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如今，连“剧本荒”也成了全球性问题——优秀原创漫画日益匮乏，连日本动画业也只能将希望寄托于不断推陈出新的轻小说上。今年的一月新番推出了《狼与香辛料》的动画版，似乎昭示着2008年将毫无疑问依然是轻小说改编动画大行其道的一年……
Two years ago, while exploring about Haruhi Suzumiya, I happened to discover that it was adapted from a book. Now, this was a new concept to me then – I was a newcomer at the time, with a preconceived[先入为主的] notion that all anime were based upon manga. Later, I found that these books were called “light novels,” and many recent anime were actually based upon them, including some of my favorite series, like Shakugan no Shana, Trinity Blood, and Kino’s Journey.
Light novels are generally books that are heavy on dialogue
and place an emphasis[强调]
on an easy-to-understand plot development. In order to make the story more accessible[好懂的],
these books usually contain manga-style illustrations[插画].
Although they are mostly targeted at teens and young adults, many classic light novels go far beyond common school-based romantic dramas, creating complex worlds of fantasy. As a writer of light novels may go on to win a literary prize for ordinary novels, the best writers are no less than great masters, famous both at home and abroad. These years, light novels have been popular choices for anime adaptation, because there are fewer and fewer imaginative[富想象力的] original stories in the manga field.
Despite the fact that the domestic[国内的] market of light novels is worth more than $160 million – with about 30
million copies published annually[每年] – and that the books enjoy great popularity in Asia, English translations used to be rare, due to low demand and the difficulty of translation. However, in 2007, Seven Seas Entertainment became the first English publisher to print light novels. Overseas readers – like me – finally have the chance to join this unique[独特的] world of writing, which, in most cases, goes much deeper than its anime adaptations could ever do.
两年前，在四处搜寻凉宫春日的资料时，我偶然发现这部动画原来是由一本书改编而来的。这对当时的我来说可是件新鲜事——我那时还是只菜鸟，一直先入为主地认为所有动画都是根据漫画拍成的。后来，我才知道这类书叫做“轻小说”，时下许多动画其实都源自这些书——其中包括一些我最喜欢的作品，如《灼眼的夏娜》、《圣魔之血》、《奇诺之旅》等。
一般来说，轻小说就是对话占很大篇幅，情节发展简单易懂的故事书。为了让故事更直观明了，书中通常配有漫画风的插图。
虽然轻小说主要针对青少年及年轻人，不少经典作品却远远超越了平凡的校园浪漫剧（的水平），创造出错综复杂的幻想世界。由于轻小说作家也可能赢得普通小说类的文学奖项，一流的轻小说作家就是当之无愧的文学大师，享誉国内外。这些年来，人们热衷于将轻小说改编为动画，因为漫画领域里极富想象力的原创故事已经越来越少了。
尽管日本国内的轻小说市场总值超过1.6亿美元，每年出版约3千万册——也尽管这些作品在亚洲非常受欢迎，但由于需求量低、翻译难度大，过去很难找到其英语译本。不过，在2007年，七海娱乐出版公司成了第一家发行轻小说的英文出版商。像我这样的海外读者终于可以投身到这个独特的文字世界——其中的意境，在大多数情况下，改编的动画版永远望尘莫及。
Two years ago, while exploring about Haruhi Suzumiya, I happened to discover that it was adapted from a book. Now, this was a new concept to me then – I was a newcomer at the time, with a preconceived[先入为主的] notion that all anime were based upon manga. Later, I found that these books were called “light novels,” and many recent anime were actually based upon them, including some of my favorite series, like Shakugan no Shana, Trinity Blood, and Kino’s Journey.
Light novels are generally books that are heavy on dialogue
and place an emphasis[强调]
on an easy-to-understand plot development. In order to make the story more accessible[好懂的],
these books usually contain manga-style illustrations[插画].
Although they are mostly targeted at teens and young adults, many classic light novels go far beyond common school-based romantic dramas, creating complex worlds of fantasy. As a writer of light novels may go on to win a literary prize for ordinary novels, the best writers are no less than great masters, famous both at home and abroad. These years, light novels have been popular choices for anime adaptation, because there are fewer and fewer imaginative[富想象力的] original stories in the manga field.
Despite the fact that the domestic[国内的] market of light novels is worth more than $160 million – with about 30
million copies published annually[每年] – and that the books enjoy great popularity in Asia, English translations used to be rare, due to low demand and the difficulty of translation. However, in 2007, Seven Seas Entertainment became the first English publisher to print light novels. Overseas readers – like me – finally have the chance to join this unique[独特的] world of writing, which, in most cases, goes much deeper than its anime adaptations could ever do.
两年前，在四处搜寻凉宫春日的资料时，我偶然发现这部动画原来是由一本书改编而来的。这对当时的我来说可是件新鲜事——我那时还是只菜鸟，一直先入为主地认为所有动画都是根据漫画拍成的。后来，我才知道这类书叫做“轻小说”，时下许多动画其实都源自这些书——其中包括一些我最喜欢的作品，如《灼眼的夏娜》、《圣魔之血》、《奇诺之旅》等。
一般来说，轻小说就是对话占很大篇幅，情节发展简单易懂的故事书。为了让故事更直观明了，书中通常配有漫画风的插图。
虽然轻小说主要针对青少年及年轻人，不少经典作品却远远超越了平凡的校园浪漫剧（的水平），创造出错综复杂的幻想世界。由于轻小说作家也可能赢得普通小说类的文学奖项，一流的轻小说作家就是当之无愧的文学大师，享誉国内外。这些年来，人们热衷于将轻小说改编为动画，因为漫画领域里极富想象力的原创故事已经越来越少了。
尽管日本国内的轻小说市场总值超过1.6亿美元，每年出版约3千万册——也尽管这些作品在亚洲非常受欢迎，但由于需求量低、翻译难度大，过去很难找到其英语译本。不过，在2007年，七海娱乐出版公司成了第一家发行轻小说的英文出版商。像我这样的海外读者终于可以投身到这个独特的文字世界——其中的意境，在大多数情况下，改编的动画版永远望尘莫及。