LNs

This page will serve as a catalog of the light novels I read. I have a few past series I'm interested in, so I'll make note of those too, but I spend most of my LN time on new releases of ongoing series. I won't be writing lengthy reviews of all of them, though I might feel inspired to do so for some, and I'll link to them when I do. At the very least, I'll write short blurbs about all of them.

Also, please note that this is nowhere close to a full catalog of everything I've ever read. That list would be far too lengthy to list here. This is just going to contain everything I've consumed since I started maintaining this page in March 2025, plus the stuff I have in my bookshelf and ereader, which pretty much covers everything I've acquired since I came to Japan. A very small handful of them are adaptations or spinoffs of manga that I read, so I list those on my manga page. None of the lists on this page are going to be in any particular order, by the way, and I'll call things by whatever title makes sense to me. If a work's officially-localized title is decent, I'll use that, and if it sucks or doesn't exist, I'll either translate it myself or leave it in Japanese, perhaps Romanized, perhaps not. The longer a title gets, the less likely I am to render it in Title Case, and I'll provide an abbreviated title wherever I happen to use one.

Ongoing

• My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex (Tsurekano) - 12 volumes so far. Silky smooth narration, thoughtfully-crafted characters, and compelling emotional drama. Easily a top five series of all time for me
• The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten - 13 volumes so far, including spinoffs. A sickeningly saccharine love story. If you strain your ears over the bloodcurdling screams of your inner demons' violent immolation, you might be able to hear the sound of your stomach filling with some good fucking food. Sometimes Amane and Mahiru feel a bit too pure, though
• Alya-san Sometimes Whispers Sweet Nothings in Russian (Roshidere) - 11 volumes so far, including spinoffs. A phenomenal romcom with a solid plot, lovable characters, and laugh-out-loud banter. Also, the author is based af
• A yuri story where she spends a hundred days taking me from "no homo" to "yes homo" (Arioto) - 8 volumes so far. Equal parts silly, smutty, and sentimental. Very cute
• Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle (Chiramune) - 10 volumes so far, including spinoff. Shameless seishun bullshit starring the Popular Kid Alliance League Federation, and as much as it likes to smell its own farts at times, it's damn good. Infrequent releases because the author doesn't know how to put his pen down. Yuzuki is destroying me recently, and whoever came up with that abbreviation knew exactly what they were doing
• I'm Fine Being Your Side Girl (Nibanme Kanojo) - 8 volumes so far. A torrid, depraved love polygon where the protagonist somehow manages to maintain his position as the shittiest vertex. Tense plots, gripping drama, and fantastic prose make for an irresistible car crash. Truly a gem
• Reign of the Seven Spellblades (Nanatsuma) - 15 volumes so far, including spinoff. Like Harry Potter, but good. Way too info-dumpy, though
• The girls who traumatized me are making eyes at me now, but alas, it's too late (Torajoshi) - 5 volumes so far. Funny, dramatic, and touching. I love how carefully the protagonist has been crafted, and if Yuuri or Goddess-senpai doesn't win we riot
• I Am a Light Novel Protagonist - 1 volume so far? Hope this doesn't get canceled, but can't blame it if it does. Pulled the metafiction off with just the right amount of masturbatory self-indulgence. I found it quite delightful, but I feel like the author will run out of material fast
• Silent Witch - 12 volumes so far, including spinoffs. A nice, solid fantasy story. Felix's backstory is great, and Nero is best boy
• The Haruhi series - 13 volumes so far. They keep bringing this back from the dead, and it's just as good now as it was 20 years ago. Perhaps my favorite series of all time
• Fate/strange Fake - 9 volumes so far. Great story, but the editor and Nasu are both encouraging Narita's worst habits. Pleasantly surprised by the mileage he's getting out of Fake Assassin, and Tine's dynamic with the Gilgatron is cute
• Carneades - 3 volumes so far. What Ayasato wished he'd managed to accomplish with Torture Princess. Charmingly goofy lesbians in a grimdark, gothic world and story. Also, my 25k yen Eve figurine FUCKING BROKE REEEEEEE
• How My Sister Changed After We Got Two Stepsisters - 1 volume so far? Probably got canceled. I liked it, though, mostly because BR is justice
• I Asked My Crush Out and Got Her Twin Sister as a Bonus - Goofy little romcom fun, but I kinda wish they'd cut down on the sex-to-comedy ratio a bit
• My Crush's Sister - 2 volumes so far. Somewhat promising yuri
• Shoujo Jian - 2 volumes so far. From the author of Nibanme, so it's good, but Nibanme is better
• I keep losing to my vindictive genius of a childhood friend, and she keeps stealing my "first times" - 4 volumes so far. A rather abusive yuri story. Wakaba is willing to give way too many second chances, but it's not bad
• Romantic Advice: So, Asking for a Friend... - 2 volumes so far? Hopefully not canceled. It's exactly as trash as the title implies, but it's my kind of trash
• Don't let the detective make deductions. In the worst-case scenario, she could destroy the world (Suihoro) - 2 volumes so far? Hopefully canceled. This mf really looked at Haruhi and said "but what if the chuuni bullshit was the whole story tho"
• My First Love Is Too Embarrassing to Talk About - 3 volumes so far. Fushimi has finally gone off his damn rocker. Somehow even more balls-to-the-wall than Eromanga-sensei was

