Earlier today, publisher J-Novel Club hosted a streaming panel as part of the Anime Expo Lite digital event. During the presentation, the publisher announced that they’re adding nine light novels and four manga titles to their digital lineup.

The publisher will add the following:

Light Novels

Manga

Slayers

Slayers Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first part of the first volume of Slayers is available on J-Novel Club.

Hajime Kanzaka and illustrator Rui Araizumi’s Slayers light novel made its début in the pages of Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Magazine in 1989. The title made its return on October 20, 2018, when the sixteenth volume shipped to stores. The most recent installment, Volume 17 hit Japanese retailers on October 19, 2019.

J-Novel Club describes the series as:

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…

Western publisher TOKYOPOP originally released the first eight volumes of Slayers in English in North America.

The title received a TV anime adaptation from J.C. Staff, which aired in Spring 1995. Takashi Watanabe (Shakugan no Shana, Space Pirate Mito) directed the project, which featured character designs by Naomi Miyata (Lost Universe, Master of Martial Hearts). Takao Koyama (Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya) took charge of series composition.

The Slayers anime TV series received four sequel series, as well as several side-story OVA:

  • The Slayers NEXT
  • The Slayers TRY
  • The Slayers Premium
  • The Slayers Revolution
  • The Slayers Evolution-R

The main Slayers franchise also received several OVAs and films, and four manga adaptations. Central Park Media originally released the first three Slayers TV series, as well as several manga volumes. ADV Films handled the OVA and movie adaptations.

Funimation currently holds the domestic rights to The Slayers TV series.

The Bloodline

The Bloodline Novel Volume 1 Cover

The Bloodline will be published first on J-Novel Club. A specific release date has not been specified as of press time. J-Novel Club describes the title as:

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 noweternal 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.

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

My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me - Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! are currently available on J-Novel Club’s service.

The title is published by Earth Star, with volume 1 shipping to Japanese retailers on October 15, 2016. The ongoing title currently spans eight volumes, with the latest hitting stores on February 15.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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…

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

Wataru Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures in a Fantasy World After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!!‘s first volume are currently available on J-Novel Club.

The title made its debut on December 25, 2019 under Overlap’s main imprint. The most recent installment, volume 2, shipped to stores on June 25.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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!

A Lily Blooms in Another World

A Lily Blooms in Another World Novel Cover

The first part A Lily Blooms in Another World is currently available on J-Novel Club’s website.

The title is a one-shot, which debuted under GL Bunko’s imprint in 2020. J-Novel Club describes it as:

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!

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

Mapping - The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of the first volume of Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party are now available via J-Novel Club.

The series debuted under Overlap’s imprint on May 25, 2018. Six volumes have been published to date, with the most recent shipping to stores on March 25, 2020.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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.

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist

The Sorcererers Receptionist Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of The Sorcerer’s Receptionist‘s first volume are now available via J-Novel Club. The title is being released under the publisher’s J-Novel Heart label.

Frontier Works released the first volume of the title on July 12, 2018. Three volumes have been released to date, with the latest shipping on January 11, 2020.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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…

Black Summoner

Black Summoner Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of Black Summoner‘s first volume are now available via J-Novel Club.

Overlap shipped the title’s first volume to stores on June 23, 2016. Twelve volumes have been released to date, with the most recent shipping to stores on May 25.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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!

Holmes of Kyoto

Holmes of Kyoto Novel Volume 1 Cover

The first two parts of the first volume of Holmes of Kyoto are now available via J-Novel Club.

The title originally launched under Futabasha’s main imprint in April 2015. Fourteen books have been published to date, with volume 15 due to hit retailers on August 6. The series received an anime adaptation by Seven, which aired in the Summer 2018 broadcast season.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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.

I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi!

I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi Manga Volume 1 Cover

The first chapter of I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi! is currently available on J-Novel Club’s website.

The series launched in Media Factory’s Comic Flapper magazine in 2016. The title spans four volumes, with the most recent hitting stores on December 22, 2017.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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!

Record of Wortenia War

Record of Wortenia War Manga Volume 1 Cover

The first chapter of Record of Wortenia War is currently available via J-Novel Club.

The title originally launched in Hobby Japan’s Comic Fire magazine in 2016. The title currently spans five compiled volumes, with the most recent shipping to stores on September 27.

J-Novel Club describes it as:

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!

Source: J-Novel Club