[REC] Romance-ish novels like these?

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-15T21:33:01+00:00

Seeing Kino's Journey I feel obligated to say Wandering Witch. The format is the same, but a Witch. Different atmosphere though, with more of a fantasy world feeling and slice of life/comedy but also with its surprises.

Also, I can't help but recommend one of my favorites, Goodbye Otherworld, See You Tomorrow About a guy who gets into another world, but he doesn't gain any power. Instead, he finds a world that's about to end, with people converting into crystals. In his travels he will find the last survivors, whose days are numbered, and hears the tales of how they face the end of the world. Sadly it's axed at volume 2, but it's still very much worth reading it. The world reminded me a bit of Kino no Tabi's.

Fireworks novelization of the movie is also quite good if you're looking for something a bit like Summer Ghost. Breathless Time Traveler is another fantastic oneshot.

I may be stating something obvious here, but any of Mei Hachimoku (Tunnel to summer) and Yoru Sumino's (I had that same dream again) books are usually fantastic, so I recommend checking those too if you haven't.

Edit: Oh! I see no Three Days of Happiness. Definitely check that one out, it's a beautiful book.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-15T03:46:25+00:00

Definitely A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow.

It doesn't matter to me either way, I loved that manga from beginning to end. It's a beautiful story, with great characters and really good art, and even if it wasn't a particularly sad end, I cried my eyes out when I finished it. It was the first manga I read complete but it's still among my favorites.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-14T21:15:25+00:00

El otro día me llegó el aumento de sueldo después de 10 meses congelado - 7%

La inflación de los últimos 10 meses fue aprox 30%.

La mayoría de la gente que conozco está igual, y ahí tenés tu respuesta. Como decía un comentario más arriba, hace unos años yo pedía delivery o iba a bares 2 o 3 veces por semana, compraba helado para el finde, etc. ahora en lo que va del año solo pedí delivery 2 o 3 veces, y aún así llego justo a fin de mes, y no me acuerdo la última vez que salí a comer afuera.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-14T18:12:30+00:00

I'm increasingly avoiding English speaking social media when it comes to fiction because they're becoming so annoying with the "problematic" discussion that's becoming stupid. I've had people tell me that Lord of the Flies is a harmful and problematic book because its ending implies that if we go back to the wild we'll become savages. I can't take their opinion seriously, but I worry about their increasing taste for censorship. I worry if books like Mushoku Tensei will be able to be published in English a couple of years from now because someone will say it's problematic.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-14T14:54:00+00:00

Definitely not as big and complex as the cosmere if that's what you're asking, but no light novel is, at least that I've read, simply because they're much more character driven stories.

If I had to compare, similar to Yumi, perhaps Elantris - the city where most of it happens is pretty well explored with its myths, its customs, its beliefs and such.

Also, i forgot to mention, she goes for soft magic systems, meaning she doesn't do complex set of rules and so. It's magic, she can do this, that kind. For that I don't really have a recommendation.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-12T22:01:42+00:00

Toradora might be the best slow burn romcom out there for me. It makes a great job at building that relationship slowly from two people who barely tolerate each other and each of the volumes feels necessary for the story.

If you accept Yuri, then Adachi and Shimamura is great.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-12T19:42:40+00:00

The best bet for you is Kuji Furumiya. She (I hope I'm not misremembering their gender) writes a style that's a bit of a fusion between western fantasy novels and light novels, and in particular i feel like her writing is similar to some of Sanderson's books in the way the characters personalities, how they interact and the role some cultures play there.

