Welcome to the second installment of NICE BOOK. As promised last week, this time we shall be exploring the various light novels Kagami reads in the series Lucky Star.
For those who are unfamiliar with the character and/or the series, Lucky Star is an anime produced by Kyoto Animation (the people behind Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, AIR, Suzumiya Haruhi, Kanon, Clannad) based on a 4koma by Yoshimizu Kagami. It chronicles the life of first year high school student Izumi Konata, as well as her various friends. The series is packed with loads of references to otaku culture.
Hiiragi Kagami is one of Konata’s friends. She has a twin sister by the name of Hiiragi Tsukasa, and is often affectionately referred to as ‘Kagamin~’ by Konata. She is a typical tsukkomi character, though she does get dere-dere at times. She loves reading light novels, but unfortunately no one around her seems to share this passion. Throughout the series, she is seen reading various titles.
Episode 2
The Full Metal Panic series is one of the most well-known light novel series out there, written by Gatou Shouji and illustrated by Shikidouji. Burning ONE MAN FORCE is the 17th novel (7th Story Novel, if you ignore all the side-story novels) in the series, and is set after Continuing ON MY OWN.
Episode 4
Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is written by Tsutsui Yasutaka way back in 1966. For those who have watched the anime move of the same name, this novel is the ‘prequel’ to the movie, as the movie was set as a continuation of the novel. In the novel, the main character is Yoshiyama Kazuko, who happens to be Makoto’s “Aunt Witch” in the movie.
Episode 10
This is the 18th book in the FMP series, and is one of the side story novels. It makes sense that Kagami reads this in Episode 10 as she previously read the 17th book in Episode 2. This book explores the background stories of Kalinin and Mardukas, and has one story concerning Sousuke’s new “pet”…
Episode 17
Rental Magica is a light novel series written by Sanda Makoto and illustrated by Pako, serialized in The Sneaker (the magazine which Suzumiya Haruhi is published), Kadokawa Shouten. It chronicles the life of Iba Itsuki, who inherits his father’s business, Astral, after his mysterious disappearance. Astral is a “magic rental” service that basically dispatches its employers to anyone who is need of “magical assistance”. Each light novel is written as a story arc about a “request” they receive.
Episode 18
Nagai Yuuki is a 16 year old who hates going to school. One day, while on his way to school, he sees a mysterious girl coming out from the old school block - a school that was destroyed in an air raid during World War Two and supposedly connects two worlds…
This award-winning novel is penned by Sakaki Ichiro, author of Scrapped Princess and Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica. It is illustrated by Koin, who illustrated Polyphonica and Kanokon.
Episode 23
At the time of airing (September 9th), the latest novel in the Rental Magica series is Volume 10, the volume Kagami is reading.
Other Cameos
There are also a couple of other cameos in the series (mainly in the form of manga), and here are some of them, psychotic ones, obviously >:3
The PS 2 port for Higurashi, makes an appearance.
The manga-only Onisarashi-hen (Demon Exposing Chapter).
Ga-Rei and Mirai Nikki. Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki is <3
Suzumiya Haruhi’s formula, a guide book to the anime.
Sneak Preview: Shakugan no Shana. Full Metal Panic. Gosick. All are novels translated (by professional companies) into English. What are the differences between them and the Japanese version? Stay tuned to find out! >:3
This post is tagged Lucky Star
7 Comments
Haha thanks for the compilation. Makes me feel like watching rakisuta again ^^
It makes me want to read the actual books! I must admit that I have never enjoyed a light novel except for Kino no Tabi and Gosick so far, because I found the ‘light’ writing style so awkward. Or is it all because of the translations?
NICE BLOG
I enjoyed the fan translations of the Haruhi novels. But admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have cared much for them if not for the anime.
Wow. Kagami is totally a closet otaku, it seems…
About translations. I think that the translations in Baka Tsuki are a bit too textual in the phrasing. I haven’t really had that kind of problems with the official translations I’ve read (like FMP or NHK).
However, I have some problems with the narrative of books like the Haruhi or the Toradora novels. They are too reiterative, and it feels specially forced with some very dull descriptions. I think we have read about “the cute looking senpai in the frilly maid uniform that could make the whole world shine with her smile ” or “the petite figure that doesn’t match with the ferocious eyes that could kill somebody at first sight” enought times to get the idea. But sometimes it feels like there’s a variation of that same description every five paragraphs.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are published in a serial format and the editors require the authors to do that every damn chapter, but it dimishes the, erm… “literary” quality of the books as a whole.
Of course, there are bigger problems, but I think somebody else can point them out better than me..
The only light novels I’ve read so far are the main FMP novels, up to Continuing On My Own. I’d love to read some other stuff, though.
Oh, on the mango, it’s Ga-Rei, not Garei. And it’s deliciously funny, better than bleach, and being animated. So go read it now if you haven’t
HolyCow: Fixed. Thanks >:D
The Rental Magica series looks interesting, but I suppose it has not yet been licensed in English?
HolyCow: The Rental Magica series is currently unlicensed to my knowing, and is still ongoing in Japan. From what I last heard though, RM has plenty of hard kanji and unusual words since it contains a lot of occult reference.
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