What your first experience in Mangadex or any online manga site and what future do you think mangadex have. I'm depressed and want to know

[Admmi]

My first experience with manga sites started when I finished bleach, I really wanted to know what was happening afterwards and I couldnt wait for a new season that was probably not coming so i bite the bullet and searched on google bleach manga and I found a nice site that I'm pretty sure it's still up to this day unionmangas, through it is an useless site for everyone that doesnt know Portuguese.
After a while reading on unionmangas was not enough, I liked some niche stuff and while some people do translate it for portuguese, most of the times the English scans are way ahead and so I typed on google a certain manga that I dont even remember anymore and clicked on the first result, it was mangakakalot, nowadays manganato, and I had a blast, so many more works being translated.
Eventually manganato stopped working well for a while, no idea why, but not even that stopped me from going there, until a scan published an April first chap, and mangakakalot didnt change it ever, so with a link to mangadex provided on that same chapter decided to come here, but well, I still go to both sites even if the ads on manganato are cancer, I just like to see how both communities react to a chap.
About the future of mangadex, it's actually looking good right now, but for a long while I though it was not going to survive much longer, but now I have hope

 

[infinity781]

I have been reading mangas on and off my whole life now. The first was probably printed volumes of Dragon Ball. That was the first period (circa 2015 bc it was printed then). Then I went into a spiral of wasting my middle school away with games (Minecraft and some easy games here and there, sometimes mangas).

The second period came somewhere in 2018, this is the only period where I both read manga and watch anime. Only manga I could remember was Domestic Kanojo and boy was I angry when the author decides nah, they aren't getting married. I watched some popular animes like K-On, Horimiya, Maou-jou de Oyasumi, etc. And my immature mind was exposed to pornwa/hentai in general around this time.

The third period came in the middle of 2021, I was really bored at home and came across an ad of one of the most beautiful piece of art I have ever seen (not even exaggerating, read this for reference, a shame the art has fallen off since but it remains a fond memory) on Mangatoon app, which despite the name is an app for manhua. Then at the end of the same year, after getting a taste of the official environment where people were very nice, I decided to try out (illegal) comic web (in my local language) bc the stuff on the app is official so the release tend to be quite a bit slower than scanlation. And boy was it more toxic, people spamming, posting se\x links, etc. Then after reading locally for about 1-2 years, I decided manga and manhwa in my local language is really shit, because it was pretty much all MTL (manhua is good bc Chinese is so close with our language it pretty much works all the time). I then go to Mangadex for all that manga and manhwa need. After being here for over a year, I have noticed that simply mangadex isn't sufficient anymore and went on to a bot website like mangapark where they pretty much have all the mangas that are finished but lack a lot of chapters here on mangadex.

These days, I don't have a lot of free time now that I'm in uni. I tried getting my fill of manga by following local publishers and when they decide to license a certain mangas/mannhuas/manhwas, I evaluate it on mangadex by reading the first volume and decide if I want to pick it up or not. And I think I will keep it this way to avoid putting too much comics in the backlog. I don't think the situation will die down, as more publishers keep getting bashed for being stupid with their ideas most of the time, Mangaplus is good tho, I read Dragon Ball Super on there.

 

[Tony_Mushah]

Some context :
I live in Madagascar, a country where most of people doesn't care about manga and anime stuff.
Only rich people can afford to pay an internet router to watch anime,
but for me, and even have enough money to watch a Youtube video.
Still people here still believe in ghost, demons, witches...
so when parents doesn't let their kid watch anime here,
because they think that it make their kids possessed by demons...

With that in mind, i started reading manga in 2019 with Love Hina (french version),
the high school library has the first tome there.
But the other volumes is not available.
I searched online and found the 13 other volume somewhere on the internet.
After that, I was like damn, this manga is so sick man then the adventure begin.

By searching some manga to read online, I found Tonikaku Kawaii on some anime new site back in 2020.
I found some chapter on MangaFreak and it was really good...
Around 2021, I found MangaDex when searching for Kanojo mo Kanojo chapters
and started using it since then.

