“Let’s Become a Novelist” anime (a.k.a. “Narou”) is one of the popular genres in recent years. Multiple Narou anime are being broadcast every cour and keep providing enjoyment to many fans.
At the same time, some of you may not be familiar with Narou-type works. This article is an introduction for all people to learn about Narou novels and anime.
“Narou” comes from a novel sharing website
“Narou” originally comes from a website for amateurs to publish their novels called “Shousetsuka ni Narou” (“Let’s Become a Novelist” in English), and “Narou” is the general term to describe the work originally coming from the website.
There have been multiple stories published from this website in various genres and one popular genre is about “the protagonist accidentally reincarnates into another world and starts a new life”.
Therefore, a work with the similar plot is also called “Narou”.
“Narou” is also known to be “reincarnation” genre and the novels and manga of this genre are also being published from other publishers, so the “reincarnation genre” is a larger term than “Narou”…”Narou” is just the part of the entire “reincarnation genre”.
Now, we will introduce the uniqueness and charms of “Narou” with reincarnation of the characters.
Uniqueness and Charms of Narou works
The uniqueness of Narou is in the structure of the story. The story often takes place in a fantasy world imitating the middle age in Europe, and the story often begins with an accident or illness that kills the lead character in the real world. The dead protagonist is reborn in another world with the knowledge from the modern world and there they fight with villains , spend a relaxing life or redoes their life in a different way than the way they lived before.
The setting of the protagonist varies from work to work, but many protagonists seem to work hard to redo their life to get rid of regrets or boredom that they felt in the previous life, which came from the fact they could not live their life smoothly.
For example, the protagonist of “Jobless Reincarnation: I Will Seriously Try If I Go to Another World” is a 34-year-old jobless man, who stayed in his room for over 20 years and is accidentally killed by a truck, after being kicked out from his home by his brothers after the funeral of his real father. With his regret in the previous life, he begins to live a new life, while overcoming the trauma.
Moreover, there are novels that rearranged the popular flow of the story. The protagonist of “Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World” is at the mercy of the other characters as an ordinary adventurer. The “Re:Zero-Starting Life in Another World” adds a “loop” factor to the ordinary reincarnation and there are many other edits to the ordinary plot.
Some protagonists reincarnate into nonhuman beings, including a spider and slime, in works like “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” and “So, I’m a Spider, So What?”, and they also struggle and grow up through new life experiences.
Many characters reborn in the world of a game that they have previously played before or the world of swords and magic that you can find in an RPG, and they often receive special skills. The protagonist combines their unique skills and knowledge from the modern world to live their life easier.
For example, in “OVERLORD”, when the protagonist thought that his favorite VRMMOPRG’s service was over, the protagonist was reborn as a character in the game and begins an easy life with add-on items in addition to his knowledge about the game itself.
It is not true that all reincarnated characters do fight in the works; some protagonists, who suffered from overwork in the previous world, begin to spend a slower life in another world or some reborn as a villainess of a girls’ game. There are still many patterns in one genre.
One charm of Narou novels is that it cures the negative feeling with the modern world, such as despair and broken heart, by reincarnating into another world. It is common that the Narou protagonists do have regrets and the experience of failure in the previous life from the modern society, and this makes the readers relate to them easier, compared to just throwing them into the fantasy world of swords and magic.
Moreover, it may be easier for the readers to understand the plot, since the popular flow of the genre itself is already built up. If there is a popular plot to the genre the readers also can enjoy the flow with little change added to it.
Narou anime will continued to be produced in the future
The momentum of Narou anime seems to continue. There are already multiple Narou animes being scheduled in the upcoming seasons and here we will introduce 3 anime from the 2021 summer season (starting from July 2021).
“Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist”
“The protagonist Kirio Reiji was living a life of working late every day suddenly reincarnates to a forest in another world. With his skills , he continues to produce recovery drugs and begins to live a slow life with freedom, while running his own drug store.
“Tsumichi: Moonlit Fantasy”
An ordinary male high school student Misumi Makoto is suddenly summoned to another world. There, he is insulted for his ugliness by a goddess and the goddess sends him to the barren area after taking away the class of hero. Makoto survives strongly in the barren area together with nonhumans, including Orcs and Dwarfs.
“How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom”
After the protagonist Souma Kazuya lost his grandfather, who was his only family member, he suddenly gets summoned to another world as the hero Soma. With his logical thought and knowledge of the modern world, Some begins to propose new laws and rebuilds the kingdom together with unique members.
Narou anime will be produced in upcoming seasons, and there are wonderful titles in the season after this summer, so check these out in addition to the 3 anime above.
“In the Land of Leadale”
Kagami Keina dies after her life-saving machines accidently stop, which she had to use after being involved in an accident. She then reincarnates to the world of 200 years after VRMMOPRG “Readale”, the game that she played before. She earns a new life as Cayna, the high elf of the lost skills, and goes on a journey with her mates.
“The Eminence in Shadow”
A boy, who wishes to live in the world of darkness-not as a hero nor the last boss-, accidentally dies and reincarnates to another world with magic. He decides to live as an eminence in shadow, but when he discovers that there is a bad religious group, he creates an anti-association group to go against them.
“The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat”
After the best assassin of the world finished his last job before retirement, he was killed by his mates to keep the secrets of the association. He is then reincarnated by a goddess and ordered to assassinate the hero in another world.. He uses his assassination skills and knowledge from his previous life to murder the hero, who is said to destroy the world after taking down the demon lord.
Narou works are growing in scale, but there is diversity among the works and anime. This genre is a great group to keep an eye on, since there might be a new work with outstanding ideas and story plots.
