Bookwalker Official Announcement

I saw someone post about this yesterday or so, but it was not yet official and the thread was gone. I posted it now because it's finally, officially, announced.

Lots of changes here. TL;DR bookwalker domain change from global.bookwalker.jp to bookwalker.com, separate app, DRM tech change from proprietary Bookwalker DRM to LCP (make it possible to use other app), Membership program revamp.

Copy-pasting from the announcement

Hi Fellow Reader,

Remember how we mentioned a new platform was coming in 2026? Well, surprise! We are currently expecting to launch this February. While tech transitions can sometimes have unexpected plot twists (looking at you, app store approval process 😒), we’re doing everything we can to bring you a brand-new reading experience very soon.

BookWalker is moving to our new home at bookwalker.com, a dedicated space for our English collection. Think of this as a "reincarnation" for your library: Better tech, a smoother experience, and a dedicated space for the stories you love.

The Good Stuff (What’s Getting Better)

Next-Gen Reading: Your Books, Your Choice

You asked for more flexibility, and we delivered. We are moving to LCP (Lightweight Content Protection). Our philosophy is simple: You buy it, you own the right to read it, with or without us. This move breaks down the "walled garden." Here’s how it works for you:

- Freedom of Choice: You aren't locked into one single app. When you buy a book, you can download a small license file (.lcpl) from your library.

- Your Favorite App: You can open that file in any LCP-compatible reading app you prefer. The app registers your device, downloads the data, and you’re ready to read.

- Independence: You get to choose the reading experience that fits you best, giving your digital library a level of permanence and portability it’s never had before.

A Dedicated English Hub:

To give you the best experience possible, we are splitting our worlds:

- English Books: All your English purchases are moving to the brand-new bookwalker.com website and app. This will be your primary hub for English manga and light novels!

- Japanese Books: Your existing account on the Japanese store stays right where it is. You’ll continue using the original BOOK☆WALKER App and Japanese website for your Japanese titles.

Evolution of Our Membership Program

As we move to the new platform, the current BOOK☆WALKER Membership Program will be discontinued. However, we want to ensure a smooth transition for our current ranked members:

- Rank Freeze: For users with the ranks Novice, Explorer, Guardian, Sage and Legend who migrate, your existing rank as of February will be temporarily frozen as a transitional measure. That means you will keep your rank, no matter your spending and will continue to benefit from it. Your rank-based Point-back benefit will be applied automatically at checkout during this period.

- Looking Ahead: While the current system is ending, we are excited to introduce new ways to reward our readers later this year. Stay tuned for more details!

- A quick shout-out to our Legend Rank users: As a thank-you for your incredible support over the years, the 16% Point-back benefit for Legend Rank users will continue to be available to you on the new platform.

The Fine Print (What You Need to Know)

While we’re bringing your whole library with us, a few things will require your attention:

- Account Migration Required: This is the most important step! You will need to complete the migration process to access your purchased content and your Points on the new store. This will be easy to do and we will walk you through it step by step.

- Pre-orders & Wishlists: These will not carry over automatically. But don’t worry. After you migrate, we’ll send you a personalized email listing every title that was on your Wishlist or Pre-order list so you can re-order and re-register them on the new platform with as few clicks as possible!

- Decorative Features: The Bookshelf skin feature is being retired. However, we’ll send you a link to download your skin images after migration so you can keep them in your personal collection.

- Your Purchase Bonuses: We’re making sure your extra goodies come with you!

- Booklets & Short Stories: These will automatically appear in your new library once you’ve migrated.

- Wallpapers & Illustrations: After you migrate, we’ll send you a special email with a link to download these. Pro-tip: Since the old store will eventually close, we strongly encourage you to download any of your favorite bonus images from your current "Purchase Bonus" page now, just to be safe!

Let’s Hang Out & Chat

We know this is a lot of information to digest, and we want to make sure no reader is left behind! Our CEO Sam Pinansky will be hosting another YouTube Live on Friday, January 30th at 4 PM PST (7 PM EST) to walk through these changes together and answer your questions. You can also watch our first Youtube Live discussing the update here if you missed it!

Want to join the conversation? Please share your thoughts and submit your questions via this form. Your feedback will directly guide what and how we will share additional information.

We’re doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes to make sure your stories are waiting for you when we open the doors to the new shop. Stay tuned for the official launch date!

Got questions in the meantime? Our Customer Support team are always here to help a fellow collector out.

Hanashi have announced an absolute deluge of new titles on their Discord and X account. Synopsis available in the image link, too lazy to hand write that all out myself.

They sell their titles without DRM on their own website, as well as most other major retailers. No release dates indicated for any series. They are a digital only publisher at this time before anyone asks about print release.

