Juuni Kokki (Twelves Kingdoms) Novel discussion

[2H-Dragon]

From what I hear the Novelist dropped this series. Well she says she's working on other stuff, but considering the last release was in 2001 I wouldn't count on her to work on Juuni Kokki again.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by 2H-Dragon

From what I hear the Novelist dropped this series. Well she says she's working on other stuff, but considering the last release was in 2001 I wouldn't count on her to work on Juuni Kokki again.

Her health is doing a bit better and she says that she is working on Ghost Hunt now. (That's another one of her unfinished series.) This does not rule out finishing Juuni Kokki. Now that her health is improving and she is writing again I only expect her to write one book at a time.

[abd08]

Hi all,

Just finished reading the first book (mashou no ko), and was wondering if anyone has any advice on the order of reading the books? I was going to go in the "published order", but then after looking over some of the synopsis, am not so sure...

Thanks
Raj

[4Tran]

From Wikipedia, with spoilers removed:
* Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi (月の影　影の海) ISBN 4-06-255071-7 "Shadow of the Moon, The Sea of Shadow" (2 volume)

* Kaze no Umi, Meikyū no Kishi (風の海　迷宮の岸) ISBN 4-06-255114-4 "Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth" (2 volume)

* Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sōkai (東の海神　西の滄海) ISBN 4-06-255168-3 "Sea God in the East, Vast Sea in the West"

* Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora (風の万里　黎明の空) ISBN 4-06-255175-6 "A Thousand Miles of Wind, The Sky at Dawn" (2 volume)

* Tonan no Tsubasa (図南の翼) ISBN 4-06-255229-9 "The Aspired Wings"

* Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora (黄昏の岸　暁の天) ISBN 4-06-255546-8 "The Shore at Twilight, The Sky at Daybreak" (2 volume)

* Kasho no Yume (華胥の幽夢) ISBN 4-06-255573-5 "The Dream of Prosperity" - Various short stories, set in Tai, Hou, Kei, Sai and Sou:

This will be as good a reading order as you really need. The only really important order to maintain is "Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi" before "Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora"; and "Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora" at the very end.

For novel series wherein the different stories aren't tied that tightly to one another, the publishing order is usually more useful than a strict chronological order.

[abd08]

Hi 4Tran,

Thanks for the detailed answer!!!

Raj

[Poemi-chan]

OMG, novel 2 is actually coming out?!?! Thanks for the tip! It's about time!! I've been waiting for months upon months, thinking it was never gonna happen. I tried reading some translations before, but they were so poorly done (or at least to the best of the translator's ability)! It was impossible to understand without giving yourself a headache! Bleh! I am SO pre-ordering that baby!

[Poemi-chan]

According to Wikipedia:

"In February, 2008, the first new Twelve Kingdoms short story, Hisho no Tori (丕緒の鳥) was published in Shinchosha's Yomyom magazine." !!!!!!!! XD

Yay!!!!!!!!! Just had to post this after reading it! I hope it makes other peoples happy, too!

[Tiamat's Disciple]

It's not a new story as in a NEW story, but an old unpublished one.

[Poemi-chan]

Well, that's a bubble burster!

[cheesie]

Hot Kirin man (sorry forgot his name) x Youko foreva!!!

[Jiji]

Got my copy of Sea of Wind (Tokyopop) the other day, and am on my second reading now. First, I want to say that it's a bit different than the anime in one regard: In the anime, I never really got the impression that Taiki was in as much despair as he clearly is in the book. I mean, he's upset in the anime, but in the book, his agony is almost palpable. Keiki is also a bit more callous in the book than the anime, too.

This is nitpicking, though -- the book is enormous fun and leaves you with a desperate hunger for more. I suppose I should mention that unlike the anime, there's no "framing device" of this story being told to Kei-ou (Youko) by the nyosen Youka. As with the last volume, there's many terms left untranslated, but others that are put into western words. Taiki's nyoukai, Sanshi, is labeled a "lamia" and her name put as "Sansi". These sorts of things probably only matter to someone like me, who encountered the incredible number of terms of this world in the anime first and got used to them that way. I deeply appreciate the use of kanji in the translation, though. Way to go, TP!

I recently also came across a couple of links that some people might not be aware of yet. The first one is someone with excellent advice about the order to read the novels in, or which ones to read if you've seen the anime and want to read things you haven't already seen.

"If you finished watching the TV series and want to know what happens to Taiki, read novels No 1 and 7 ."

from faith-it.net's site.

Keep in mind that the "first" novel referred to is the actual first novel, Son of the Demon (Mashou no Ko) which was partially animated in the beginning of episode 15 and end of episode 21.

The other link is to [removed]someone who is translating the novels, and has delightful TL notes and other informative footnotes in their versions. I have yet to get around to reading his work, so I can't vouch for how good he is, but it looks good so far.

That "first" novel (Mashou no Ko) as been described as "only partially related to the 12 Kingdoms world", which makes me wonder if Tokyopop is going to TL it or not. Time will tell, I suppose...

[Tiamat's Disciple]

I'd remove those links to sites translating the books, they're against the site rules now the series is licensed and being released.

[desi09]

Coming from someone who never watched the anime, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of the Twelve Kingdoms. By reading the books, I was immersed into a new world that made me want to keep reading.
Saying this, Fuyumi Ono is God. Just read the books; you won't waste your time. ^_^

[ekka13]

You should start from the beginning with the novels. They are not graphic novels though, they are just novels, but they are very well done. Only two have been translated into english at this point but they are still working on the others. The first two books basically cover the first anime collection of the twelve kingdoms. If you want to order them it's easy, go to a Borders or Amazon.com and look up The Twelve kingdoms. If you've seen the anime, you won't miss the cover of the novels.
-Ekka

[ekka13]

Well I hope you start from the beginning! If you have read them already, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

[Matt122005]

I have the first book and I'm reading the beginning. It's interesting, but it hasn't hooked me yet on the story. But maybe it'll keep getting better as I continue to read. lol

-Matt

PS. Book 3 is coming out this March.

[Om Nerabdator]

its a pity plp stoped translating this

i really wanted to see what happened with Tai, and lets not forget Shoukei (one of the best character developments ive seen in a long while)

[Miraluka]

I would like to know what happened with Taiki...

[Xellos-_^]

been a while i paid any attention to his series but i found out a collection of short stories was release in 2012. The publisher has also been republishing the earlier novels. Anyone has any word on when the author might pick this up again?

[Kamieichi]

Release date still not clear, but it's certain she is currently working on the new volume.
The information will be up on this site.
http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/12kokuki/