On April 28, 2021, light novel distributor J-Novel Club proudly announced that media giant Kadokawa has purchased a majority stake in their business. The global distribution of light novels will be dramatically improved thanks to a collaboration with BookWalker, a Kadokawa group company. In addition, J-Novel Club will also be collaborating with GeeXPlus, a subsidiary internet influencer talent agency.
Kadokawa stated in a separate press release that it seeks to drive further expansion of the company’s light novel business in the English-speaking market. With the partnership of J-Novel Club and BookWalker, translated Japanese light novels can be published more quickly and consistently around the world.
A little bit of history
J-Novel Club
J-Novel Club is founded by Samuel Pinansky way back in 2016. It has already translated over 149 light novels, both ongoing and finished series. The overarching goal of the J-Novel Club is to “develop and expand a global market for Japanese light novels translated into English.”
Kadokawa
Kadokawa Corporation is a Japanese media conglomerate established on October 1, 2014, when the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. merged.
Additionally, Kadokawa announced on February 4, 2021, that it had established a Capital Alliance with Sony and CyberAgent to improve the company’s creation, production, and acquisition of new intellectual properties (IPs) while also optimizing the use of existing IPs.
BookWalker
BookWalker is a Japanese e-book retailer that offers manga, light novels, and magazines from a variety of publishers, as well as a few titles that they have self-published. It’s established by Kadokawa and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The retailer launched its Japan store in 2010, and its international store in 2015.
The Japanese light novel industry will expand dramatically as a result of this partnership, and more titles will be sold to a much wider audience. In this way, people from around the world can fully support the Japanese industry in order for them to deliver quality content!
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