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エロマンガ先生 [Eromanga-sensei] (Novel) #1
エロマンガ先生 妹と開かずの間
高校生兼ラノベ作家の俺・和泉マサムネには、引きこもりの妹がいる。 和泉紗霧。 一年前に妹になったあいつは、まったく部屋から出てこない。今日も床をドンドンして、俺に食事を用意させやがる。 こんな関係『兄妹』じゃないぜ。なんとか自発的に部屋から出てきてもらいたい。俺たちは二人きりの『家族』なんだから――。 俺の相棒・担当イラストレーターの『エロマンガ先生』は、すっげーえろい絵を描く頼りになるヤツだ。会ったことないしたぶんキモオタだろうけど、いつも感謝してる！ ……のだが、衝撃の事実が俺を襲う。 『エロマンガ先生』は、俺の妹だった！一つ屋根の下でずっと引きこもっている可愛い妹が、あの、えっちなイラストを描いていた!? そして俺達兄妹の関係に、超売れっ子美少女作家のライバルも加わって、大変動が起こる！新たなる兄妹ラブコメディ！
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 10, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 21, 2020
I read a fan group translation of this light novel as I could not find an english published one anywhere and I had been looking to read this light novel since watching the anime.
As I had watched the anime, I had an idea of what to expect when I picked up this light novel, but I wanted to see how the light novel compared to the anime as there is always differences. I have to say that all in all, they were pretty similar, though you don't get all the fan service in the book that you get with the anime. (both a positive or negative, depending on why you are watching/reading this book)
Personally, I find books about light novel writers fascinating since I am a writer and own a small press. It is a glimpse into a publishing world very alien compared to what I have experienced, and also to the Western world of publishing. That said, this book doesn't really look all that far into the publishing world, which was a bit of a disappointment. Rather, it seems to give a very fictional view of how it all works, complete with childish competitions and writers with no respect for the fact that they are working for a business. If this is how light novel publishing actually is, I feel sorry for their editors.
The whole psudo-incest angle of the story is a large part of this novel, as both characters clearly like each other and continue to not talk about it and just sort of get into situation after situation where they both worry. It feels like a standard romance story all in all, where if they just talked it would have been over in the first page or two. That said, it will appeal to those readers out there that are into pseudo-incest stories and anime fans who are familiar with this storytelling trope.
I find it interesting that someone tagged this light novel as realistic slice of life, as it is anything but. The characters behave far older than they would in real life, which allows for much older jokes and situations to occur that would for characters who are under eighteen. There was more than once where I wondered what the heck the characters' guardian thought about this situation and why they agreed to let the two siblings live together despite one needing clear psychological help. (but that said, NEETs are something found throughout Japan, so it's a more common element)
And yes, this is fiction, and thus is afforded a certain amount of leeway. It is also fiction aimed at teenage boys, and I admit I would have probably loved reading this if I was in that age group. (rather than being able to relate to the protagonist's editor more than anyone else) So I can let a fair chunk of that kind of thing go.
So why two stars?
In the end, the story just wasn't that interesting. (I found the anime to be equally uninteresting) The characters felt two dimensional and the protagonist's sister only there for fan service. Yes, their relationship grows slightly through the story, but they themselves really don't do much except expand on their respective skills because of their own misunderstandings. They have a deeper understanding of each other, or at least the protagonist of his sister, but it's not that much. (though later on I know it does deepen and evolve, but we're talking this novel at the moment) The sister is terrible to her keeper/brother, and he is spineless and uninspiring because of his obsession with her. Add in Elf and her ego, and this trio of characters really doesn't have a lot the reader can relate to/look up to.
So in the end, this book will appeal to a certain type of reader. If you like sibling love stories that have cute elements and lots of borderline hentai moments, this is a light novel for you. Otherwise, there are other stories out there that handle the same elements better that you would be better to read. Will I continue the series? Probably not.
