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

[Riorio56]

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

 

[Thepandas12]

So I'm curious what the first experience you have in this website and what manga you first read.

Youtube > Looks up "Gender bender manga 2018" > Finds onii-chan is done for > watches video > Reads chapter 1 on MD > I am still reading it to this day it's been 6 years I hope that manga never ends

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

I cannot afford manga, all my money goes to my gambling addition aka gacha.

 

[Riorio56]

I cannot afford manga, all my money goes to my gambling addition aka gacha.

Same i know that feeling. I still feel wrong because danshi kokoshei no nichijou end. I hope your manga never end and it's amazing how our curiosity bring us here

 

[Thepandas12]

Same i know that feeling. I still feel wrong because danshi kokoshei no nichijou end. I hope your manga never end and it's amazing how our curiosity bring us here

It is saddening to see a manga end. Devastating at first, but eventually will get over it.

Though if the manga does end, the point of the manga is already far off the point of its original intentions at first. Now it's just a normal story lol

 

[solstice258]

I used to read on Kissmanga (lol rip) then a scan group put a message about Mangadex in their credits and that's how I found MD, I think that was in 2018.

I don't like buying digitally, and shipping is too expensive to be worth it imo (I don't like my country's local translations)
One day I might buy some volumes, but even then I won't stop reading good ol' fan translations

It's always sad when a good manga ends but hopefully the author starts a new one soon, and even if they don't you can just keep rereading your favorite/s

I hope you'll feel better soon, OP.

 

[Riorio56]

I used to read on Kissmanga (lol rip) then a scan group put a message about Mangadex in their credits and that's how I found MD, I think that was in 2018.

I don't like buying digitally, and shipping is too expensive to be worth it imo (I don't like my country's local translations)
One day I might buy some volumes, but even then I won't stop reading good ol' fan translations

It's always sad when a good manga ends but hopefully the author starts a new one soon, and even if they don't you can just keep rereading your favorite/s

I hope you'll feel better soon, OP.

Ah kiss manga i remember if I'm not wrong the emblem is have yellow color and the website page main color is green or is it kssanime if I'm not remembering wrong

 

[OisE]

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

"Fighting!" I would say...

If you really feel like that you need to stimulate yourself. Try to start a project or have a goal (learning a new language, planning a trip abroad=> really works well to stimulate yourself and gain your confidence back, meeting people in another context like associations in real life, athletic/cultural clubs...).

The only good thing about looking back on your "golden" period of your life is to find good and strong points of yourself. You're good in selling things, starting a conversation, good athletics=> find a job or a hobby with these strong points. Try to put words on what's making you unique and better up your own value.

first experience

I discovered MD because someone suggested me to read That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and now I'm still here but not for this not so good work.

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

I totally agree with you, I feel like the manga world industry is booming right now, and it's good news (I think). But there are some problems still arising:

• precarity for the majority of mangaka/authors/artists
• huge delay between prepublication in Japan and official translated chapters/volumes in other countries
• the market is doing well so a lot of people try to publish a totally not-original story to make some bucks, surfing the trends and gaining the most of it.

 

[Riorio56]

the market is doing well so a lot of people try to publish a totally not-original story to make some bucks, surfing the trends and gaining the most of it.

Yeah recently i feel tired by isekai cheat story

Also thank you for sharing your story and i currently on volunteer work but the organisation is maybe shady or my social skills getting really low because i feel uneasy but i will stick around because i want to find out it's my fault or the organisation

 

[Siquall]

I don't remember the name of yhe site, because it's been a long time.

I just remember reading Mx0 on it (before buying it), ang getting angry and disappointed at shonen jump because it was axed at chapter 100 and it was one of my fav manga.

Since then, i'm very careful about anything in jump.

I still prefer by far reading books, that's why i buy manga.

 

[horsewithnoname]

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.

 

[77BLc9JwJGpLVARkamJx]

 

[Riorio56]

I don't remember the name of yhe site, because it's been a long time.

