J-Novel Club Licenses The Misfit of Demon King Academy Light Novels, Doll-Kara Manga, & More Titles in March

the misfit of demon king academy volume one feature image
© 2019 Shu/KADOKAWA
By
William Moo
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J-Novel Club announced nine new light novel and manga acquisitions on March 18th, 2022, headlined by the English light novel release of The Misfit of Demon King Academy. 

The first few chapters of each manga series highlighted below are now available to be read on their website. Meanwhile, the first two parts of each light novel’s first volume will be available to be read as well.

J-Novel Club’s most notable acquisition, The Misfit of Demon King Academy, is a light novel series written by SHU and illustrated by Yoshinori Shizuma. It was first published on the web novel website Shousetsuka ni Narou on April 2, 2017 before being picked up by the Dengeki Bunko imprint. The first light novel volume was republished on March 10, 2018, with 11 volumes of the series having been published so far.

Mana Z. will translate the light novels into English with Stephanie Buck as editor. 

In addition to a short-lived manga adaptation, the series also inspired a 13-episode anime television series that ran from July 4 to September 26, 2020. Silver Link handled animation production for the anime, with a second split-cour season confirmed to be in the works. Most of the animation staff and voice cast from the first season are returning, except for Tatsuhisa Suzuki, who will be replaced by Yuuichirou Umehara. Crunchyroll streamed the series weekly as it aired. 

The light novel’s story is described as:

Tired of ceaseless war destroying humans, spirits, and demons alike, the Demon King of Tyranny, Anos Voldigoad, reincarnates to restore peace. Two thousand years have passed…but who could have known that his descendants’ complacency would cause magic to regress so much? After receiving an invitation to the illustrious Demon King Academy, a school tasked with locating the reincarnated founding ancestor, Anos resolves to enroll, only to discover that his magic is off the charts—literally! With power too great to be measured, the former Demon King is branded a misfit. How will he convince demonkind that the school’s founder stands before them? Thus begins a misfit’s climb to the top of the demon hierarchy!

Another manga J-Novel Club licensed is Akihiro Ononaka’s Gushing over Magical Girls — a yuri action series that flips the script on one girl’s dream of being a magical girl. The series was first published in Manga Life STORIA Dash on January 30, 2019. Around six tankoubon volumes collecting around 35 chapters have been published so far. 

Mikey N. is translating the manga into English with Adam Haffen as editor and Elena Pizzaro as letterer. 

Gushing over Magical Girls is described as:

Hi, I’m Hiiragi Utena. I’m a normal magical-girl-loving middle school girl—or at least I was, but then some talking mascot showed up out of the blue and cast a spell on me! Now’s my chance to join my beloved magical girls as…a villain? Hang on, something’s wrong with my outfit! This can’t be happening! Watch this shy magical-girl fan transform into a sadistic dominatrix! When good and evil collide, who will be the one to submit?!

Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! is a manga written and illustrated by Niichi, described as a twist on the standard boy-meets-girl story. It first began as a web manga on the creator’s Twitter and Pixiv accounts on August 5, 2018, before being picked up for formal publication by KADOKAWA on July 31, 2020. 

Yen-Po Tseng is the English translator for the series with Seanna Hundt as editor and Poh Xuan Qin as letterer.

The manga series is described as:

Kaoru Terasaki is a gamer who’s into MMORPGs, and he’s finally meeting up with someone he’s been friends with in-game for a long while—this time, offline and in person. He’s worried that his friend will be disappointed to see Kaoru is a guy, unlike his female character in the game. But he’s the one who’s in for a surprise when, instead of another guy, his friend turns out to be a cute girl, Nanami Osaka. On top of that, Nanami told her parents that she would be bringing a friend over—a female friend. Even worse, Nanami’s dad is the super overprotective type who won’t allow any guys near his daughter. There’s only one solution to this dilemma: Kaoru has to cross-dress as a girl! 

Will Kaoru’s efforts pay off in the end?! Will Kaoru and Nanami remain just friends, or will their time together IRL change everything? Follow their romantic-comedy adventures to find out!

Another new manga title J-Novel Club has picked up is the gender-bender martial arts manga Doll-Kara — starring real-life K-1 Seidokaikan karate founder Kazuyoshi Ishii. It was first serialized on April 28, 2017 with Ishii credited as the series writer while artist Hanamura provided artwork. 

David Evelyn is translating the manga into English, with assistance from Callum May as editor and Greg Deng as letterer. 

The manga is described as:

Kazuyoshi Ishii, the founder of the martial arts organization K-1, had been sent to prison for tax evasion. After serving his sentence, he exits Shizuoka Prison only to be immediately killed by a speeding truck and reincarnated in the body of Kei Ichinose—a comatose high school girl?! Twenty years since the genesis of K-1, the MMA world’s problem solver now inhabits the body of a schoolgirl and comes to grips with the karate he left behind in this story of youthful spirit and determination.

The Saga of Lioncourt is an action-fantasy manga adapted from writer Hiroaki Ogura’s light novel series of the same name. Artist Nagy provides illustrations for the series. The manga was first published on September 6, 2019 on Takeshobo’s Web Comic Gamma digital magazine. 

JCT is translating the series into English, with Meiru as editor and Evan Hayden as letterer. 