While starting college, I learned Computer Science and knew the existence of the MangaDex API
And I was I want my own manga reader desktop app to read my favorite titles offline.
I started the developpement with chaotic management and bad technology choices
but I'm still proud of what I did .
(I recently restarted the project though due to my lack knowledge)


With what it looks now, MangaDex has a lot of potential and interest for both reader and editor (+authors).
I know that scanlating is somehow illegal, but editors and authors closed theirs eyes.
At least, they are giving hype
It seems nothing, but a lot of title will be not on the mainstream without MangaDex.
I know that there is official translated version on MangaPlus, Kadosha Us
but most of which is already mainstreamed on Japan.
(It even sometimes happens that the scanlated version is better than the official translation)

MangaDex has still a lot of year to live with.
The worst case scenario will be that MangaDex doesn't have enough funds to maintain the infrastructure.
This is why we need to support them (even a little is appreciated).

 

[kohelemon]

Hmm... where'd it begin... back in the day when I was still into MHA fully (Barely getting back into it after 7-8 years) I would get the volumes from the library and just binge read until the sun went down. But of course, the Library stopped getting volumes after volume 18 which left me at a dry period for a while. Nervous I decided to go online and I found my first online site, and continued reading that way because we also stopped going to the library for quite some time. Then I discovered One Piece on another site.
As can be told, I've been with Mangadex for about 1-2 years now, Mangareader just became infested with adds and viruses and Mangadex has all I'm into. And nowadays I'm actually playing the 2 bucks a month for shonen jump so I can read stuff like MHA and OP Legitimately. As long as Baki and Fist of the Blue Sky remain untranslated, and as long as Viz is behind on Jojo translations. And as long as Hajime No Ippo and Kingdom remain untranslated in the US, I'll keep reading on Mangadex. May seem cheap, but I'm not made out of money! I want to make sure the series I want to read is worth reading.

 

[Basic_human]

I kinda forgot first manga experience. It's was long time ago, like 4 or 5 years ago, it's was local site with my mother language only. Back then I think I was recommended by people on internet, back then I would join WhatsApp group fill with anime lover, discussing and sharing anime. And some people send link to manga website and from there I'm addicted to manga. For EN site first time it's was my close friend showing me a manga and I ask him where you read and from there is start reading more manga. Im grateful to able to found EN manga site, the manga variety is so much better there

 

[Trobilobada]

I give MangoDex two more weeks before it closes. 👨‍🦽

 

[kanamon]

Oh, good ol' MangaFox days.

 

[hyoma30]

Every peak chapter always begin with "who the fuck are you guys?"

 

[TestAddress]

I remember being in MangaFox and you can only post per chapter.

MD is more of an alternative discord or reddit and would be swallowed by bots too. Reddit & Discord are already infested.

 

[tobias5678]

Adware alerts. AV alerts. Multiple porn windows popping.

 

[yoshiyosan]

Hi, hope this message finds you well. My journey with online reading starts around 2007-2009, I think. Back then either since I'm just too young or technology wasn't like it is today, there were no proper manga viewer websites like Mangadex. Basically it was like online folders with jpeg titled 1.jpg, 2.jpg and so forth and we have to press back after reading each page. And this is over a third world country connection so pages would load top first and I'd have to be patient for minutes while the manga was loading.

I remember the first manga I truly finished reading was Subete ni Iya Girl. Started exploring ero allure reading Nazo no Kanojo X, amazed with the drawing of Air Gear, learn to just live and not to bend to society too much from GTO and all other manga reading milestones otakus have. Basically manga was something big in my life especially helping me explore thoughts and emotions I wanted to understand growing up. Its also dear to me as I couldnt share it with anybody on my rural town, every kid just wants to play FIFA on playstation rental shacks, which I can't relate at all, and not for lack of trying.

My personal opinion on online manga reading, not just Mangadex, but the whole scanlation community, or most things you can get for free from the internet anyway, is in a very sad decline. When the internet was still kind of new, people are really grateful for things they can get online. For example, the cracking scene for games, when DirectDL was still the norm (unlike torrenting now) people used to post games in 200mb piece links in forums such as this one. Those people would then engage with the crackers, if not sending pennies their way, at least professing their gratitude for such free service. There'd be hundreds of forum pages of just people saying thanks. That has also always been the case with scanlators. Not saying that scanlating are outright illegal like cracking though.

Nowadays, people just read and go. Don't even bother saying thank you anymore. Most I'd reckon don't even understand what scanlating is, and worse don't even bother to want to know. All people see is "I can read for free". Lack of community engagement, little financial support, digital distribution and easier access to paperbacks, will be downfall of online manga scanlating.

Maybe I'm too pessimistic but that's how I see it, as most of my beloved scanlating groups had come and went over the years. Scanlator hub for reading, such as Mangadex too had come and went. I am hoping machine translating got so good that scanlators could operate on less manpower now. Though I'd doubt the legality of translated manga then as it'd be even closer to piracy as it already is.

Well thats the end of my tirade. Hoping you find a clearer meaning in your life, online stranger. We're all fighting for dear life here. If you ain't winning just try to make sure you ain't losing.

now i realized i never say thank you for every chapter i've been read, BUT FOR REAL IF SOMETHING THANKS MANGADEX, DEVS SUCH A BLESS LIKE LOVELY NHENTAI, SOUNDCLOUD, SCIHUB, AND INTERNET ARCHIVES, AND EVERY SCANNER WHO EXIST, GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS YOUR FINANCIAL, GOD BLESS YOUR LANGUAGE SKILL, GOD BLESS YOUR LIFE, GOD BLESS YOUR RELATIONSHIP

 

[NgaGuy]

The title have some negativity but yeah I want to be honest please pardon me.

First i want to say nice to meet you all and thank you for answering this question. I hope everyone healthy

The background This day's i feel really depressed to be exact the culmination of my depression since covid, unemployed and now I can't even see people's in the eye's when talking and i feelings empty and uneasy in my chest, i wondering where where my young confidence self gone lol, all this depressing feeling make me feel nostalgic and make me remember old days of everything including this site. So I'm curious what the first experience you have in this website and what manga you first read.

Let me begin, my first experience is circa 2013 or 2014 during my senior year in high school, during really hot day's we got free class (class because teacher sick and none replace and we self study) instead of study i go to library and access Internet, at that time Manga culture not really booming right now we only know naruto and one piece, so curiosity get better on me and i search free mang on the search engine. Lot's of websites come out and i can say most of the website already gone now, fate curiously make me chose mangadex (or it's batoto i forget because it's pretty long) and the recommended Manga i read is the first manga I read in this website the manga is onani master kurosawa lol. it on chapter 3 or 4 and i think what the fuck i read but strangely it hook me up and keep reading it everytime it have upload (my old email gone miss that email). My regret at that time is because I'm still young i side aside many slice of life Manga for harem comedy manga and keep doing it also preferred isekai, only in recent years i begin to appreciate the charm of slice of life Manga like azumanga daioh, GTO, moteki and other the slice of life Manga have charm that hard to describe but surely feel close to heart. So yeah that my experience and regret now many manga gone or hard to search and here I'm searching for it using the search options

As for future of Mangadex i think it's looks like more people's will buy legit Manga because it's more accessible now unlike the old times, but there's will be more Manga scanlated officially like manga plus, i think official translated like manga plus is good manga but yeah it's good manga that rarely hidden gems, i learn that most hidden gems Manga even now come from grup scanlated. Talking about grup scanlation is also make me think it easy to come and go this day, it's easy to make group because now everyone can connect easy with internet unlike old time which usually a group of close friend in one town. It's understandable people have their own life in recession time like now so group just easy to go and come. I also feel more and more isekai or gamer Webtoon will be translated so other genre will hard to come in the website i think in the future.

That my experience in Mangadex, I'm sorry if it's pretty long and just a boomer like me telling old story and feelings but if you have experience to share please don't worry just write and i also love to read. Thank you and stay healthy

Hi I just recently started using mangadex since last year, the first time I used mangadex was that when I saw a beautiful girl on a tiktok edit so I got curious and search for it, mangadex was the first option to pop up. After that, I hesitated to go on mangadex again but my manga blood got me better, oh man the site is really good and all the covers got me so excited, I scrolled and read a lot without sorting anything.
The future of mangadex? I don't think it's going anywhere soon but I do hope it stay forever or maybe 20-30 years

 

[crimeone]

The first time I encountered an online manga site was MangaHub. The only reason I was there in the first place was because I was searching for “scp oversimplified.” After that, I got hooked.

After that, I searched other online manga sites like manga4life, mangakakalot, and other sites that I forgot their names.

Now how I got into mangadex is because of manga, for which I forgot the title. All I know is about a dude going to a school full of giants like ogre, cyclops, and trolls, but the thing is, they're all girls.

And after that, Mangadex is my go-to manga because I love this site so bad. But I still use other sites, mostly manga4life, but mangadex is my favorite site.

But yeah, that’s about it.

Edit: the manga is called Oversized Sextet…
Yeah, this is the manga that got me into mangadex.

 

[tobias5678]

now i realized i never say thank you for every chapter i've been read, BUT FOR REAL IF SOMETHING THANKS MANGADEX, DEVS SUCH A BLESS LIKE LOVELY NHENTAI, SOUNDCLOUD, SCIHUB, AND INTERNET ARCHIVES, AND EVERY SCANNER WHO EXIST, GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS YOUR FINANCIAL, GOD BLESS YOUR LANGUAGE SKILL, GOD BLESS YOUR LIFE, GOD BLESS YOUR RELATIONSHIP

It all started with Manga Fox. In the Firefox browser...

 

[tobias5678]

I guess this orange color is actually a tribute to the best browser - Fire Fox.

 

[shiamaim1]

I recently started using online manga sites, and my first experience was with mangajikan, after which I discovered Mangadex. I initially thought these sites were just for reading manga and had no other features, but I’ve now realized they have forums and more. I believe Mangadex is necessary because purchasing original manga is inconvenient, and there’s no risk protection for readers who continue to buy manga even after it’s abruptly canceled. It makes more sense to read first and then buy the official versions if the story is good. In recent years, many series serialized in Jump have had storylines that fall apart towards the end, leaving me feeling regretful after buying merchandise.

 

[xinnv122]

How about checking out free manga here? The whole site is free and has no ads: https://www.mangakoinu.com/

 

[tobias5678]

Mangadex is free, and that means the products are US. As we exist the mangadex exists.

 

[Yuri_lover0-0]

I grew up and lived in a rural town never rly knowing about anime or manga then covid hit just as I moved to the city. I found anime first banana fish was my gateway drug lol honestly tho that anime had me crying at the end. I was looking up banana fish season two and saw the manga read that on a site that got taken down (rip) while searching for a manga I had been reading I stumbled soon MD and it’s been my main site since. Also I hope you feel better pls stay hydrated and and fed!

 

[Yuri_lover0-0]

Some context :
I live in Madagascar, a country where most of people doesn't care about manga and anime stuff.
Only rich people can afford to pay an internet router to watch anime,
but for me, and even have enough money to watch a Youtube video.
Still people here still believe in ghost, demons, witches...
so when parents doesn't let their kid watch anime here,
because they think that it make their kids possessed by demons...

With that in mind, i started reading manga in 2019 with Love Hina (french version),
the high school library has the first tome there.
But the other volumes is not available.
I searched online and found the 13 other volume somewhere on the internet.
After that, I was like damn, this manga is so sick man then the adventure begin.

By searching some manga to read online, I found Tonikaku Kawaii on some anime new site back in 2020.
I found some chapter on MangaFreak and it was really good...
Around 2021, I found MangaDex when searching for Kanojo mo Kanojo chapters
and started using it since then.

While starting college, I learned Computer Science and knew the existence of the MangaDex API
And I was I want my own manga reader desktop app to read my favorite titles offline.
I started the developpement with chaotic management and bad technology choices
but I'm still proud of what I did .
(I recently restarted the project though due to my lack knowledge)


With what it looks now, MangaDex has a lot of potential and interest for both reader and editor (+authors).
I know that scanlating is somehow illegal, but editors and authors closed theirs eyes.
At least, they are giving hype
It seems nothing, but a lot of title will be not on the mainstream without MangaDex.
I know that there is official translated version on MangaPlus, Kadosha Us
but most of which is already mainstreamed on Japan.
(It even sometimes happens that the scanlated version is better than the official translation)

MangaDex has still a lot of year to live with.
The worst case scenario will be that MangaDex doesn't have enough funds to maintain the infrastructure.
This is why we need to support them (even a little is appreciated).

Aww i remember love hina!