Login
 
Not a member? Register now!
Announcements
Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter! Check out our new tumblr page. :)
Manga News: Toriko has come to an end; but be sure to swing by and share your favourite moments from the series!
Manhwa & Manhua News: Check out the new Manhwa and Manhua shout-out (March 2016).
Event News: One Piece Awardshas concluded. Check the results Here!

Follow OpenManga status and feature updates

+ posted by Nimloth in Site News on Jun 17, 2010 19:45



Greetings Manga Community,

This past week has been an exciting one. We recently announced the existence of the OpenManga project, and boy has word spread like wildfire. From making headlines on major websites such as Anime News Network and Manga.About.Com to the many interesting blog articles such as this one at Timeless Grey, as well as a lot of discussion and talks about the OpenManga project on various forums.

We have seen related comments from industry officials, as well as reader comments on the many forums and fansites around the net. On the OpenManga Twitter and Facebook channels, we are encouraging discussion and feedback on many of the related issues to digital manga distribution, and even OpenManga itself.

So the question is, to what end?

First of all, we would like to take this opportunity to point out that we are indeed listening to what you all have to say by addressing a few questions that have been sent our way. One of the biggest complaints thus far, is the fact that not many details about OpenManga have been released to the public for scrutiny and inspection. In that regard, this post will reveal a few new pieces of information; however, before we get to that point we wanted to let you know exactly why we are doing things this way.

1) We realize that there are other entities out there that are working on products that may compete with our own, and we want to keep some of the more integral ideas that we think give our project an upper hand to ourselves for the time being.

2) While we have defined most of how OpenManga is going to operate, and are in the development and implementation phase of this, not all the actual values are set in stone. As you may have seen, we are encouraging debate about some key topics, and would like the opportunity to take the feedback that we get from these conversations into consideration before we make any announcements to ensure that what we announce is indeed what accurately reflects the thoughts and beliefs of the community. One example could be defining the perceived monetary value of a digital manga chapter.

3) We have a set schedule for announcing most of our features, functionality and business plan, and will continue to unveil things as we get closer to the beta.

That being said, we do have some updates for you as to how OpenManga will work, and some updates on what our philosophy and ideology is behind the development of the platform. The sheer scope and size of the OpenManga project is a lot larger than what most people think of when we announced OM as a "digital publishing platform". I am going to go out on a limb and state that the first (and in many cases only) thing that came to mind for many people was simply "an online manga reader".

While OpenManga is in fact going to be exactly that, there are many other aspects that are (in our mind) perhaps equally exciting and part of paving the way in the manga revolution. One of these aspects is contextual value.

Having read that, many of you probably thought "huh?".

One of the services we are looking into with OpenManga is Manga viability as part of an educational platform. From language students wanting to learn idioms, everyday speech, and translation techniques, to students looking to become manga artists, or even the integration of manga as a means of learning via visual explanations; the application of manga can be so much more than simply just an entertainment product. This was briefly brought up for debate on Twitter in a convo that we had with @vulgoalpeh.

Another topic that has been recurring recently is mobile availability of manga. The subject has been mentioned several times on our Facebook feedback posts, as well as on Twitter. While the topic is still up for debate, we wanted to take the opportunity to inform you of our stance on the subject.

Mobile availability of content, and entertainment, is (one of) the way(s) of the future. We realize this, and can therefore happily inform you that OpenManga is going to support most of the major platforms where this makes sense. This includes, of course, application development for the iPhone/iPod®, the Android® platform, and also the recently announced iPad®. The good news in this aspect is that we have partners that are particularly adept at building applications for these platforms, so we hope to be producing quality products for everyone's enjoyment.

In the end, we are hoping to be releasing a quality product, and service, that fully complies with the market demands of the 21st century; and perhaps even provide some of our own innovation on top of that. With all of this said, we have reached the end of this news update. Before leaving you to your own devices though, we would like to thank you for all your feedback so far, and to remind you all to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, feedback, and interactions.

You can also email us with any questions, concerns, thoughts and feedback that you may have, and we will try to get back to you as soon as we can.