On hold

• Humanity Has Declined (Jintai) - Paused at 1 volume. It's Tanaka Romeo, so it's good, but it's also not high on my priority list
• Iriya's Sky and the UFOs' Summer - Paused at 1 volume. Trying to find the other three, but it's an old series. Big Evangelion energy
• I wanted a hot, rich girlfriend, but the one I got came with some serious fine print - Paused at 2 volumes. I have the other two, but again, low priority
• The Vampire Princess Sucks on Me Every Night (Chuudere) - Paused at 1 volume. A little too blissfully saccharine for my taste, but I might pick up the second volume at some point. Lord knows it won't get a third, though

Completed

• The Date A Live franchise - 46 volumes, including spinoffs. The main story actually got decent toward the back half, but this is carried hard by its spinoffs. And Kurumi, who belonged in a much better series
• How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (Saekano) - 20 volumes, including spinoffs. Anime sucked, but Maruto made the source material work. Eriri a shit, Megumi a BORING, and Utaha-senpai a perfect, FIGHT ME LONESOME
• Sex, and Why I Can't Have It (Bokuecchi) - 11 volumes. Blatant DXD ripoff, but some good fun. Quele deserved better
• What are you doing at the end? Are you busy? Can you save me? (Sukasuka) - 6 volumes, including spinoff. Mindblowing masterpiece. A cathartic tale of found family after and during tragedy. Together with its sequel series, easily a top five series of all time for me
• What are you doing at the end? Can I see you one last time? (Sukamoka) - 13 volumes, including spinoffs. A different feel from Sukasuka, but still excellent
• The Manga Artist Kidnapped by a Schoolgirl - 3 volumes. An excellent one-volume thriller that went on for two more for some reason
• The Strange House - 2 volumes. Lives or dies by the strength of its premise, and I'd say it lives
• The Strange Pictures - 1 volume. Spiritual successor to House, also excellent
• I shouted, "I wanna honk some titties!" and my sister's friend asked me out (Opamomi) - 4 volumes. Such complete garbage that it wraps around to being fascinating. Probably not a single grammatically-correct sentence in the entire series
• My Little Sister Can't Possibly Be This Cute (Oreimo) - 17 volumes. Fushimi's classic, the greatest love story ever told. Kirino and Kuroneko good
• Eromanga-sensei - 13 volumes. The beginning of Fushimi's descent into lunacy. Elf master race
• My Girlfriend's Social Distancing is Too Social - 2 volumes. Came in, capitalized off the pandemic, got out. Some good junk food
• My crush rejected me, but then my kouhai said, "Am I not good enough?" - 2 volumes. Ripped off Osamake, but was infinitely better. Should not have gotten canceled
• We're Five in One, But We Still Love You - 1 volume. Blatantly tried to ride on Gotoubun's coattails, but still should've gotten another couple volumes at least. Just the right amount of over-the-top
• This Love Triangle Romcom is Required to End in Happiness - 4 volumes. And it did. Wasn't terribly good, but not terribly bad either
• I Kissed My Girlfriend's Sister - 4 volumes. Shockingly good, save for the final chapter. Drama and character dynamics were simple, but well-executed. Shigure did nothing wrong
