New light novels from Kyoto Animation

Today, Kyoto Animation announced two new light novels under its KA Esuma brand.

 

The first is 草原の輝き (Sougen no Kagayaki) by Yoshida Reiko (who did the screenplay for Violet Evergarden series, among other things).

(Source: KA Esuma editorial board X account)

This is a story about a teenager who left for a public school (as in the boarding school in England where your parents have to be somebody in order for you to enroll, something like Eton) to escape from having to live with his mother's new family after she remarried. The story is set in a school, where he meets other students and I guess it will be something like Free! and Tsurune.
 

The other is MOON FIGHTERS! by Gatoh Shoji (who wrote the Full Metal Panic! series as well as Amagi Brilliant Park).

(Source: KA Esuma editorial board X account)

This is a sci-fi novel set in the future when people can easily travel to the moon. It follows a group of guys who solve problems that occur on the moon. I guess this makes it something like Amagi Brilliant Park, but on the moon, with an all-guy cast?

Both of the authors are script writers, and KyoAni has a habit of making anime based on KA Esuma books. I speculate that these two light novels are actually the stories for upcoming KyoAni anime series, although it won't be that soon.

First, a while ago, KyoAni announced that one of its light novels, 二十世紀電氣目録 (20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku, or "20th Century Electricity Catalog") will be made into an anime. Of course, this was before the tragic fire, so it is unknown when this anime would actually be shown, if ever. But I speculate that we may see it in 2024, if it is still in the works, after season 3 of Sound! Euphonium airs in spring 2024.

So 2024 will be Sound! Euphonium Season 3, maybe followed by 二十世紀電氣目録, and 2025 may see another season of Tsurune. That means, if we are lucky, one of these two new light novels may be adapted into an anime that airs in 2025 or 2026. In terms of timing, this roughly two-year gap is also about the same as recent KyoAni series like Violet Evergarden (published in December 2015, with anime in January 2018) and Tsurune (published in December 2016, with anime in October 2018).

Something to look forward to! Especially since Yoshida Reiko is a really established scriptwriter, with many many great works under her name, and has worked with KyoAni on many series too.

Note: I am not sure why KyoAni asked Gatoh Shinji to write a light novel, given the controversy surrounding his past remarks about Greta Thunberg.