As I had watched the anime, I had an idea of what to expect when I picked up this light novel, but I wanted to see how the light novel compared to the anime as there is always differences. I have to say that all in all, they were pretty similar, though you don't get all the fan service in the book that you get with the anime. (both a positive or negative, depending on why you are watching/reading this book)
Personally, I find books about light novel writers fascinating since I am a writer and own a small press. It is a glimpse into a publishing world very alien compared to what I have experienced, and also to the Western world of publishing. That said, this book doesn't really look all that far into the publishing world, which was a bit of a disappointment. Rather, it seems to give a very fictional view of how it all works, complete with childish competitions and writers with no respect for the fact that they are working for a business. If this is how light novel publishing actually is, I feel sorry for their editors.
The whole psudo-incest angle of the story is a large part of this novel, as both characters clearly like each other and continue to not talk about it and just sort of get into situation after situation where they both worry. It feels like a standard romance story all in all, where if they just talked it would have been over in the first page or two. That said, it will appeal to those readers out there that are into pseudo-incest stories and anime fans who are familiar with this storytelling trope.
I find it interesting that someone tagged this light novel as realistic slice of life, as it is anything but. The characters behave far older than they would in real life, which allows for much older jokes and situations to occur that would for characters who are under eighteen. There was more than once where I wondered what the heck the characters' guardian thought about this situation and why they agreed to let the two siblings live together despite one needing clear psychological help. (but that said, NEETs are something found throughout Japan, so it's a more common element)
And yes, this is fiction, and thus is afforded a certain amount of leeway. It is also fiction aimed at teenage boys, and I admit I would have probably loved reading this if I was in that age group. (rather than being able to relate to the protagonist's editor more than anyone else) So I can let a fair chunk of that kind of thing go.
So why two stars?
In the end, the story just wasn't that interesting. (I found the anime to be equally uninteresting) The characters felt two dimensional and the protagonist's sister only there for fan service. Yes, their relationship grows slightly through the story, but they themselves really don't do much except expand on their respective skills because of their own misunderstandings. They have a deeper understanding of each other, or at least the protagonist of his sister, but it's not that much. (though later on I know it does deepen and evolve, but we're talking this novel at the moment) The sister is terrible to her keeper/brother, and he is spineless and uninspiring because of his obsession with her. Add in Elf and her ego, and this trio of characters really doesn't have a lot the reader can relate to/look up to.
So in the end, this book will appeal to a certain type of reader. If you like sibling love stories that have cute elements and lots of borderline hentai moments, this is a light novel for you. Otherwise, there are other stories out there that handle the same elements better that you would be better to read. Will I continue the series? Probably not.
March 15, 2022
Background: I watched the anime adaptation of this series. It ended before the story was resolved, and I’m not optimistic that new episodes will happen anytime soon, so I thought I’d have a look at the source novels. This is the first time I’ve read a light novel, by this author or otherwise.
I read a fan translation, and I don’t mean for this review to be a criticism of the translator’s work. I fully recognize that the editorial polish expected in a published novel wouldn’t be present in a fan translation, and it was likely a huge undertaking.
Volume 1 covers episodes 1-4 of the anime and the two are quite similar, with the biggest difference being the length of the scenes is often longer in the novel.
Alright, so I really struggled to get through this novel. It felt a lot like reading an enthusiastic student’s first draft of a novel as presented in a lower division writing course. The sort of draft where there’s so much wrong with it that you almost don’t know where to begin with constructive criticism.
The text contained almost no description or setting. Scenes were primarily just back and forth dialog, largely unattributed. Often, one speaker wouldn’t even have a line of dialog, instead simply an ellipses in quotation marks. Randomly and frequently, characters (usually unspecified) would simply make noises (hemming and hawing or the like), frequently at times that didn’t seem to make sense in context. The translator sometimes resorted to using typographical elements (italics, quotes, brackets) to attempt to clarify who was speaking which lines, with only moderate success.
Character descriptions were painfully brief (“beautiful,” “blond”) or non-existant, sometimes to the point that a character seemed to pop into existence mid-way through a scene. Details about a setting or an action often seemed to be inserted after the fact, like a character speaks a line of dialog, and then several sentences later, the explanatory/contextual action or description follows. Frankly, if it weren’t for the fact that I’d already watched the anime, I may have failed to understand some scenes at all.
