As with film and TV, lack of access to manga is the main driver behind the global surge in unlicensed demand
“We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate’s service is more valuable.”.
– Gabe NewellThe weebs are winning because Hollywood is bankrupt for ideas. Heck, not just Hollywood, the west in general.
So is anime. How many another world build a harem shows do you need.
That and a general lack of availability of manga in the west. English releases are often years behind the Japanese ones, if they get brought over at all. It’s why there are so many translation groups.
Additionally, manga is way cheaper in Japan compared to when it’s brought overseas. It’s hard to justify purchasing when I could buy some merchandise or something instead
Not only that, Kodansha is ridiculously money-grubbing in the space. They’re continually trying to push for pay-per-chapter monetization instead of a basic subscription model like Shonen Jump does.
Not only that, Kodansha’s newest app, KManga, has 21 trackers in it to sell off user data. For context, Facebook only has 9 trackers.
It’s not piracy if it’s not available legally.
Its not piracy ever. Its not theft.
