As English language anime moves towards digital simulcasting and simul-dubbing to keep up with fan consumption, English language manga also evolves. For years, fan scanlations have been the primary source of up-to-date manga translations, but industry professionals are developing countermeasures with readers in mind.
The industry is making strides to supply fans with content, impressive considering the time it takes to translate, letter, and edit on a professional, publishable level. Major manga publishers and Crunchyroll are moving towards serializing digital-only and digital-first titles. Other websites, lesser-known and still finding their footing, are also going about licensing manga digitally, some with the help of fan translators and designers.
The best example may be the once-monthly print edition of Shonen Jump, which shifted to a weekly digital edition a few years ago and is caught-up to chapters as released on Mondays in Japan. Currently eleven series, ranging from long-runners One Piece and Bleach to up-and-comers My Hero Academia and World Trigger, are released on that expedited schedule. VIZ Media has also been releasing manga volumes digitally in advance of their print releases.
Yen Press is testing the waters with chapter-by-chapter digital releases. These titles range from the popular Black Butler to more niche series such as Royal Tutor.
Kodansha USA has steadily increased its digital presence over the past few years as well. Since 2013, they’ve had a collaboration with Crunchyroll offering some of their titles digitally in advance. For example, A Silent Voice is available in its entirety to Crunchyroll subscribers, while Kodansha is still in the process of publishing print editions.
Earlier this year the company launched Kodansha Advanced Media (KAM) under general manager and VIZ Media alum Alvin Lu. KAM, a Kodansha subsidiary, specializes in distributing Kodansha manga and non-manga content digitally, including negotiating with distributors such as ComiXology and the usual digital retailers. This fall, Kodansha is undergoing major transitions turning over more content to KAM and significantly increasing the amount of manga offered digitally. Kodansha executives from Japan confirmed that they are looking towards more simul-translating and simul-pubbing, which modern technology has accommodated.
Rising manga publishers such as Vertical, Inc. and Seven Seas are also planting the seeds of their digital presence through online retailers and ComiXology. Vertical has noted that some of its Kodansha licenses have met delays publishing on ComiXology, but as Kodansha USA has recently negotiated with the retailer, hopefully Vertical won’t be far behind.
Translating chapter by chapter on an expedited schedule is still in testing phases, and particularly for publishers with a number of licenses, it’s quite the workload for current employees. Yet progress is absolutely being made to turn around quality translations in shorter time periods and update the digital catalogs to include backlist titles, an impressive feat.
It’s impossible to discuss the digital manga revolution without acknowledging scanlations, manga chapters scanned and translated by fans and hosted through personal blogs or scanlation websites. Scanlations have been around for a while, long before digital manga distribution was commonplace. As official distributors update their procedures for translating and publishing manga, the scanlation landscape is changing.
Are scanlations and scanlators bad for the manga industry? Yes and no. Starting with the positive, scanlations can give translators, letterers, graphic designers, and web designers work experience. Manga publishing is a difficult industry to get into in North America, and in countries around the world also translating manga, mostly because of how small it is. The offices of your favorite publishers may have fewer than a dozen in-house employees in their manga imprint, filling in with freelancers as needed. Particularly in lettering and touch-up, which is vastly different than lettering American comics, familiarity with manga cleanup can be a boon to freelance graphic designers hoping to work with pros.
On the negative side, there are scanlation teams working on series that have already been licensed, which hurts publishers and distributors. Lack of profit impedes publishers’ abilities to continue localizing volumes and limits future licenses; likewise, this affects distributors from major retailers like Barnes and Noble or Books a Million to indie bookstores and comic book shops. It’s a chain reaction: if booksellers and publishers aren’t making money, manga creators aren’t either.
With more outlets for digital manga distribution and technology that allows for quicker turnaround of quality products, manga publishers outside of Japan finally seem to have the tools to combat 21st-century piracy. Just as fan-subtitled anime is in less demand now that simulcasting and even simul-dubbing are on the rise, either for free or under affordable subscription rates, scanlations now compete with official translations releasing on a more regular basis.
It’s unlikely that a free option would ever be available legally, as manga can only be consumed visually and has no sub/dub equivalent to anime. However, with subscriptions and single-issue prices comparable to magazines and American comics, it won’t break the bank. The more fans support the industry’s current offerings in up-to-date translations, the more the digital sphere of licensed manga will expand, and the more manga publishing will pursue and achieve with technology.