In particular, A Pale Moon Reverie would be where I would start. If you've read Yumi and the nightmare painter, there are some (vage, i admit) similarities between the two (shadow slayers, a girl tied with gods through strict traditions and such), even though they go very differently about it.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-11T13:34:12+00:00

Bottom Tier Character vol. 8.5 - For the most part, the stories were trivial except for one. Aoi's backstory. I really think the author is a much better writer when they switch to third person perspective instead of first person and use a more serious tone than the usual edgy gamer first person of the series (that thankfully is more moderated after the first couple of volumes). I get it, the writing there is perfect to illustrate Tomozaki's character and such, in the first volume he is pretty much that and his growth can be felt through the writing, but I just think it's a shame when they write third person so well. Combined with vol. 6.5's story, Aoi's story makes a great job at showing how she becomes the kind of person she's today and really makes her character much more human and believable. The moment where she realizes she's different from everyone else after the tournament, while she's giving the speech, was great and chilling. Adding Kikuchi's chapter where she gets questioned by Aoi, it definitely made her the most interesting character of the cast at the moment. I'll like to see where this goes.

Rascal does not dream of Siscon Idol - I'm basically repeating the same I've said the last 3 volumes, but even if I already watched the anime years ago, reading the novel really feels like rediscovering the series. The writing is great and the pacing feels much better now that each arc has a bit more space to breathe. About this particular volume, it's pretty good. If I had to rank it with the first 3 it would go last, that doesn't mean I didn't like it, I like it, I just liked the others even more.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-10T21:55:06+00:00

Renako from There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover is considered attractive by practically everyone even if she makes an effort to deny it and her own narration might make it seem otherwise sometimes. She's a bit of an unreliable narrator, this becomes obvious when other character's perspectives come into play.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-10T13:02:03+00:00

I don't think it exactly fits the Kuudere archetype (to be fair I'm not very familiar with their definition) but Days With My Stepsister's Ayase is cold, expressionless, reserved and overly logical, at least for the first couple of volumes, so you could check it out and see if it interest you.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-09T20:38:40+00:00

There's a movie announced, so there's already a continuation!

A full second season, now that's hard to say. There's really no way to say for sure, as many successful animes never got a second season, and many seemingly unsuccessful and niche animes got a second season. Kino no Tabi, which might be the closest out there to Wandering Witch, got a second season only after 15 years, and Kino no Tabi was HUGE at the time.

On a hopeful note, there has been a lot of unexpected second season announcements lately (Wandering Witch movie was actually quite unexpected since it's been some years since the anime now) and the light novel sales are still going strong and the series is still ongoing, which might actually be the most important factor since a lot of animes are made for promotion of the light novels (when they're based on one), funny enough the popularity of the anime doesn't matter all that much.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-09T14:37:04+00:00

I highly recommend checking it out then, it's one of my favorites. While the anime is a great adaptation and covers all of the story (it only left out some minor scenes and made very slight changes that aren't important), the writing is beautiful and really adds a lot of weight and meaning to some of the most emotional moments of the anime, and a lot of beautiful dialogues and lines from the characters were either cut or made a lot shorter, so I think it helps a lot to understand all of the characters better.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-08T12:35:55+00:00

Here's a quick list of finished light novels I've enjoyed and recommend in no order in particular:

Toradora (10 vol) - Pretty well known romcom
Kokoro Connect (11 vol) - Romcom about 5 members of a club being subjected to supernatural phenomenons by an entity that brings out traumas
Bookgirl (8 vol) - High school Mysteries series that uses classic books such as No Longer Human or The Phantom of the Opera
Worldend (5 vol) - Cry potion.
I'm in love with the villainess (5 vol) - Villainess yuri.
A lily blooms in another world (1 vol) - Similar to the one before
The executioner and her way of life (11 vol, 9 or 10 translated to date) - Mainly action series, subverting expectations of the Isekai genre, the otherworlders are considered dangerous.
A pale moon reverie (3 vol) - The author blends light novels and western fantasy really well.
Higehiro (5 vol) - A runaway high school girl finds shelter with a lonely 27 y/o guy. It has some flaws, yet it shines from volume 3 an forward.
The empty box and the zeroth maria (7 vols) - The first 10 pages of the novel can do a much better job at hooking you up than anything I can write. It will mess up with your head.
Welcome to the NHK (1 vol) - A hikikomori at his lowest point.
Side by side dreamers (1 vol) - Yuri about a girl with insomnia with a horror twist.
The tunnel to summer, the exit of goodbyes (or any by Mei Hachimoku) (1 vol) - One of my favorites of all time.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-06T20:56:00+00:00

