What are you reading in 2025?

[jian]

I started Wheel of Time #2 and I am already 60% done with it, its a bit shorter than the first one. Unfortunately its a bit of a letdown. Its still an enjoyable read but the magic of the first book is a little bit gone and SHONEN-ANIME has entered the thread! No seriously, so many scenes read like from a mid shonen/anime. If some of the girls gooning for our harem hero Rand would utter a "senpai!" I would not be surprised. Girls who only met him in the first book for one scene are falling for him. Jordan is self-aware, because they think phrases like "Why am I falling for a boy that I only met so short" - months later after they met him and never see him again. Women seem to either completely fall for him or manipulate him. The only two women who were his friends in book 1 are now distanced (emotionally as physically) from him and have their own stuff to deal with.

But also our protagonist feels like a Shonen hero that can't deal with girls. In one scene he almost squeaks because a woman touches him. There even is a scene where he fells onto a woman and remiscense the feel of her body later. Like its just a touch away from an anime scene where the male protagonist stumbles and falls head first into a cleavage.

I know from this thread and from other articles in the internet that I will see more from the other characters and his old friends and honestly I can't wait for it because chosen one Rand is a bit annoying right now. Plus, I can't really see where the story is going to move, Rand stumbles through the scenes and I am missing a bit of a goalpost.

Yes, the comparison is apt and IMO only gets more so - not just the harem anime but the tortured overpowered protagonist anime.

 

[Parmandur]

I started Wheel of Time #2 and I am already 60% done with it, its a bit shorter than the first one. Unfortunately its a bit of a letdown. Its still an enjoyable read but the magic of the first book is a little bit gone and SHONEN-ANIME has entered the thread! No seriously, so many scenes read like from a mid shonen/anime. If some of the girls gooning for our harem hero Rand would utter a "senpai!" I would not be surprised. Girls who only met him in the first book for one scene are falling for him. Jordan is self-aware, because they think phrases like "Why am I falling for a boy that I only met so short" - months later after they met him and never see him again. Women seem to either completely fall for him or manipulate him. The only two women who were his friends in book 1 are now distanced (emotionally as physically) from him and have their own stuff to deal with.

But also our protagonist feels like a Shonen hero that can't deal with girls. In one scene he almost squeaks because a woman touches him. There even is a scene where he fells onto a woman and remiscense the feel of her body later. Like its just a touch away from an anime scene where the male protagonist stumbles and falls head first into a cleavage.

I know from this thread and from other articles in the internet that I will see more from the other characters and his old friends and honestly I can't wait for it because chosen one Rand is a bit annoying right now. Plus, I can't really see where the story is going to move, Rand stumbles through the scenes and I am missing a bit of a goalpost.

I love the books, but those are all fair takeaways. The meandering nature of the plot is a very real issue...but when the threads converge, they converge hard, and I think you will see that ny the end of thia particular novel.

The Shonen Anime stuff is arguably a feature rather than a bug, depending on tastes. Both the languid pace and form of the story and that are whybI think an Anime would be the only way to really adapt the books.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Both the languid pace and form of the story and that are whybI think an Anime would be the only way to really adapt the books.

I've been saying this for years too but yeah @Retros_x explains with words what I only had as a vague instinct.

I think there are actually quite a decent subset of fantasy novels, especially of the "Epic Fantasy" subgenre who would be easily best-adapted as anime if being adapted to a visual medium. Not all would be directly shonen-equivalent like WoT is, but several would be (esp. remembering that shonen can sometimes have female protagonists whilst still being shonen).

(There are also some Western live-action TV series which I think might have worked better as anime, not least the wonderfully insane Motherland: Fort Salem, but that's a whole other topic.)

 

[Parmandur]

I've been saying this for years too but yeah @Retros_x explains with words what I only had as a vague instinct.

I think there are actually quite a decent subset of fantasy novels, especially of the "Epic Fantasy" subgenre who would be easily best-adapted as anime if being adapted to a visual medium. Not all would be directly shonen-equivalent like WoT is, but several would be (esp. remembering that shonen can sometimes have female protagonists whilst still being shonen).

(There are also some Western live-action TV series which I think might have worked better as anime, not least the wonderfully insane Motherland: Fort Salem, but that's a whole other topic.)