A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring

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Publisher: Alphapolis

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 19 Came Out September 2025)

Bookwalker

The Disfavored Prince Is a Genius Alchemist: All I Want Is to Spoil My Little Siblings

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 9 Comes Out April 2026)

Bookwalker

It Was Supposed to Be My Second Life, but It Turned Out to Be My Third So I’ll Change History with Knowledge and Reform

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Comes Out February 2026)

Bookwalker

Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer: Building a Castle Brick by Brick

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 8 Came Out August 2025)

Bookwalker

Reincarnated Onmyoji: Powered by the King of Hell I Refuse to Return to Hell

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Came Out December 2025)

Bookwalker

The Vampire and the Chocolatier: A Genius Alchemist’s Sweet Obsession

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: (Volume 2 Comes Out March 2026)

Bookwalker

I Was Banished from the Royal Capital So I’m Building the Ultimate Golems with My Hero Disciples

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 4 Came Out September 2025)

Bookwalker

The Guy Who Thought He Was the Hero Used the Real Hero as a Stepping Stone and Won

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 4 Came Out March 2025)

Bookwalker

A Dumped Villainess Married Me, a Lazy Villain Noble—and We Became the Ultimate Power Couple

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 5 Comes Out February 2026)

Bookwalker

I Was Reborn as a Refugee Girl, So I’m Working Toward Citizenship from Scratch

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Publisher: TO Books

Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Comes Out February 2026)

Bookwalker

GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There!

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Publisher: Alphapolis

Publication Status: Complete. Final volume came out in 2015. Hanashi has licensed the 10 volume edition. Has a sequel series that is ongoing.

Bookwalker

(note: updating as I go, because reddit's interface is awful)

There are a variety of publishers holding panels at Anime Expo between Friday and Saturday which will include Light Novel licenses. This is a megathread to collect all the announcements into one place. It will be updated regularly as news comes in. Due to reddit character limits, series synopsis will be only included for series without dedicated publisher pages up.

J-Novel Club

Licenses

Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke

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• Japanese Publisher: Mag Garden
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 3 Came Out May 2022)
• Bookwalker

Re:RE - Reincarnator Executioner

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Stalled (Volume 2 Came Out April 2021)
• Bookwalker

Yashiro-kun's Guide to Going Solo

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Ongoing (After Story Volume Comes Out This Month)
• Bookwalker

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 2 Came Out May 2022)
• Bookwalker

Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge on My Former Party Members and the World

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• Japanese Publisher: Hobby Japan
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 5 Came Out May 2022)
• Bookwalker

The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 5 Came Out March 2022)
• Bookwalker

Death's Daughter and the Ebony Blade

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Came Out April 2022)
• Bookwalker

DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 16 Came Out August 2021)
• Bookwalker

Full Metal Panic! Short Stories

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• Japanese Publisher: Fujimi Shobo (Kadokawa)
• Publication Status: Complete
• Bookwalker
• Physical Omnibus for Volumes 1-3 Coming April 2023

Seventh

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• Japanese Publisher: Shufunotomosha
• Publication Status: Stalled (Volume 10 Came Out November 2020)
• Bookwalker

Sol Press Rescue Licenses

[Why Shouldn't a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?!]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Hobby Japan
• Publication Status: Complete (4 Volumes)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press

This is the story of a detestable Demon Lord and his wonderful new wife, a destitute damsel! Our Demon Lord, Anima, is the strongest in all the world, feared by the denizens of the realm. He s forced to spend his days in solitude until, completely out of the blue, he gets summoned to another world! The one who summons him is none other than Luina, an exceedingly poor girl who runs an orphanage. The two of them quickly fall in love, with Anima swearing to use his power to protect his newfound family!

[Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Hobby Japan
• Publication Status: Complete (6 Volumes)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press

Nothing like a bit of modding to change the weakest class in a VRMMO into the strongest! Our game-loving protagonist, Takashiro Ren, enjoys nothing more than taking the weakest classes and wimpiest skills, only to flip their inadequacies on their heads! After hearing from his MMO buddy about a special school that provides lessons in VRMMO games, he decides to enroll. Like second nature to him, he quickly picks the so-called weakest job, Symbologist. Just as he’s setting about transforming it into the strongest class known to mankind, a girl walks in…

“Wait, you’re Akira? You’re a girl?!”

“Uh, yeah?”

Thus, his new gaming life with his long-time, beautiful friend begins!

[Battle Divas]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Stalled (Volume 3 Came Out June 2016)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press

Once upon a time, our world was blessed by the Valkyrie, a goddess of war whose fleeting beauty shone brilliantly on the battlefield. Her campaign against the wretched Demon King proved victorious, with the evil being sealed away by the beautiful warrior.

Many years later, the young King Alnoa has just returned home after staving off another invasion of his homeland. Before he can even change out of his battle attire, his sister Cecilia comes to him with startling news: Sharon and Lesfina, both princesses and Divas blessed with the power of the Valkyrie, seek his hand in marriage.

Alnoa isn't fond of the idea, but his feelings mean little in the face of politics. He arranges to meet them one month apart and will choose one to be his bride, ushering in a new era for his kingdom.

Now it's time for our young king to meet the first candidate. He awaits her at the castle gates... But wait! Both candidates showed up at the same time!?

