Want to discover new anime? And preferably before everyone else? It's easy and works in English too! You just need to know how most hit anime are created in the first place! Find out here and experience the next big hype years before anyone else!
How to find new anime before everyone else
How are new anime created?
Most of the best anime are based on source material such as manga or novels, which are often only released in Japanese and translated later. But that doesn't have to stop you! Although many fans and otaku think they have no chance of experiencing the story this early, that's not true! You can enjoy them very easily and conveniently from your smartphone or PC - even in English!
I'll explain how to do this later in the article. First, let me show you the source itself!
This is where the newest anime hits begin!
A whole range of hits don't start as printed novels, but are completely free and available online! They usually come from unknown aspiring authors and are only picked up by a publisher later, after they have already become popular online. After that, work begins on further adaptations such as light novels, manga, and anime. A process that can take years.
An example: The anime for The Apothecary Diaries started in October 2023. However, you could read the story online as early as 2011! And that's how it works with most of these series.
Yet hardly anyone outside Japan knows about this source, which can be used without any registration.
The site is called Shousetsuka Ni Narou. Hits like The Apothecary Diaries, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Mushoku Tensei, Log Horizon, and The Water Magician all started here. And those are just a few examples.
What will be the next hit anime?
Now that you know where most new anime begin, you can also easily see which ones will likely get an adaptation in the future. All you have to do is check out the top lists! You can find some examples in the following list with English and Japanese titles. As is typical for these kinds of works, the titles can be quite long:
- The Difficult Engagement of Reincarnation Enchantress Aurelia (転生付与術師オーレリアの難儀な婚約)
- The Story of How My Gatekeeper Skill Was Just the Trash Skill [Seeing Off], So I Worked Seriously Until Retirement, But Before I Knew It, I Had Saved the Country (門番の俺のスキルが【見送る】だけのゴミスキルだったので、真面目に定年まで勤め上げたら、いつの間にか国を救っていた件)
- Royal Crown Prince, This Is the Notice of Termination (王太子殿下、終了のお知らせです)
- I'm a Saint, But the Prince Cheated on Me and Abandoned Me. I'm Fed Up, So I Think I'll Spend My Second Life in the Borderlands. By the Way, I'm the Only One Who Can Put Up the Barrier Around the Capital, You Know? (聖女ですが、王子に浮気されて捨てられました。呆れたので、私は辺境でセカンドライフを送ろうと思います。ちなみに王都の結界は私にしか張れないものですよ？)
Experience the original source material of anime right now in English!
To experience them in English, you first need to find them, of course. In the following images, I'll show you where to click on the site on both PC and mobile to discover the currently most popular stories!
Now we come to the most important point: How do you understand what's written there? Modern AI translators are capable of providing you with a good translation of the titles themselves and then also of the stories! And with a very simple prompt. Just tell ChatGPT:
Translate
Then paste in the title overview or the current chapter you want to read. That's it. The AI automatically recognizes that it's a novel and translates it accordingly. This way, you can comfortably experience the story before everyone else and possibly discover your next favorite work!
Not happy with ChatGPT's translation? Then you can use Straico to conveniently have many different AI models work on the same task simultaneously. With my link, you get Straico 10 percent cheaper!
How you can learn Japanese with Shousetsuka Ni Narou!
If you want to take it a step further, you can also use these stories to learn Japanese directly! Two of the best language learning apps out there can help with this, standing out through their unique features!
First, there's Migaku*, which not only offers you a comprehensive Japanese course but also lets you quickly look up unknown words in a dictionary in English with just one click. On Android, you can also use Jidoujisho for this, though it doesn't come with an accompanying language course.
And if you want to know why I consider this way of learning to be one of the best methods out there, take a look at my overview about how to learn Japanese:
Finding new anime - What you need to know!
Many successful anime originate from popular web novels on Syosetu, often years before they get adapted into anime. This way, you can discover upcoming anime hits long before they become known to Western audiences.
Pay attention to the ranking lists! Stories that remain in the top rankings over a longer period are often picked up by publishers and later adapted as light novels, manga, and eventually anime.
Follow the images shown in the article - click on the ranking lists (on PC, left for series, right for short stories). The interface remains largely the same, even if you don't understand the language.
For quick reading, the "Translate" prompt in ChatGPT is particularly easy. Simply copy the Japanese text and the AI delivers a fluent English translation of the entire story.
Typically 3-8 years, sometimes even longer. "The Apothecary Diaries" took 12 years from web novel to anime. This gives you an enormous head start over other fans!
No, reading is completely possible without registration. This makes getting started particularly easy.
No, but a remarkably large proportion of popular isekai and fantasy anime from recent years originated on Syosetu. Examples include "Mushoku Tensei," "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," and "Log Horizon."
Absolutely! You get access to stories that may not be officially translated until years later, if at all. Plus, it's exciting to discover the differences between the original and the later anime adaptation.
Indirectly, yes. Many web novels receive a manga adaptation first before being turned into an anime. If you find a promising story on Syosetu, you can later search for a manga version.
Keep an eye on announcements on Japanese sites like Anime News Network Japan or the social media channels of the respective publisher. Often, light novel or manga adaptations are announced first before an anime follows.
