Question for manga readers

[Markness]

Do you prefer reading manga physically or online?

As a personal preference, I read physical copies of series I can purchase or check out from the library (not the one I work at). But I will read fan translations if a series isn’t licensed, stops being published officially for whatever reason, or if the series is something I keep up with regularly and I’ll buy it anyway.

Manga I had to read online because they aren’t licensed and may or not ever get licensed: Ushio and Tora, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Kongou Banchou, Needless, and Medaka Box.

Manga I had to finish online because they stopped being published officially: Fist of the North Star (though Viz is re-releasing it this year), Guyver, Bastard!!, and Eden It’s An Endless World!.

Manga I read online but still buy the books: Berserk, Battle Angel Alita, One Piece, UQ Holder!, Made in Abyss, Twin Star Exorcists, and My Hero Academia.

An inversion of the second category. The books are published officially but there are no continuous fan translations: Excel Saga, Murciélago, and Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn.

Books I read from the library due to my finances being low and not having enough shelf space: Blue Exorcist, Seraph of the End, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and The Promised Neverland.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Do you prefer reading manga physically or online?

As a personal preference, I read physical copies of series I can purchase or check out from the library (not the one I work at). But I will read fan translations if a series isn’t licensed, stops being published officially for whatever reason, or if the series is something I keep up with regularly and I’ll buy it anyway.

Manga I had to read online because they aren’t licensed and may or not ever get licensed: Ushio and Tora, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Kongou Banchou, Needless, and Medaka Box.

Manga I had to finish online because they stopped being published officially: Fist of the North Star (though Viz is re-releasing it this year), Guyver, Bastard!!, and Eden It’s An Endless World!.

Manga I read online but still buy the books: Berserk, Battle Angel Alita, One Piece, UQ Holder!, Made in Abyss, Twin Star Exorcists, and My Hero Academia.

An inversion of the second category. The books are published officially but there are no continuous fan translations: Excel Saga, Murciélago, and Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn.

Books I read from the library due to my finances being low and not having enough shelf space: Blue Exorcist, Seraph of the End, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and The Promised Neverland.

I'd just buy physical unless the series is too long.

 

[UberScout]

I used to have a shonen jump magazine i got a long time ago as a kid. It had an episode of Bleach, Hikaru No Go, Bobobobo bobo bobobo (what the heck did I just read?!) One piece and....YugiOh I think.

 

[_eri_bellehumeur]

I only follow a few manga religiously (BNHA among them), so while I usually prefer having a physical copy I can have in my hands, I've just gotten very used to reading online. It's too expensive to buy the volumes, and they take up a lot of space so it just makes more sense for me.

 

[Markness]

I'd just buy physical unless the series is too long.

What about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?

Berserk and Battle Angel Alita have been running longer than One Piece but their respective book counts are lower. Guyver is older than JoJo’s but it generally only got one or two books per year and it hasn’t had a new chapter since 2016 so it only has 32 books despite it’s age. Bastard!! is in a similar situation and partly why Viz stopped publishing it was due to a sacrilegious oral sex story sequence. I couldn’t have made this up if I tried!

I was irritated when Dark Horse stopped publishing Eden It’s An Endless World!, especially when they only had four more books to finish it (It has 18 total). It received good critical acclaim, one reviewer even saying it was one of the best manga American money can buy, and Dark Horse themselves loved it but that doesn’t necessarily translate to sales. I asked Dark Horse if it’ll ever get finished or at least get a re-release like what they are doing with Berserk and Hellsing currently but they just told me more or less even they don’t know and it’s possible the original publisher in Japan revoked the license to it. Shame, really. It’s a very underrated cyberpunk series and I actually like it more than Ghost in The Shell.

I used to have a shonen jump magazine i got a long time ago as a kid. It had an episode of Bleach, Hikaru No Go, Bobobobo bobo bobobo (what the heck did I just read?!) One piece and....YugiOh I think.

I miss those days, especially when One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach were the trinity of popular manga. Bobobobo didn’t really get a proper release in the US. Viz released an edited version due to “content” and it’s possible the mangaka considered the early parts of it as old shame. Viz dropped it but it was probably just as well.

 

[UberScout]

Not a manga but when the Kirby anime on 4Kids was still on, I was there every Sunday morning.
Poyo.

 

[BrokenBoy]

What about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?

I only collected as the volumes up to the end of Stardust Crusaders. I'm gonna read part 4 and everything afterwards online.

I only bought the first 3 Berserk volumes which covers the first arc. I always decide when the drop off point should be.

 

[Markness]

I only collected as the volumes up to the end of Stardust Crusaders. I'm gonna read part 4 and everything afterwards online.

I only bought the first 3 Berserk volumes which covers the first arc. I always decide when the drop off point should be.

I have both the original SJ Advanced and the JoJonium versions of Stardust Crusaders as well as Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. I’ve read Diamond is Unbreakable and onward online as well as have the Viz publication of DiU. I don’t make a ton of money but I want to help my friends’ businesses (they run comic shops) and I don’t have a family to support or many bills to pay so I find ways to make it work out.

If I had known Nanatsu no Taizai would fall so hard in terms of quality, I would have wanted it to end after the Ten Commandments arc. When the next Teen Titans title and current X-books end, I’ll be done with DC and Marvel.

 

[BrokenBoy]

I have both the original SJ Advanced

Lol why?

 

[Markness]

Lol why?

It came out first (way back in 2005) and there was no guarantee the rest would ever be brought over due to the music references being potential land mines for lawsuits and Viz had to halt publishing it due to anger from the Islamic world (Long story). I wanted to support the series. They also have sentimental value to me because I bought them from an old friend’s comic book shop until he retired so I don’t regret spending money on them.