It's also a funny comparison, considering thst I tend to doubt Robert Jordan knew what Shojen even is. His influences are kind of different than most other English language fantasy authors l, to put it mildly. His "Big Three" when asked about who influenced his writing were Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Leo Tolstoy. He read a bunch of 28th and 29th century stuff, so the "Shonen Jump" comparisons are going to come morenfrom Bildungsroman like Tom Jones or Barry Lyndon.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It's also a funny comparison, considering thst I tend to doubt Robert Jordan knew what Shojen even is. His influences are kind of different than most other English language fantasy authors l, to put it mildly. His "Big Three" when asked about who influenced his writing were Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Leo Tolstoy. He read a bunch of 28th and 29th century stuff, so the "Shonen Jump" comparisons are going to come morenfrom Bildungsroman like Tom Jones or Barry Lyndon.

I think a lot of those authors are pretty influential on sort of Japanese writers who basically created the shonen genre too, though. It's not like there's any lack of awareness of Austen/Dickens/Tolstoy in Japan (Austen I know is particularly big/influential/well-regarded), and yeah bildungsroman and shonen tend to cross over pretty heavily in terms of themes, ideas, tropes, and so on.

 

[Parmandur]

I think a lot of those authors are pretty influential on sort of Japanese writers who basically created the shonen genre too, though. It's not like there's any lack of awareness of Austen/Dickens/Tolstoy in Japan (Austen I know is particularly big/influential/well-regarded), and yeah bildungsroman and shonen tend to cross over pretty heavily in terms of themes, ideas, tropes, and so on.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

 

[jian]

I've been saying this for years too but yeah @Retros_x explains with words what I only had as a vague instinct.

I think there are actually quite a decent subset of fantasy novels, especially of the "Epic Fantasy" subgenre who would be easily best-adapted as anime if being adapted to a visual medium. Not all would be directly shonen-equivalent like WoT is, but several would be (esp. remembering that shonen can sometimes have female protagonists whilst still being shonen).

(There are also some Western live-action TV series which I think might have worked better as anime, not least the wonderfully insane Motherland: Fort Salem, but that's a whole other topic.)

I think that the series that’s been made into a bad film which would really benefit from being made into anime is Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines books.

It's also a funny comparison, considering thst I tend to doubt Robert Jordan knew what Shojen even is. His influences are kind of different than most other English language fantasy authors l, to put it mildly. His "Big Three" when asked about who influenced his writing were Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Leo Tolstoy. He read a bunch of 28th and 29th century stuff, so the "Shonen Jump" comparisons are going to come morenfrom Bildungsroman like Tom Jones or Barry Lyndon.

Oh, I doubt Jordan was a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z or harem anime - I doubt he was directly influenced by shonen manga. But he probably shared a lot of their cultural origin points, especially around male gaze fantasy.

 

[trappedslider]

I think that the series that’s been made into a bad film which would really benefit from being made into anime is Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines books.

given how gorgeous steamboy was, i'd love see to mortal engines done like that

 

[gnarlygninja]

I started Wheel of Time #2 and I am already 60% done with it, its a bit shorter than the first one. Unfortunately its a bit of a letdown. Its still an enjoyable read but the magic of the first book is a little bit gone and SHONEN-ANIME has entered the thread! No seriously, so many scenes read like from a mid shonen/anime. If some of the girls gooning for our harem hero Rand would utter a "senpai!" I would not be surprised. Girls who only met him in the first book for one scene are falling for him. Jordan is self-aware, because they think phrases like "Why am I falling for a boy that I only met so short" - months later after they met him and never see him again. Women seem to either completely fall for him or manipulate him. The only two women who were his friends in book 1 are now distanced (emotionally as physically) from him and have their own stuff to deal with.

But also our protagonist feels like a Shonen hero that can't deal with girls. In one scene he almost squeaks because a woman touches him. There even is a scene where he fells onto a woman and remiscense the feel of her body later. Like its just a touch away from an anime scene where the male protagonist stumbles and falls head first into a cleavage.

I know from this thread and from other articles in the internet that I will see more from the other characters and his old friends and honestly I can't wait for it because chosen one Rand is a bit annoying right now. Plus, I can't really see where the story is going to move, Rand stumbles through the scenes and I am missing a bit of a goalpost.

If you keep reading the series, be prepared for this criticism to keep coming up.

 

[jian]

given how gorgeous steamboy was, i'd love see to mortal engines done like that

It’d have been great to see Miyazaki tackle it.