The OpenManga Team

PS: Feel free to use our Twitter and Facebook banners to help spread the word of OpenManga!

Have you shown your appreciation today? Click the thanks button or write your appreciation below!

Comments
#1. by lopata ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
this sounds so fishy...
#2. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Quote:
this sounds so fishy...
Care to elaborate? :)
#3. by noob3d ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
A short summary.

1.Most of it is still top secret coz our rivals are out to get us.
2.We are looking for feedback...even though the amount info we gave out is still very very vague and very little.
3.It's going to be a manga-reader site with lots of fancy stuff✰
4..A lot of people want to read stuff on their iphones,ithings,etc,so we put that in too.
5.Promote us on facebook and twitter plz.

Uhh I think I got all the main points down....
#4. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Quote:
5.Promote us on facebook and twitter plz.
I suppose that's one interpretation :) another one is that these are the platforms we are using for feedback, questions and announcing updates and features as you'd see if you read through it!

None the less, you can expect a pretty major announcement in the very near future :)
#5. by kanamechidori ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Is this the thing that they were talking about in a memo from a while ago where they would sell access to peoples scanlations, give a licensing fee to the manga publisher and a little to the scanlators and keep the rest?

In other words getting paid for hosting other peoples scanlations?
#6. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Not exactly, no.
#7. by Gama ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
@noob3d:

6. Based on your comments we'll set the $$~price~$$ of this product.

"educational platform"?? wtf?? I just want to read manga.
#8. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Quote:
Based on your comments we'll set the $$~price~$$ of this product.
You mean besides that we announced free to read already? :)
#9. by ashher ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
@nimloth Ow just made a post on the old announcement thread and now i find this. And no answer to the questions i had here either. So i am asking this here again: is the only one who is going to be paid is only the artist? If you as the host/publisher is gonna make a profit out of them, are you going to give a certain share to scanlators as well? Is any number of scanlators will be allowed to do the same title? Will a scanlator be allowed to do multiple titles? Will you allow writers to share their titles on other sites as well as long as those other sites follow the same principles of openmanga that is they will also permit sharing their titles here and will not host illegal titles? Or will you be the same as to traditional publishers who hold on the copyright of some one elses work and hinder 'open'ness?
#10. by tacoboy ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
maybe u can convince more mangakas if u get an online store service for some of their products and light novels "im just saying"

#11. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
Quote:
maybe u can convince more mangakas if u get an online store service for some of their products and light novels "im just saying"
Perhaps this is already planned ;) *ducks out of spoiler light*
#12. by Nimloth (よろず屋 / Yorozuya)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
@ashher

That is a lot of questions in one post ;)

Quote:
is the only one who is going to be paid is only the artist?
No.

Quote:
If you as the host/publisher is gonna make a profit out of them, are you going to give a certain share to scanlators as well?
The way things are being developed, these are partially choices that the author has to make. We will be facilitating direct cooperation between authors and translators and scanlators, and we will be providing means for measuring impact and popularity of releases; both by authors, and by the scanlators themselves.

Our goal is to facilitate the creation of mutually beneficial relationships between authors and their fans, as well as their volunteer contributers :)

Quote:
Is any number of scanlators will be allowed to do the same title?
By default, yes.

Authors will however retain the ability to limit and restrict if they see the need for it.

Quote:
Will a scanlator be allowed to do multiple titles?
Yes.

Quote:
Will you allow writers to share their titles on other sites as well as long as those other sites follow the same principles of openmanga that is they will also permit sharing their titles here and will not host illegal titles?
The exact details of contracts between artists and OpenManga still remains to be solidified; however, that being said we do not intend to attempt to restrict an author from releasing their work on other open platforms.

Quote:
Or will you be the same as to traditional publishers who hold on the copyright of some one elses work and hinder 'open'ness?
The author will retain the copyright to their own work.