There were at least a handful of instances where some quirky mannerism of a character was introduced long after we met the character, almost like the author randomly thought of this cute/interesting/amusing thing a character might have been doing, but didn’t bother to go back and make it a regular aspect of the character through the earlier part of the story.
And, of course, what first draft in a beginning writing class wouldn’t be branded with this criticism: vague! It lacked the critical details that would make the story interesting or feel real. For instance, hyping the amazing, cool title for Elf-sensei’s novel, but not actually revealing it. Argh! That just feels lazy. Like you want me to feel the emotion (amusement/excitement/jealousy) of seeing this awesome title, but the writer couldn’t actually think of one that would make me feel any of those things.
The dialog was quite stilted, with few instances of any character sounding particularly distinct. This may have been a case of losing something in translation. But I presume the translator did their best to include everything the author wrote in Japanese. So my other criticisms, I expect, would be present in the original work for sure.
I’m genuinely uncertain how this managed to become a best-selling series, or merit manga and anime adaptations. I’m not even sure where the illustrator found the inspiration for the accompanying artwork. While still problematic, far and away, the best scene in the novel was the last one (before the epilogue). It was really the only one that had any emotional resonance.
Finally, much ado is made about the young age and voluminous writing output of the protagonist. This whole concept rubs me the wrong way, as I prefer to read and write novels that have deep world-building and layers of planning. The notion that a good/compelling novel could be written in a few days bothers me. It breaks my suspension of disbelief. That said, I’d be willing to believe that this novel was written in a few days by a middle-schooler.
I read a fan translation, and I don’t mean for this review to be a criticism of the translator’s work. I fully recognize that the editorial polish expected in a published novel wouldn’t be present in a fan translation, and it was likely a huge undertaking.
Volume 1 covers episodes 1-4 of the anime and the two are quite similar, with the biggest difference being the length of the scenes is often longer in the novel.
Alright, so I really struggled to get through this novel. It felt a lot like reading an enthusiastic student’s first draft of a novel as presented in a lower division writing course. The sort of draft where there’s so much wrong with it that you almost don’t know where to begin with constructive criticism.
The text contained almost no description or setting. Scenes were primarily just back and forth dialog, largely unattributed. Often, one speaker wouldn’t even have a line of dialog, instead simply an ellipses in quotation marks. Randomly and frequently, characters (usually unspecified) would simply make noises (hemming and hawing or the like), frequently at times that didn’t seem to make sense in context. The translator sometimes resorted to using typographical elements (italics, quotes, brackets) to attempt to clarify who was speaking which lines, with only moderate success.
Character descriptions were painfully brief (“beautiful,” “blond”) or non-existant, sometimes to the point that a character seemed to pop into existence mid-way through a scene. Details about a setting or an action often seemed to be inserted after the fact, like a character speaks a line of dialog, and then several sentences later, the explanatory/contextual action or description follows. Frankly, if it weren’t for the fact that I’d already watched the anime, I may have failed to understand some scenes at all.
There were at least a handful of instances where some quirky mannerism of a character was introduced long after we met the character, almost like the author randomly thought of this cute/interesting/amusing thing a character might have been doing, but didn’t bother to go back and make it a regular aspect of the character through the earlier part of the story.
And, of course, what first draft in a beginning writing class wouldn’t be branded with this criticism: vague! It lacked the critical details that would make the story interesting or feel real. For instance, hyping the amazing, cool title for Elf-sensei’s novel, but not actually revealing it. Argh! That just feels lazy. Like you want me to feel the emotion (amusement/excitement/jealousy) of seeing this awesome title, but the writer couldn’t actually think of one that would make me feel any of those things.
The dialog was quite stilted, with few instances of any character sounding particularly distinct. This may have been a case of losing something in translation. But I presume the translator did their best to include everything the author wrote in Japanese. So my other criticisms, I expect, would be present in the original work for sure.