J-Novel Club describes The Saga of Lioncourt as: 

Tadashi Tanaka is a typical office worker whose life comes to an abrupt end at the age of forty-one due to cancer. But instead of going to heaven, he finds himself in a world resembling medieval Europe. Much like the Middle Ages, there are no modern conveniences, people eat with their hands, and pigs roam free in the streets. Worst of all, wars between nations are an everyday occurrence. Now, Tadashi Tanaka must live his second life as Varian de Lioncourt. Can an ordinary office worker survive in this cruel world? Varian’s rise to power begins here!

Based on a popular fantasy light novel, the manga adaptation of Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village follows the everyday life of a boy in a farming village who uses books to uncover long-lost secrets. Original creator Mizuumi Amakawa is credited with writing the manga’s story while Yoruno Kuroki handles the artwork. 

David Evelyn is translating the manga into English. Hendra Boerma is the editor and Dan Macaran is the letterer. 

The manga series is described as: 

When the civilizations of yesteryear fade from memory and become fanciful fantasy, the only evidence of their existence…are books. Ash, a young boy living in a remote farming village, holds a secret—he possesses memories of a distant and more bountiful past life. Days of toiling in the fields have given rise to a burning desire: to bring more enjoyment to the everyday doldrum of his dreary present day! And while books may be the answer, Ash…can’t actually read! But where there is a will, there is a way. Join Ash as he battles illiteracy and sets his sights on a better life!

Another manga series based on a cozy slice-of-life light novel is Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! The series is written by You Fugurama and illustrated by Akihito Ono has arrived! It was first published on August 28, 2019 in Comic ZERO-SUM. 

Elanor Sakamoto is translating the series into English, with Andrew Goh as editor and Kelsey Denton as letterer. 

The manga adaptation is described as:

Alec, an A-rank adventurer, meets Shiori, a woman with the mysterious appellation “housekeeping mage.” She has so little magical power that she’s useless as a combat mage, but to make up for it, she uses her magic to take care of all the daily chores of an expedition, like washing and cooking, single-handedly. As Alec adventures with Shiori, her novel use of magic provides a warm bath and delicious food…in other words, an environment much too comfortable to be called “camping”! He’s completely taken with her, but she has a certain secret…

J-Novel Club has also licensed the first volume of VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream. The series first started out as a web novel on HameIn on June 22, 2022. KADOKAWA later released a revised version with new illustrations under its Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint on May 20, 2021. Nana Nanato is the writer for the series while Siokazunoko provides illustrations. 

Alice Prowse is the light novel’s English translator and Alexandra Fresch is the editor. 

The light novel series is described as:

Twenty-year-old former wage slave Yuki Tanaka now works among her idols: the streamers of Live-On, one of Japan’s top VTuber companies. As the gorgeous, polite Awayuki Kokorone, she delivers only the most ladylike content. Unfortunately, her subscriber count and savings are at rock bottom. One evening, after Yuki thinks she’s ended her stream, she cracks a few cold ones—and more than a few crude jokes—while watching Live-On’s video archives. But her viewers hear it all, and clips of her bawdy, drunken commentary go viral overnight. Yuki thinks her career is over…until her manager reveals that everyone at Live-On has been waiting for her to snap all along and gives her free rein to drink on-stream. Now free of all feigned purity, she jumps right into her new “rowdy drunk” character and is welcomed into the fold by her fellow Live-On VTubers, who turn out to be just as crazy as she is! With her views and finances skyrocketing, Yuki’s work—for the first time in her life—is actually fun!

D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared is a light novel series written by Tsuranori Kono and illustrated by ttl. The story follows a regular office worker who quits his day job to profit off of fantastical RPG dungeons. 

JCT is translating the light novel into English and Alyssa Wejebe is the editor. 

The light novel is described as:

Three years ago, dungeons suddenly appeared on Earth after an experiment in Area 51 went awry. Now everyone—from average citizens to soldiers—explores these monster-filled labyrinths in search of wealth, power, and magic. Keigo Yoshimura is an office worker with no sense of adventure, who dreams of quitting his job to live the easy life. While out on a business call, he stumbles on the birth of a new dungeon and accidentally gains a magical skill that turns subterranean exploration into an RPG. Things spiral out of control and Keigo winds up as the world’s top explorer. With help from Azusa Miyoshi, his mathematically gifted colleague and new business partner in dungeon diving, he might be able to turn the status screens he sees into piles of cash. Unfortunately, Keigo ends up under the scrutiny of the military, government agencies, and even more sinister forces. What happened to his dream of taking it easy?!

J-Novel Club is also hosting a special contest where fans have to perform their best rendition of the Hatoko rant from When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace. The rant should be done in one take and uploaded as a video on Twitter with the hashtag “#hatokochallenge.” 

j-novel club when supernatural battles become commonplace hatoko rant contest
© J-Novel Club LLC 2021. All rights reserved.

The winner with the most retweeted video will be awarded with three light novel J-Novel Club eBooks of their choice. The runner-up will be given one free light novel eBook. The contest is running from now until May 2, 2022. The entire text of Hatoko’s entire rant can be found on this website. 

Source: J-Novel Club

William Moo
William Moo is a freelance writer who has previously written for OTAQUEST and MANGA.TOKYO. He also contributes work to the website Yatta Tachi. He enjoys watching lots of anime every season and reading from time to time. You can follow him on Twitter @thewriterSITB.
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