• AURA ~Maryuuin Kouga's Final Battle~ - 1 volume. Chuunibyou a few years before Chuunibyou. Sasuga Tanaka Romeo
• Show Up Barefoot Tomorrow (Hadakoi) - 5 volumes. A pleasant little time travel story with an unexpected but fitting twist ending
• "Sleep with me, senpai," she said. I sighed, sensing sleepless nights ahead (Painemu) - 2 volumes. Author clearly wasn't counting on getting a second volume, but it was cute enough
• Cursed, True Love - 2 volumes. The Osamake author's ripoff of White Album 2. Haven't read that, so I liked this better than I probably would've if I had
• Closer than Lovers, But Just Friends - 4 volumes. Neat premise: corporate wageslaves who used to date get back together as FWBs to weather this dogshit society. Cute story, though the twist was so obvious I didn't realize it was supposed to be a twist
• I'm Marrying My Stepsister - 2 volumes. Deserved way more. Protagonist is a based madlad, and there's actually a good reason for the sister to be NBR
• You Can Do That for Me, Can't You, Senpai? - 1 volume. Was cute enough, though nearly entirely dialogue. Probably didn't deserve another volume
• Only I Know the Manmade Girls' Secrets - 1 volume. Bro wanted to write I, Robot but his editor forced him to add some seriously half-assed romcom elements. If he'd ignored the editor, he might've gotten a second volume

Dropped

• A Romcom Where the Childhood Friend Doesn't Lose (Osamake) - Dropped at 3 volumes. Ranges from painful to aggressively mediocre. Characters are unlikeable, and the comedy sucks
• Heaven Needs No Tears - Dropped at 1 volume. Wasn't bad; just wasn't interested in continuing it
• You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Love Story (Kimizero) - Dropped at 2 volumes. Heroine was the opposite of how she was advertised, the books were really short, the prose was mostly "I'm not like her exes" copypasted a million times, the protag was vapid and uninteresting, and the author inserted drama where there didn't need to be any because she loves an annoying side character way too much
• I Made Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in Class - Dropped at 1 volume. It was decent, but the prose was way too copious and dense. Too long a walk for too short a glass of water
• My Crush's Best Friend is Secretly Hitting on Me - Dropped at 1 volume. Started as a fairly lighthearted romcom, but tried to veer off in a Nibanme-esque direction at the very end. Felt pretty incongruous. If I want Nibanme, I'll read Nibanme
• I Told the Love Guru, My Best (Female) Friend, Someone Asked Me Out - Dropped at 1 volume. Didn't really do anything to distinguish itself
• I Dumped My Cheating Girlfriend, and then the Hottest Girl in School Took Me Home - Dropped at 1 volume. It was so cleanly self-contained that I felt no desire to read further
• The Six Main Heroines Who Want Me All to Themselves - Dropped at 1 volume. They were not main heroines, and the title has nothing to do with the actual genre. What was there was okay, but I couldn't be assed to buy the other volume, and since I just said "other" instead of "second," clearly neither could most other people
• After five years of being best friends, I can't possibly tell you I'm in love with you - Dropped at 1 volume. Boring as hell and had nothing distinctive about it