I just remember reading Mx0 on it (before buying it), ang getting angry and disappointed at shonen jump because it was axed at chapter 100 and it was one of my fav manga.

Since then, i'm very careful about anything in jump.

I still prefer by far reading books, that's why i buy manga.

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.

Thank you both of you for sharing your experiences, it's really nice for giving your time to write this 🙏

Somehow reading and knowing other people's experiences and story make me smile and i can relate how horsewithnoname feels, it's just like everything is short hype not only on manga community but also other community after that it's died down the forum not active the discord not having activities it just like that or maybe I'm just sensitive

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Honestly, my start was a long time ago, with a really simple aggregator site that was just a feed.
Later added MangaHere to that and used it for a while, before using MangaFox, and getting lead here after the glorious trolling action.
Bought a crapton of Manga myself in the past, have 3 bookshelves and still have some space problems.
Still buy manga of series that I have tested and liked online, but I admit that it got lower in comparison to my starting habits.

 

[AcidVlad]

ow 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

Literaly me

MD since when?

Since I'm using Tachiyomi and it's been since years

What future?

Hope for the best expect the worst (like with Tachiyomi recently lol).

There will always be a way to find anime and manga easily so if MD dies another will take on the legacy, like it happened with kissmanga.

Gabe used to say it's not a matter of piracy but a matter of offer, and as we can see with the greedy official releasers and copyrightfags corpos we still have shitty offers that incitates piracy and all

 

[nobody2002]

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.

Ah, yes. Those were the internet pre-industrialization days. I remember those days well.

 

[Lustrist]

in 2018, i wanted to read jojolion after going through pdf colored versions of parts 5 through early part 8, so i landed here. before that was kissmanga for stuff like 7 deadly sins/franken fran/yamada-kun, i was in middle school

 

[TestAddress]

It becomes a 4*nta! site like you know... the rest.

Free == pr0n

 

[Sgotfastbrainz]

joined mangadex before the ddos attack because it's one of the few manga archives out there where you can find late 80's 1st wave seinens and know that the content isnt scrapped off scanlation groups.
i think i made the move to mangadex when batoto got nuked.
before that i just didnt know the scene.

somehow i should've saved some of the more obscure titles, because some of them are gone even here now...

 

[Juggernautbob]

Went on mangadex just so I could read 100 girlfriends manga, because the anime ran out of episodes.

 

[undeed]

• huge delay between prepublication in Japan and official translated chapters/volumes in other countries

basically the main reason why I went to online manga site

I am old
but I've been blessed to live in an environment where everyone watches anime and reads manga at some degree
(or at least knows what anime and manga is)
and everyone is cool with it
so I've never been in that so-called "being bullied for watching anime or reading manga" situation
even if your classmates found out that you read some degenerates shit, they'll only be like "ew", and then life goes on

I've been "reading" manga since before I could even actually properly read
Doraemon, Perman, Hattori, Kobo-chan, etc. all in those generations
sometimes I buy the volume, most of the time I rent the comic to read for a week, and then return it

Watching Dragon Ball anime made me realize that I really don't like Shonen anime because how different it is from the manga, that was me in grade school btw, and that's why until now I rarely watch Shonen anime.
Around the time One Piece aired on Sunday morning tv, after watching a few episodes, I decided not to watch it and just go straight to the manga.

When I entered High school, I had read all the available volume of the popular manga that I can find, rent, or buy.
But then my friends suddenly started talking about an arc in One Piece that was way ahead of the latest volume,
and I was like: "how do you know that?"
that's when I learned how manga works in Japan, and that I could read the latest chapters online.
so that was the start of my online manga journey

I still collect physical volumes if I can,
but due to limited space and having moved from my parents' house since college, I mostly only buy digitally
(also pirating, harr-harr)

nowadays, I use mangadex as a way to discover new manga
because I believe that if a title gets a fan translation, it means that at least someone found the title interesting enough that they wanted to share it with others.
and if I love it enough, then I'll buy it