I’m genuinely uncertain how this managed to become a best-selling series, or merit manga and anime adaptations. I’m not even sure where the illustrator found the inspiration for the accompanying artwork. While still problematic, far and away, the best scene in the novel was the last one (before the epilogue). It was really the only one that had any emotional resonance.
Finally, much ado is made about the young age and voluminous writing output of the protagonist. This whole concept rubs me the wrong way, as I prefer to read and write novels that have deep world-building and layers of planning. The notion that a good/compelling novel could be written in a few days bothers me. It breaks my suspension of disbelief. That said, I’d be willing to believe that this novel was written in a few days by a middle-schooler.
August 15, 2024
𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗶𝘁❜𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲.
I know what the story is about, and while the whole sibling thing might seem a bit weird (I don't support it), what really hooked me is the sweet and beautiful connection between the protagonist Masamune Izumi and Elf Yamada.
𝗜 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜 𝗗𝗢𝗡❜𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. But the way the author tries to create a romance is, in a way... beautiful. It's mostly sweet. Innocence, clumsiness, ridicule. It all makes you laugh. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞❜𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞.
But beyond that, the plot of this first volume is also captivating. The characters are taken to their extremes in their personalities, which grabs your attention at first glance, especially because one of the "protagonists," you could say, isolates themselves too much and only speaks occasionally. The reason for this is still a complete mystery to me, but at the same time, it has made me more eager to keep reading.
I would read it again. It's really something beautiful, in a strange way. 𝗔𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆.
𝗣𝗦: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁.
I know what the story is about, and while the whole sibling thing might seem a bit weird (I don't support it), what really hooked me is the sweet and beautiful connection between the protagonist Masamune Izumi and Elf Yamada.
𝗜 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜 𝗗𝗢𝗡❜𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. But the way the author tries to create a romance is, in a way... beautiful. It's mostly sweet. Innocence, clumsiness, ridicule. It all makes you laugh. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞❜𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞.
But beyond that, the plot of this first volume is also captivating. The characters are taken to their extremes in their personalities, which grabs your attention at first glance, especially because one of the "protagonists," you could say, isolates themselves too much and only speaks occasionally. The reason for this is still a complete mystery to me, but at the same time, it has made me more eager to keep reading.
I would read it again. It's really something beautiful, in a strange way. 𝗔𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆.
𝗣𝗦: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁.
August 23, 2024
Si dejaramos solo a Masamune y a Elf, sería una divertida historia que nos muestra lo difícil que es la industria de las light novels en Japón, básicamente el Bakuman de los escritores... pero el personaje de Sagiri y la obvia erección que tiene el self insert del autor con ella, arruina toda la experiencia.
December 21, 2022
现在轻小说就是这么回事，粘粘乎乎的。充满了阿宅们不忍直视的性幻想。本书就是一例。窦文涛在《锵锵三人行》说：“佛陀在《楞严经》说：‘末法时期地狱变，人们出门互称老师。’”当时是调侃情色服务业性工作者们称呼的变迁。和泉政宗和他妹妹现在就互称老师。这是地狱称呼，地狱里的拉菲尔。看轻小说当然是满足比较低层次的一种感官需求，这一点伏见老师做的不错。但是Anime作为一种文化Toyota Hot毕竟还是不同。阿宅们喜欢看小裤裤，漫画老师们就拼命画小裤裤。看的阿宅们都空虚了。为什么现在轻小说被称为卫生纸文学。过于满足阿宅的们感官。没出过像手冢治虫也好，尾田荣一郎也好的王者。
May 10, 2017
Por mucho que el autor repita el plato con una historia que nos recuerda a Oreimo, logra divertir, creando una LN que cumple.
December 17, 2016
This novel could be described as pretty meta, given that it is a light novel about a struggling light novel author. I know very little about Tsukasa Fushimi, but I wonder if he also lives with a hikimori little sister, who refuses to leave her room but unbeknownst to him is the illustraitor of his novels. Maybe his next door neighbor is also a beautiful young lady who happens to be his professional rival, who seeks to steal his illustraitor away from him.
May 22, 2014
Another novel of lovely siblings. But with a nice change in the ambience.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews