J-Novel Club

[HelperHand]

I clearly don't know what scanlation means

broadly speaking it's a term to denote the Fan effort not an official one

 

[BraveDude8]

Also I think MD should add a "Silent Upload" feature.

It's on the list, because it would allow us to dump hundreds of thousands of external links for older third-party chapters without clogging up the updates feed.

Having them show up as "new uploads" is making a surprising number of people in the comment threads believe that JNC suddenly licensed 70 titles at once...

Actually a bit sad about that, but I guess that's policy, so not much that can be done. At least it makes the need for an ability to filter them out much lower priority.

You can still see the other chapters once you've been linked through to the third-party site, obviously, but we don't want any chapter links on MD itself that don't let you immediately read the chapter - it's deceptive.

edit: rereading rule 1.2 then leaves me with another question. How is this content (official publishers translations) allowed on md if it is neither "scanlations" nor "self-published original comics" (the onlu content allowed according to that rule - unless the licensed translator is somehow considered as part of "the publisher" according to rule 1.2.1.2? Would be a bit of an odd interpretation, but might work? though then it would have been uploaded by the group "[publisher] (ex licenses)" and been "treated as scanlations for the purposes of all rules" (1.2.2)))? I still feel like the rules might need an update with some exceptions & clarifications for this use-case.

The company providing licensed translations of a work is a publisher by definition and it's irrelevant regardless because these chapters aren't being uploaded directly to MD, they're being linked to. We're not hosting any of J-Novel's content on our site.

 

[HelperHand]

It's on the list, because it would allow us to dump hundreds of thousands of external links for older third-party chapters without clogging up the updates feed.

Having them show up as "new uploads" is making a surprising number of people in the comment threads believe that JNC suddenly licensed 70 titles at once...

That will be the best solution, last week a lot of people freaked out when new entries were linked to comikey for titles that are being actively fan translated despite the official release

 

[sadmanex]

Man, It JNovelClub. I wish they wont start actively attack fans translate like what happen with novel in novelupdates once they smell money from manga.

 

[Helitrix]

Then 1.8 needs that exception added. As it is now, 1.8 and 1.2 are two distinct rules, without any interplay (as one might have guessed from the numbers themselves ).

ahh i was using 1.2 as the definition for what they count a scantalator as my bad.

 

[feha]

ahh i was using 1.2 as the definition for what they count a scantalator as my bad.

Ah, I see, the "if it's a publisher (1.2.1.2), then it should be treated as scanlations for the purpose of all rules (1.2.2)" part?

 

[BraveDude8]

Ah, I see, the "if it's a publisher (1.2.1.2), then it should be treated as scanlations for the purpose of all rules (1.2.2)" part?

If it's a publisher, they're not scanlations, so these rules are irrelevant.

 

[GalladeGuy]

Here's a summary of how the site works, from my understanding:

The first chapter of every series is free for everyone, and only the chapters from the most recent volume can be read by members without paying extra. After the volume is quality checked and released ("minimum of 4-5 weeks, and over two months for the first parts in each volume"), the chapters expire and you need to purchase the whole volume ($8.99 from a couple series I checked) to read it, even if you have a membership. All of the expired chapters in a series are sometimes opened up for a limited time for catch-ups, presumably only for members.

Payments are made using coins, which have a one-to-one conversion with cents and don't expire. They can be bought with a 5% discount for a basic membership ($4.95/m, $54/y for basic), or 15% plus a free 699 coins a month for a premium membership ($10.95/m, $120/y). Chapters can be rented (cringe) for 72 hours for what seems like 30 coins each, but that does count toward buying the volume at least. I've also found some series where there's no option to rent and you have to buy the whole volume at once, though. If you buy their "premium" ebook, you get online access to the chapters regardless of membership, as well as an epub file you can do what you like with, but they won't let you download them anymore if they lose the rights.

Honestly I'm not sure what to make of it. I like that they're offering a membership rather than just some fixed per-chapter rate, but I don't like the chapter renting and only being able to read a few recent chapters for a limited time. I feel like if they're already charging a monthly fee it's kind of dumb to have to rent older chapters on top of that. I have no reason to get a membership right now since they're far behind the scanlations on most of the series I care about, but I might get a basic membership once they catch up assuming translation quality and speed are decent. I don't buy ebooks nor do I plan on renting any chapters so the premium membership makes no sense to me, but I guess if you picture yourself buying a lot of coins it could be worth it. I think it has the potential to be a good deal if they pick up enough series and maybe ease up on the renting thing.

 

[meccaflare]

Here's a summary of how the site works, from my understanding:

The first chapter of every series is free for everyone, and only the chapters from the most recent volume can be read by members without paying extra. After the volume is quality checked and released ("minimum of 4-5 weeks, and over two months for the first parts in each volume"), the chapters expire and you need to purchase the whole volume ($8.99 from a couple series I checked) to read it, even if you have a membership. All of the expired chapters in a series are sometimes opened up for a limited time for catch-ups, presumably only for members.

Payments are made using coins, which have a one-to-one conversion with cents and don't expire. They can be bought with a 5% discount for a basic membership ($4.95/m, $54/y for basic), or 15% plus a free 699 coins a month for a premium membership ($10.95/m, $120/y). Chapters can be rented (cringe) for 72 hours for what seems like 30 coins each, but that does count toward buying the volume at least. I've also found some series where there's no option to rent and you have to buy the whole volume at once, though. If you buy their "premium" ebook, you get online access to the chapters regardless of membership, as well as an epub file you can do what you like with, but they won't let you download them anymore if they lose the rights.

Honestly I'm not sure what to make of it. I like that they're offering a membership rather than just some fixed per-chapter rate, but I don't like the chapter renting and only being able to read a few recent chapters for a limited time. I feel like if they're already charging a monthly fee it's kind of dumb to have to rent older chapters on top of that. I have no reason to get a membership right now since they're far behind the scanlations on most of the series I care about, but I might get a basic membership once they catch up assuming translation quality and speed are decent. I don't buy ebooks nor do I plan on renting any chapters so the premium membership makes no sense to me, but I guess if you picture yourself buying a lot of coins it could be worth it. I think it has the potential to be a good deal if they pick up enough series and maybe ease up on the renting thing.

You're mostly right. One correction is payments the subscription to new releases is done through a payment processor. So There is no need to purchase coins to get the actual subscription. So if you only care about getting the latest chapters, there is no need to interact with coins.

I do wish they unlocked the older chapters but I guess that's the hook to get you to buy the books. Though like you pointed out, every month there is series that is on "catch-up" meaning any member can read the whole series and stay upto date with the releases.

With regards to translation quality, I've vetted the many parts of their translation for the series "Honzuki no Gekokujou", and the translation is very good, for both the manga and the LN. My major complaint is they dont Redraw the SFX, they just add a smaller english one next to it. Which is okay I guess, but in a world where Ai can do redrawing, its kind of lame.

 

[GalladeGuy]

You're mostly right. One correction is payments the subscription to new releases is done through a payment processor. So There is no need to purchase coins to get the actual subscription. So if you only care about getting the latest chapters, there is no need to interact with coins.

I do wish they unlocked the older chapters but I guess that's the hook to get you to buy the books. Though like you pointed out, every month there is series that is on "catch-up" meaning any member can read the whole series and stay upto date with the releases.

With regards to translation quality, I've vetted the many parts of their translation for the series "Honzuki no Gekokujou", and the translation is very good, for both the manga and the LN. My major complaint is they dont Redraw the SFX, they just add a smaller english one next to it. Which is okay I guess, but in a world where Ai can do redrawing, its kind of lame.

Personally I prefer the sfx to be left as is, so the lack of redrawing isn't an issue for me. That's nice that the translation is good though, hopefully it applies to all of their series. I guess the real question is if they can release at a reasonable pace for all of their series. They're going to have a hard time getting members if most of their series are way behind scanlations or take months to update. Hopefully they don't just focus on the popular series and leave everything else stalled forever.

 

[meccaflare]

I guess the real question is if they can release at a reasonable pace for all of their series. They're going to have a hard time getting members if most of their series are way behind scanlations or take months to update. Hopefully they don't just focus on the popular series and leave everything else stalled forever.

You're right, this is the real questions. The short answer is kind of a no. Like for Honzuki no Gekokujou they update both the LN and the manga weekly so there is a constant stream of updates. Its amazing if you love that series like I do. But for other less popular series, updates can be more seldom. Which I have no issue with. My major issue is, they are way too radio silent. I would like detailed updates or even just a brief one, like "Yeah after this chapter it wont get an update for 2 month etc or this series gets a chapter a month etc"

 

[BlueDsc]

I'm surprised to see so many people hating on J Novel. Unless I include occasional sales on Amazon, their stuff is almost always cheaper compared to stuff from other publishers.

Even better, their stuff is actually DRM free, which I adore because I prefer a specific ebook reader app, which isn't an option if I buy from Amazon.

 

[ThePlaneskeeper]

Here's a summary of how the site works, from my understanding:

The first chapter of every series is free for everyone, and only the chapters from the most recent volume can be read by members without paying extra. After the volume is quality checked and released ("minimum of 4-5 weeks, and over two months for the first parts in each volume"), the chapters expire and you need to purchase the whole volume ($8.99 from a couple series I checked) to read it, even if you have a membership. All of the expired chapters in a series are sometimes opened up for a limited time for catch-ups, presumably only for members.

Payments are made using coins, which have a one-to-one conversion with cents and don't expire. They can be bought with a 5% discount for a basic membership ($4.95/m, $54/y for basic), or 15% plus a free 699 coins a month for a premium membership ($10.95/m, $120/y). Chapters can be rented (cringe) for 72 hours for what seems like 30 coins each, but that does count toward buying the volume at least. I've also found some series where there's no option to rent and you have to buy the whole volume at once, though. If you buy their "premium" ebook, you get online access to the chapters regardless of membership, as well as an epub file you can do what you like with, but they won't let you download them anymore if they lose the rights.

Honestly I'm not sure what to make of it. I like that they're offering a membership rather than just some fixed per-chapter rate, but I don't like the chapter renting and only being able to read a few recent chapters for a limited time. I feel like if they're already charging a monthly fee it's kind of dumb to have to rent older chapters on top of that. I have no reason to get a membership right now since they're far behind the scanlations on most of the series I care about, but I might get a basic membership once they catch up assuming translation quality and speed are decent. I don't buy ebooks nor do I plan on renting any chapters so the premium membership makes no sense to me, but I guess if you picture yourself buying a lot of coins it could be worth it. I think it has the potential to be a good deal if they pick up enough series and maybe ease up on the renting thing.

(Last time I checked) One exception to your description here is that if you stop your membership - you lose access to download new copies what the DRM-free versions you paid for. So… download them before you cancel…. Or buy the subscription again, download, and cancel… it’s a known hole, but there is no intent to fix.

 

[Ironclad]

My dude JNC’s coin system is one of the more lenient systems out there

You can actually choose specifically how many to purchase, for one

Sounds scummy. Why can't I just buy what I want to read in money directly?

 

[xyzzy]

Sounds scummy. Why can't I just buy what I want to read in money directly?

Previously, they did credits instead, where one credit equals one book. But they wanted to have more flexible pricing.

 

[meeklee]

@ whoever answers this ☝️: include a reply to me, as I too want to know the answer

It seems to be, I recently cleared out my cookies and my block list seems to have persisted. About time too, storing that kinda thing using cookies is kinda just moronic lol. As is having an arbitrary limit on the blocklist.

 

[Narehate]

I swear to god if even one of the groups drops because of this I'm going to be so mad. You fuckers are leeches who provide nothing to anyone with a brain.

 

[sadmanex]

I swear to god if even one of the groups drops because of this I'm going to be so mad. You fuckers are leeches who provide nothing to anyone with a brain.

with JNC history in light novel community, prepare for drop bec of DMCA. they actively hunt even the webnovel version of novel which I really hope im wrong but many manga will be stop posting in mangadex.

 

[AntsyLich]

I swear to god if even one of the groups drops because of this I'm going to be so mad. You fuckers are leeches who provide nothing to anyone with a brain.

Says the guy who only reads scanaltion

 

[AntsyLich]

with JNC history in light novel community, prepare for drop bec of DMCA. they actively hunt even the webnovel version of novel which I really hope im wrong but many manga will be stop posting in mangadex.

MangaDex doesn't adhere to DMCA requests so that's not an issue.