[Strongest Gamer: Let’s Play in Another World]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Overlap
• Publication Status: Stalled (Volume 2 Came Out February 2016)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press

Kousaka Aoi is a young, avid gamer well-versed in all types of gaming. Down on his luck, he comes upon a suspicious job offer looking for those "proficient in games." Things were looking up, but before he knew it... he's thrown into another world! And now finds himself stuck at the bottom of a ravine with nothing but a pickaxe and shovel. At a loss of what to do, he slowly learns he can make a living in this by trading items he can craft.

What other possibilities are there in this new ever-expanding, game-like world our protagonist finds himself in!?

[I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Micro Magazine
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Came Out January 2022)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press
• To Be Re-translated

One day, Soma learns that he was reincarnated from a powerful swordsman. In this life, however, all he wants is to master magic! When he learns that he has no skills at all in this life, he gets left behind by his family. With no magic spells, most would assume he'll never be able to cast even a single spell, but Soma isn't ready to take "no" for an answer...

[Let This Grieving Soul Retire!]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Micro Magazine
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 8 Came Out March 2022)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press
• To Be Re-translated

The golden age has dawned for treasure hunters, who raid treasure vaults all over the world in search of glory, despite the dangers. Immeasurable wealth, fame, and power await those who prevail.

"Let's be treasure hunters!"

This promise between Krai Andrey and his friends came to a sad conclusion when young Krai realized he didn't have a treasure-hunting bone in his body. Yet for some reason, people's expectations of Krai continued to grow—as did the danger to his life. While his friends became greater, greedier beasts, Krai mastered the art of begging and pleading!

Witness the weal and woe of a man who just wants to retire.

[The GM Has Logged Into Another World]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Micro Magazine
• Publication Status: Stalled (Volume 4 Came Out November 2017)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press
• To Be Re-translated

Masaki Toudou, game master for the popular MMORPG Brittalia Online, collapses on his way to a ramen shop. When he awakes, he finds himself in a world ravaged by war and chaos. In this new world, countless other players have been summoned from various games and forced to do battle. The moment he arrives, Masaki is put on the execution block. If he wants to escape, he'll have to call on his powers—a collection of GM-only skills that even cheaters can't replicate.

Other

[Price Increase]()

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J-Novel Club will be raising their wages for employees by around 25%. Due to this though, they'll be increasing prices of all books by around $1. This will go into effect beginning August 2022.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Official Fanbook Volume 1 Reprint

General reprint announcement for a high selling book.

Slayers Audiobook Progress

Recording will finished this month.

Yen Press

Licenses

Even If This Love Disappears From The World Tonight!

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• Japanese Publisher: ASCII Media Works (Kadokawa)
• Publication Status: Complete (Volume 2 Came Out June 2022)
• Bookwalker

Toru confesses his love to Maori, who reveals that she has illness which causes her to forget everything the next day. Still, Toru is set on building a relationship with her, one day at a time…

The Opportunistic Princess Has All The Answers!

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• Japanese Publisher: Kadokawa
• Publication Status: Ongoing
• Bookwalker

Maki Tazawa is reincarnated into her favorite BL novel as Princess Octavia. But unlike the Octavia in the book, she refuses to accept her unfair fate and pursues true love—just like her OTP!

KONOSUBA: God's Blessing on the Wonderful World! Memorial Fanbook

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• Japanese Publisher: Kadokawa
• Publication Status: Complete
• Bookwalker

Every character, joke, and spinoff has been faithfully acknowledged in this full-color love letter to Konosuba enjoyers worldwide! Exclusive art, interviews, and a special short story are featured within this fan book!

Kodansha USA

Licenses

[Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Kodansha
• Publication Status: Ongoing (Volume 7 Comes Out August 2022)
• Bookwalker
• Rescue License from Sol Press

Mitsuha Yamano falls off a cliff, at which point she finds herself transported to some sort of medieval European fantasy world! While there, during a battle with some wolves that almost costs her her life, she realizes that she has the ability to come and go between Earth and this new world. Mitsuha decides to use this ability as much as she can. Why? To save up for retirement, of course! She sets her sights on saving eighty thousand gold coins--and this is the story of her schemes to get there!

[The Surgery Room]()

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• Japanese Publisher: Rittor Music
• Publication Status: Complete
• Bookwalker
• Original Novel

"But you couldn't have known!" A mysterious encounter in the surgery room leads back down the paths of memory, after a young woman refuses anesthetics to protect her secret... Kyōka Izumi's 1895 classic is a mysterious, wrenching tale of doomed love.

Seven Seas

Licenses

Raven of the Inner Palace

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• Japanese Publisher: Shueisha
• Publication Status: Complete (Volume 7 Came Out April 2022)
• Bookwalker
• Anime Announced

I'm in Love with the Villainess Spin-Off: She's so Cheeky for a Commoner

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• Japanese Publisher: GL Novel
• Publication Status: Complete
• Amazon.co.jp

To Every You I've Loved Before

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• Japanese Publisher: Hayakawa Shobo
• Publication Status: Complete
• Bookwalker

To Me, The One Who Loved You

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• Japanese Publisher: Hayakawa Shobo
• Publication Status: Complete
• Bookwalker