label!

Black Summoner

(Kuro no Shoukanshi)

黒の召喚士

Written by Doufu Mayoi and illustrations by Kurogin (DIGS)

Plot Synopsis:

“Waking up in a strange new place with no memory of his past life, Kelvin learns that he’s bartered away those very memories in exchange for powerful new abilities during his recent transmigration. Heading out into a whole new world as a Summoner – with his first Follower being the very goddess who brought him over! – Kelvin begins his new life as an adventurer, and it isn’t long before he discovers his hidden disposition as a battle junkie.

From the Black Knight of the Ancient Castle of Evil Spirits to the demon within the Hidden Cave of the Sage, he revels in the fight against one formidable foe after another. Join this OP adventurer in an exhilarating and epic saga as he and his allies carve their way into the annals of history!”

The Bloodline

ブラッドライン

Written by Taketeru Sunamori with illustrations by hakus

Plot Synopsis:

“After the fall of civilization, a hierarchical society was born where blood determines everything. The rich steal both the blood and lifespans of the poor, rejoicing in their now-eternal lives.

Nagi is a commoner fated to die, while Saya is royalty, gifted with eternal youth. When fate brings their unlikely paths together, their innocent love set the gears in motion to tear down the walls of a society built upon tremendous inequality and racial discrimination.”

Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party

(Hazure Skill “Mapping” wo Te ni Shita Shounen wa Saikyou Party to Dungeon ni Idomu)

外れスキル【地図化(マッピング)】を手にした少年は最強パーティーとダンジョンに挑む

Written by Udon Kamono and illustrations by Hitomi Shizuki

Plot Synopsis:

“Note Athlon was really looking forward to becoming an adventurer with his best friend (and crush) Miya. That is, until he drew Mapping – a rare skill with practically no purpose. In other words, it’s trash. This kicks off a vicious spiral for Note, who plummets further and further into the depths of self-loathing despair when Miya leaves him. He now spends his days drinking away his earnings,
wondering how things might have been different if only he’d pulled a better skill…

But little does he know his trash-tier skill is about to score him an invite to a top-tier adventuring party! Note’s now determined to find his way through life – and a dungeon! – in order to make something of himself.”

My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!

(Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou Sugite, Isekai no Yatsura ga Marude Aite ni Naranai n desu ga.)

即死チートが最強すぎて、異世界のやつらがまるで相手にならないんですが。

Written by Tsuyoshi Fujitaka with illustrations by Chisato Naruse

Plot Synopsis:

“Awaking to absolute chaos and carnage while on a school trip, Yogiri Takatou discovers that everyone in his class has been transported to another world! He had somehow managed to sleep through the entire ordeal himself, missing out on the Gift – powers bestowed upon the others by a mysterious Sage who appeared to transport them. Even worse, he and another classmate were ruthlessly abandoned by their friends, left as bait to distract a nearby dragon.

Although not terribly bothered by the thought of dying, he reluctantly decides to protect his lone companion. After all, a lowly Level 1000 monster doesn’t stand a chance against his secret power to invoke Instant Death with a single thought! If he can stay awake long enough to bother using it, that is…”

Slayers

スレイヤーズ

Written by Hajime Kanzaka with illustrations by Rui Araizumi

Plot Synopsis:

“Beautiful and brilliant sorcerer girls just can’t have nice things, huh? All I wanted to do was swipe a little bit of bandit treasure. Now suddenly I’m being chased around by icky trolls, nasty demons, mean mummies, and brooding golem bad boys. And for what? A tiny little artifact that can bring about the end of the world? Hah! I’ll show them there’s a reason you don’t cross Lina Inverse…”

WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures in a Fantasy World After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!

(Truck Uketome Isekai Tensei! Nekketsu Butouha Koukousei Wataru!!)

トラック受け止め異世界転生ッ!熱血武闘派高校生ワタルッッ!!

Written by Simotti with illustrations by RELUCY

Plot Synopsis:

“It’s a wonderful day for Wataru Ito, high school student, master martial artist, honorable and humble teenager, and all-around awesome guy. During his daily run to school he happened to get hit by a large truck barreling around a corner.

