Anime and manga are perhaps the two most popular forms of Japanese media, but they aren’t the country’s only cultural storytelling media. Light novels have become increasingly popular due to the anime adapted from them, with visual novels having a similar reception, if to a lesser extent. Of course, with their names sounding quite alike, many might wonder if these two mediums are the same thing.
The differences between visual novels and light novels go beyond just the mediums, as the types of stories they tell and how they tell them further separate the two novel types. This also makes one of them better suited to becoming anime than the other, at least in terms of what material already exists. Here are what anime and manga readers should know about visual novels and light novels, some of which have become their favorite series in recent years.
Light Novels vs. Visual Novels: What Separates the Two Japanese Mediums?
Light novels are pretty well explained by their medium’s description. These book titles are usually around 50,000 words and fairly easy to read, with most of them geared toward middle or high school audiences (though this isn’t always the case). While they’re of course published in a traditional novel format, many are also serialized in magazines. This makes them analogous to the “pulp magazines” that were once popular in the West. As novels, the stories are relayed through text, although manga-style illustrations are utilized for the covers and some other parts of the book. The use of imagery helps to make these titles more marketable, especially to anime and manga fans.
Visual novels are something different entirely, with these stories essentially being a type of video game. A form of interactive entertainment, they are focused on narration and feature very little in way of real gameplay as its thought of in the West. This makes them both similar and different from the point-and-click adventures titles popular on PCs in other countries, as well as the “walking simulators” of modern gaming. Due to their lack of much interaction besides scrolling through dialogue, these titles are still fairly niche outside Japan, though there’s a huge market for them in their home country.
Light novels and visual novels aren’t exclusive to any particular genre, though there are some notable comfort zones within each medium. For example, light novels can be based on everyday slice-of-life stories, with the romantic comedy classic Toradora! showcasing this. However, fantasy settings are also often present, such as in the light novel adaptation Slayers and modern isekai light novels such as Reincarnated as a Sword. Visual novels likewise have plenty of genre diversity, even if romance stories are the most well-known among them. Erotic and adult-oriented visual novels are also popular, with some of these even seeing anime adaptations.
Light Novels Are Better Suited for Anime Adaptations Than Visual Novels
While both mediums have had a plethora of anime based on them, one of these is a bit better than the other in terms of being primed for an adaptation. Light novels, as mentioned, frequently have illustrations that coincide with their text. Thus, the character designs are already laid out, cementing character looks in a way that normal novels usually leave to the imagination. This makes it easier for animators to simply replicate said designs for an anime adaptation. Popular light novels are commonly turned into manga before becoming anime, giving said anime ample material to adapt and helping to avoid the issue of filler.
The same goes for visual novels, but a strength of visual novels is actually something of a detriment in terms of adapting the entire story to an anime series. Visual novels are known for their branching paths, with different endings being decided based on minor player actions. This gives them tons of replay value as games but makes it hard to adapt all this into a cohesive whole. Visual novel anime such as the heartbreaking Clannad “fix” this with additional seasons that portray these alternate paths, but it’s definitely an issue in terms of efficiency. That’s not always the case, and great visual novel adaptations such as Stein;Gate do exist. Still, this reason in particular is likely why so many more light novels have become manga and anime when compared to visual novels — and with the increasing popularity of the isekai genre, that’s unlike to change any time soon.
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