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Are there any websites that sell light novels in Japanese in epub format? (ani.social)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/lightnovels@ani.social
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I recently started reading the Re:Zero light novel in Japanese. It's freakin' tough. The word choice is crazy sometimes (from the perspective of someone who usually only practices Japanese with manga). Part of the problem is certainly that novels just naturally use more descriptive words than manga and I'm not used to that, but even so I'm finding it tougher to read than even most seinen manga. Still, my e-reader's built-in dictionary makes the lookups quick enough that it's an overall enjoyable experience. Just slow. I mean, I'm 2 hours into the first volume and only 17% of the way through it!

The e-reader has been indispensable for this, hence my question: "Are there any websites that sell light novels in Japanese in epub format?"

Comparable formats would be fine. The important part is the ability to open the file in the koreader app and use koreader's built-in dictionary functionality.

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[–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

That's all very cool. Is there a good Android e-reader app that supports it? The features I most desire from an e-reader app are, in order of priority:

  • The ability to quickly reference a Japanese/English dictionary
  • The ability to sync progress between devices
  • Good e-ink support (high-contrast menus, the ability to disable animations)
  • Support for vertical text (extremely common in Japanese literature)

KOReader supports the first three, but not the fourth. If an app supported all four I would almost definitely switch.

Also, is there anyone distributing books in that format?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    There are several that I linked it the Github list, including kirikiroid2 on the very top.

    The ability to quickly reference a Japanese/English dictionary

    Yeah, this is why I said my homework increased. But it should be 100% accessible with locally stored dictionaries for quick referencing words and idioms.

    Synchronization

    Huh, I'll need to actually create a protocol for this. What does koreader use to synchronize bookmarks across devices? We just use “save files.”

    Good e-ink support (high-contrast menus, the ability to disable animations)

    That is natively accessible, as it is a visual novel script foremost. It will also be in my priority as well, as I plan on enjoying my reading on said displays in the future.

    Support for vertical text (extremely common in Japanese literature)

    Since visual novels existed: yes. I also faced this particular dilemma on web browsing recently, that’ll have to relook.

    anyone distributing books in that format?

    Absolutely yes. There’s even a database I’m not allowed to link that contains all current VNs, in various degrees of supported formats. I’m sure you can find out the key words on a search engine and find it, without risking our instance a C&D.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, this is why I said my homework increased

    Ah, I thought you meant my homework increased. That makes way more sense now.

    There are several that I linked it the Github list, including kirikiroid2 on the very top.

    Because it said it was for playing visual novels it didn't occur to me that it could also be meant to read normal books as well. I guess that's a benefit of a format that supports so many features though!

    What does koreader use to synchronize bookmarks across devices?

    It checks the file hash or file name (depending on settings) and syncs your progress across devices that have matching files using a centralized server. There is also an option to self-host the server. Beyond that I don't know the details, but it's open-source so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out whatever other details you're curious about.

    Thanks for all your work on open-source reading technology!

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    my homework increased.

    hahaha no. It's a dramatic “you,” as in GLaDOS telling me that my backlog of projects has increased. You know, b4 GLaDOS took over.

    benefit of a format that supports so many features though!

    Exactly. Colleagues know ebooks only benefit a small percentage of the population. VN formats help fill a gap poor accessibility software doesn't provide: Designed for TTS, animation, braille output, & SFX.

    Koreader sync server is built on top of the Gin JSON-API framework

    So I did read correctly. So basically I have to choose/make a decentralized model. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

    Thanks for all your work on open-source reading technology!

    Heh😁, it's anarchist praxis irl, so thanks!

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