Not that this is the kind of event that would be the end of the likes of Wataru, of course, but when a truck runs into you, you get sent to another world. That’s just the way things are sometimes. Still, Wataru’s not about to take this kind of thing lying down! The first thing he sets out to do is find who’s the toughest hombre in this land and go up against the greatest challenges this new world has to offer!

Oh, and the greatest fighter in this place also happens to be the Demon Lord who is kidnapping people all across the kingdom in an attempt to wipe out humanity? Even better! Wataru’s main interest is in facing a tough battle; saving the world in the process is just icing on the cake!

And last but not least these license announcements are manga titles coming to J-Novel Club under the main label!

Black Summoner

(Kuro no Shoukanshi)

黒の召喚士

Written by Gin Ammo
Based on the light novel series written by Doufu Mayoi and illustrated by Kurogin (DIGS)

I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi!

(Ore ga Fujoshi de Aitsu ga Yuriota de)

オレが腐女子でアイツが百合オタで

Written by Ajiichi

Plot Synopsis:

“Meet Reiji Yoshida: a yuri otaku that loves yuri more than anything else in the world. All he wants is to enjoy his hobby in peace, but trouble ensues when he crosses paths with Mitsuru Hoshina, a fujoshi who is obsessed with boys’ love. Hijinks ensue, and a vengeful ghost residing in their school’s manga club swaps their bodies! Polar opposites in both personalities and hobbies clash in this exciting first volume – follow the adventures of their comedic body swap experiences!”

Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party

(Hazure Skill “Mapping” wo Te ni Shita Shounen wa Saikyou Party to Dungeon ni Idomu)

外れスキル【地図化(マッピング)】を手にした少年は最強パーティーとダンジョンに挑む

Written by Savan

Based on the light novel series written by Udon Kamono and illustrated by Hitomi Shizuki

Record of Wortenia War

(Wortenia Senki)

ウォルテニア戦記

Written by Yukari Yagi with Scripting and Layouts by Fumi Arawi
Based on the light novel series written by Ryota Hori and illustrated by bob

Plot Synopsis:

“Ryoma Mikoshiba, an ordinary high-schooler adept at martial arts, one day finds himself summoned to another world. The ones who summoned him, the O’ltormea Empire, cite the fact that ‘when those summoned kill another living being, they can absorb a fraction of their strength and make it their own’ as their reason. But upon learning the empire uses those they summon to strengthen themselves by foul means, Ryoma is consumed by hatred and slays an important member of the O’ltormean court.

Attempting to escape the Empire’s borders while keeping his identity a secret, he is accosted by two twin sisters – one golden-haired, the other silver-haired – in a meeting that sets the gears of fate in motion. The curtain rises on a record of the wars of a young supreme ruler in this other world fantasy!”

J-Novel Club also announced they have been working on a website redesign with a beta available to view right now. There’s also going to be some updates for the mobile app as well, which the publisher mentioned an Autumn 2020 window.

For $4.50 a month, J-Novel Club members will be able to read over 80 titles in the catalogue with over 50 of them currently ongoing series. J-Novel Club features novels from a variety of genres with Amagi Brilliant ParkCrest of the Stars, Full Metal Panic!, Infinite Stratos, Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Kokoro Connect, Sexiled, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen to name a few.

J-Novel Club also includes a ton of Isekai novels like ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Ascendance of a Bookworm, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, In Another World With My Smartphone and My Next Life as a Villainess and many more. You can also read By the Grace of the Gods which is getting an upcoming anime through Funimation later this year.


Source: J-Novel Club Email Press Release

NormanicGrav

Known simply as 'Grav' by the anime community, his interests are flexible as he is generally not that bothered by what he watches, whether it's a top-tier series or an enjoyable isekai harem trash type. Either way, he does his best to bring folks the latest news on AUKN and also any other information and unboxing hauls over on his Normanic Vault blog.

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