We’ve just concluded the third book in our light novel club series, but it’s time to forge ahead and move to the next one! While the last two selections were in the new style of digital releases, our newest takes us back in time to Toonami and the birth of the anime fandom for many American otaku, myself included. It was Toonami that first really opened my eyes to anime: Cardcaptor Sakura, Outlaw Star, Big O, and especially Tenchi Muyo. I was so into Tenchi that I would spend hours researching every corner of the Internet back when there wasn’t that much about the series available—but one website did tell me a lot. It summarized the trilogy of True Tenchi Muyo novels, which provide context and background for the series.
I was so impressed by how much lore there was to the series. At the time, I imagined that anime was basically a more adult kind of cartoon—I had no idea there was more significant world-building than I expected and that “light novels” even existed! Alas, the summaries were all I could hope for. I didn’t read Japanese and I had no expectation that the light novels would ever be published in English.
But I was wrong—the True Tenchi Muyo light novels are finally being published, with the first coming out just a few weeks ago! I can’t imagine a better piece to discuss (or if I’m being honest, there’s none I’d rather do!) than the True Tenchi Muyo light novels! And so our next selection will be volume one!
If you want to join in, head over to Amazon and grab a copy! Our discussion will be on August 4th. Can’t wait to hear from y’all then!