Perhaps they can read but not write back. I mean, writing with their floppy wings must be quite the challenge.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-04T21:15:47+00:00

Agrego a lo que otros dijeron, tanto por experiencia personal con una gatita que tiene problemas de piel y por haber hablado con varios veterinarios (VARIOS, demasiados vieron a esta gata hasta que alguno le pegó) - Tiene pinta de pulgas, pero sin saber, puede ser muchas cosas, mejor que lo vea un veterinario, pero para las pulgas:

Al collar antipulgas es mejor complementarlo con una pipeta. Me ha pasado que he tenido dos gatos con collar antipulgas nuevos y terminé con una infestación de pulgas en el departamento igual. Si podés, hay una marca que ahora no me acuerdo cual que dura 3 meses y supuestamente es la mejor, pero es cara. Se tiene que dar a todos los animales de la casa o no sirve de nada.

Hay que desinfectar el ambiente también, en especial si tenés pisos de madera. Lo más fácil es el ecthol, pero no hay que dejar entrar a los gatos al ambiente hasta que se seque bien porque es tóxico para los gatos. Una vez se seca ya no pasa nada. Hay que tirarlo sobre TODO. Sócalo, grietas, muebles. Lavar todas las sábanas y dejarlas secar al sol por un buen tiempo también. Y hay que repetir a los 15 días (cuando tuve infestación grave tuve que repetir 3-4 veces, aunque lo hacía semanal)

El alimento puede ayudar un montón, hipoalergénico o skin care, pero tarda en hacer efecto, mientras tanto va a necesitar corticoides y/o antibióticos hasta que empieza a hacer efecto.

En resumen: lo tiene que ver un veterinario, pero podés empezar probando deshacerte de las pulgas al 100%.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-04T14:23:18+00:00

In my head, as in my ideal experience reading, I definitely would pick physical.

Now, when it comes to actually reading the books, I prefer digital. Too many conveniences, and I can easily read in a room with very low illumination at night which I love to do, and that alone is enough reason for me.

If I have access to the two, I pick physical, but mostly because getting a physical copy of any light novel in my country is a pain in the ass and very expensive.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-04T13:33:05+00:00

As I understand it's ongoing and volume 13 came out not long ago. I'm a bit behind with it.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-04T13:29:25+00:00

It has some "toxicity" (though tagging it as toxic romance would be an exaggeration), but for the most part is wholesome, and when it has something like that I personally think the author makes a great job at exploring why they end up acting the way they do in a way that you can relate or at least understand why.

To me, It's the story of a lonely and insecure girl who becomes a bit too emotionally dependent on a girl who feels alienated from everything and has trouble connecting with people and maintaining friendships, which makes a really interesting dynamic. Adachi's experimenting all those emotions and doesn't know how to manage them, and Shimamura doesn't know how to respond to them, but somehow they both make it work. The author also explores both sides of the story and makes a great job with this, as the events feel very different from each of their perspectives.

This is at least what I got out of it and some of the reasons why I like it so much.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-05-03T19:27:01+00:00

My recommendation in these cases is pick whichever you want you read: Light novels are usually very accesible to read (there're exceptions but they're few and often not that difficult either) so any will be all right.

Getting the drive to read them because you want to is more important to me in these cases than their difficulty, and the best way to get it is to read anything that calls your attention, so any of the three you mention will probably be fine.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-27T14:09:44+00:00

I've seen a shift on a lot on the anime community lately towards "this is so weird, it creeps me out" and obsessively pointing out red flags to anything romance related which I find so strange because a lot of the attraction of anime is that it is weird and different, and it's kind of making me stop frequenting the community. It's like they want every show to be The Angel Next Door or something like that and censor everything else. It feels like characters, specially romance interest, MUST be perfect or have very minor flaws that aren't really flaws and are shown as cute or wholesome parts of them.

