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J-Novel Club Launches Online Manga Reader, Licenses 5 Manga Titles

J-Novel Club announced the its first five manga licenses on Tuesday. The first chapters of all five are now available for free on the company's new manga reader. The manga are as follows:

Title: A Very Fairy Apartment (Uchi no Apaato no Yōsei-san)
Author: Amakara Surume
Translator: Alexander Keller-Nelson
Editor: Megan Denton
Story:

What do you get when you put a down-to-earth college student in a supposedly vacant apartment that's actually full of some quirky, otherworldly creatures? A whole lot of trouble, a whole lot of cuteness, and a whole lot of fun. Sometimes cheap rent is enough to make you put up with the strangest of neighbors and roommates, but forget about sugar, spice, and everything nice; and get ready for potato chips, pranks, and everything messy!

The manga launched on Overlap's Comic Gardo website in January 2017. The third compiled volume will ship on November 25.

Title: Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles
Original Creator: Yuri Kitayama
Character Design: Riv
Manga: Futafo Minazuki
Translator: Mana Z.
Editor: Joi
Story:

Meet Rio: a callous orphaned boy living in the slums. At only 7-years-old, he realizes he's actually the reincarnation of Haruto Amakawa, a Japanese university student with a tragic past. While still reeling from this shocking epiphany, Rio also comes to learn that he possesses extremely potent magical abilities and uses his new powers to solve the kidnapping case of a little girl. His good deed is acknowledged, and he's rewarded by being enrolled into… a prestigious academy for noble children...?

Minazuki launched a manga adaptation of Kitayama's novels in 2017, and the second compiled volume shipped in June. Kitayama began serializing the novel in the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" (Let's Become Novelists) website in February 2014, and Hobby Japan began published the first volume of the print version of the novel with illustrations by Riv in 2015.

J-Novel Club is also publishing the novels.

Title: Infinite Dendrogram
Original Creator: Sakon Kaidou
Character Design Taiki
Manga: Kami Imai
Translator: Andrew Hodgson
Editor: Emily Sorensen
Story:

In the year 2043, Infinite Dendrogram, the world's first successful full-dive VRMMO was released. In addition to its ability to perfectly simulate the five senses, along with its many other amazing features, the game promised to offer players a world full of infinite possibilities. Nearly two years later, soon-to-be college freshman, Reiji Mukudori, is finally able to buy a copy of the game and start playing. With some help from his experienced older brother, Shu, and his partner Embryo, Reiji embarks on an adventure into the world of Infinite Dendrogram. Just what will he discover and encounter in this game world known for its incredible realism and infinite possibilities?

Imai began drawing the manga adaptation of Kaidou's novel series on Hobby Japan's Comic Fire website in 2016, and the third volume shipped in July. Kaidou originally launched the series in 2015 on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" website, and Hobby Japan published the first volume in print with illustrations by Taiki in October 2016.

J-Novel Club is also publishing the novels.

Title: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (Genjitsushugi Yūsha no Ōkoku Saikenki )
Original Creator: Dojyomaru
Character Design: Fuyuyuki
Manga: Satoshi Ueda
Translator: Sean McCann
Editor: Emily Sorensen
Story:

"O, Hero!" With that cliched line, Kazuya Souma found himself summoned to another world and his adventure--did not begin. After he presents his plan to strengthen the country economically and militarily, the king cedes the throne to him and Souma finds himself saddled with ruling the nation! What's more, he's betrothed to the king's daughter now...?! In order to get the country back on its feet, Souma calls the wise, the talented, and the gifted to his side. Five people gather before the newly crowned Souma. Just what are the many talents and abilities they possess...?! What path will his outlook as a realist take Souma and the people of his country down? A revolutionary transferred-to-another-world administrative fantasy series starts here!

The manga based on Dojyomaru's novels launched on Overlap's Comic Gardo website in July 2017, and the second compiled volume shipped on August 25. Overlap published the first volume of the original novel series with illustrations by Fuyuyuki in Japan in May 2016.

J-Novel Club is also publishing the original novels and Seven Seas Entertainment is publishing the novels in print.

Title: Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujō)
Original Creator: Miya Kazuki
Character Design: Yū Shiina
Manga: Suzuka
Translator: Quof
Editor: Aimee Zink
Story:

A certain college girl who's loved books ever since she was a little girl dies in an accident and is reborn in another world she knows nothing about. She is now Myne, the sickly five-year-old daughter of a poor soldier. To make things worse, the world she's been reborn in has a very low literacy rate and books mostly don't exist. She'd have to pay an enormous amounts of money to buy one. Myne resolves herself: If there aren't any books, she'll just have to make them! Her goal is to become a librarian. This story begins with her quest to make books so she can live surrounded by them! Dive into this biblio-fantasy written for book lovers and bookworms!

Kazuki began the original novels on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" website in 2013. Suzuka's manga adaptation of the first part had a total of seven compiled volumes between June 2016 and August 2018.

J-Novel Club will release two chapters per month for each manga. The first ebook releases are slated for about 15 weeks from now.

The company noted that the manga reader still has a few bugs, so it invited readers to report bugs on its forums. The J-Novel Club app does not currently offer the manga reader, but the company said it expects to launch this functionality in two weeks.

J-Novel Club teased its five manga licenses earlier this month.

Source: J-Novel Club