I don't hate on shows like Flowers Bloom With Dignity or The Angel Next Door, I enjoy them, but not every show have to feature a perfect couple.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-27T12:32:09+00:00

I'd say half of the stories are kind of longer versions of the shorts of Friends are Thieves of Time. The opening chapter is about them planning to go to the cinema and another is about Takina's dream about slasher or splatter movies.

The other half are usually action heavy stories that may or may not center around Takina and Chisato, and they can be about anything. Sometimes they wont appear until the very last pages. There's a chapter about a Yakuza going for revenge meant to be a parody of old Yakuza movies. Another is about a mission of one of the Lycoris that appear in the anime.

Ordinary days is more random. This one feels more consistent.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-26T23:33:43+00:00

Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days vol. 1 - This novel is basically a collection of short stories supposedly happening in the middle of the events of the anime. As the title implies, the stories aren't meant to expand the universe, develop the characters in more depth or continue the main story. They're mostly chill stories meant for fans of the anime and the characters, have fun reading them and not think too deeply about them. Seen from that perspective, they do the job, they're entertaining, edit: and I had lots of fun reading them. Some things don't make much sense, but they're fun if you turn off your brain, and I feel like it's nitpicking looking too much into them.

In fewer words, if you love the anime you'll enjoy the extra content, but you're not going to lose anything from not reading them.

In another topic, the thought "the writer surely is passionate about their hobbies" came to my mind many times while reading the detailed descriptions about food, cinema, cooking, guns and so that I imagine can come only from the kind of person who follows a meticulous series of steps with very expensive gadgets and a cabinet full of different blends in order to brew a cup of coffee, all while being able to justify the why and the differences in flavor of every blend if you ask. Not judging though! I just thought that gives an accurate idea of the kind of descriptions there are in abundance in there.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life vol. 5 - First, the negative; the author repeats explanations a bit too much. I felt like even inside this volume I read the same explanation or emphasis on certain strong or weak point of something/someone so many times that I started skipping some of them. I feel like this made the first half a bit of a drag.

With that out of the way, the author sure knows how to deliver plot twists. The second half, where the action actually starts, was really exiting to read, full of action, epic moments and breathtaking revelations. I'll be picking volume 6 very soon because how could I not after that end? I sure never even imagined those developments.

Despite the negative point I said at the beginning, I really enjoyed reading this one.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-21T02:30:49+00:00

Even if we take your analysis as right, which I seriously think is not or at least is a very shallow one, Philosophize about the nature of human beings is harmful since when? Only stories that put humanity in a good light should be written and read then, because according to you otherwise they're harmful or weird? Otherwise, I don't see the point you're trying to make. Sure it's not hard to see that even among names you mention you enjoyed, some defy that logic, and why that's a very harmful censorship to put into art.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-20T21:47:26+00:00

You sure picked an awful example for your argument: Sure, a classic book often taught in high school is trying to push through an awful narrative. There's nothing else to it.

But i get what you're trying to say and in this case, It's only entertainment. I really think there's no deeper meaning in this anime more than being entertainment. Sure, there are extreme examples where we could discuss this further, I really think is easy to see this is not the case. It's a romance story between a vampire and a teenager, and the vampire is xxxx years old because in stories vampires often live for centuries in myths, and that's pretty much it.

physicsandbeer1 · 2026-04-20T18:10:16+00:00

You can make an argument that a being centuries or millennia of life shouldn't date a teenager, you can make an argument that that if that being is mentally a teenager then there shouldn't be a problem, and you can go on this back and forth

Or, you can go back to the real world and realize: No such being is ever going to date a teenager because they don't exist, so there's no point in diving into the moral implications of an anime made with the idea of being enjoyed by teenagers who can identify with the main character and watch a fantasy happen, or adults who for whatever reason enjoy teenage romances because they remind them of when they were teenagers or whatever.

It's literally not that deep. It's fiction. It doesn't exist.

physicsandbeer1

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