- and with that, it is bed time. Good night ladies and gentlemen :)
#13. by HisshouBuraiKen ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
This stuff doesn't happen overnight, guys. Have patience and a little faith in the site that's served you so well for free for years :)
#14. by benelori (The Hero MH Deserves)
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
I just read about that scandal U guys had in september...though it doesn't seem to be related, OpenManga is similar, but perhaps a more independent version :D, and it retains free availability of mangas, am I close?...I don't really care though...

But of course most attention goes to topics like scanlation and authors, but I'm really curious about the translation of these mangas...not necessarily the payment part, but will this site help beginner translators to begin/continue their work, and will it be for free or not?Not just Jap->Eng translations, but other languages as well...thx

And good luck with this project, I hope that the result will satisfy the fans all around...
#15. by chr15 ()
Posted on Jun 17, 2010
I'm really woryied about what you gonna do and I can't stop thinking about possible ways to do it right, so I have come up with a little idea on how published japanese manga could be avaliable on open manga. maybe you already thought about that but I'll just tell you(we never know).

so the big problem is that people from all around the world want to read the latest chapter of their favorite manga as soon as possible. in japan it's possible because they can buy the magazine as soon as they're out. what could make everyone at the same level could be to publish japanese magazines everywhere in the world with the exact same content but this is totally impossible. so the solution is by the internet because everybody can have access to internet(from usa, france, africa, everywhere). something that could bother japanese publisher about publishing their manga on openmanga is that they may end up having less benefits but this may be the way to satisfy every body:

manga from japanese publishers should be aviable on openmanga only in issues(packs of chapters). for example an issue of weekly jump that contain one chapter of one piece, bleach, naruto,etc...(as in the paper issue). the price should be the same as the paper version of the magazine. publishers will have a part of that money and openmanga will have the rest(that money openmanga gets can be seen as the equivalent of the money they usually spend printing paper issues).

so, if someone buy the 25th issue of weekly jump he/she have access to all the chapter in that issue. pages cannot be saved in his/her hard drive but once he/she buy them they're added to his/her owned issues on his/her account and he/she can read them as he/she want. the price in japan could be a bit higher since they can buy the paper version, that way people who can buy paper versions won't prefer the digital version, so that won't change anything in japan but in the other hand japanese publishers will gain more from other countries(since readers will buying online issues in addition to the volumes they always buy instead of reading free and
illegaly)

only chapters(in issues) should be aviable not volumes. maybe if everything is allright like that then they can think about adding volumes too but that's another story. it will only be as if the magazine was sold everywere in the world. and when a volume of a manga you like is out in your country you can buy that paper version just like japanese reader does.

so this is it! if openmanga was like that japanese readers and every readers in the world would be spending the same money and having access to the same content,
plus the japanese publishers would gain more! everybody would be happy!

any reactions?
#16. by oralyon ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
I wanted to know. I am actually writing manga myself. I have never been published, but I have recently started posting my work on the internet, as a webcomic. The project is serious, it is a shojo/humour/adventure, it is eleven chapters long, for a total of about 250 pages. Graphically, the quality is good. Good enough to stand aside some of the manga on this site.

Is their a chance that the new platform, Openmanga, will allow me to expose my work. Even though I may not have been published "professionnaly" yet ?
#17. by Stiluz ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
Excited about this! Both for language education and (hopefully) a state of the art platform for manga. =)
#18. by kenji_37 ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
hmm, this is a silly question. do you guys intend to provide manga download apart from online reader? I enjoy my manga better in my own manga reader.
#19. by Lyra Belaqua ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
Are you going to have some sort of criteria an artist has to pass before they can put up their work on your site, or will you accept any hack's "manga"? If it's the latter, then whatever good content you may end up having, it will get completely buried under piles of crap.

Also, if a mangaka is open to the idea of putting up their work on an internet site, then why would they go with YOUR site, of all the other sites that are out there? Because there already are very successful artists out there putting up their manga online (like Hidekaz of APH), and something tells me that they couldn't care less for this new site you're intending to launch, especially with all uncertainty about whether it'll even survive. The idea of launching your manga on a site that proceeds to die is not a very appealing one, and the probability of your site dying is ridiculously high.
#20. by Anon. ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
I think this is great...in theory.

One thing that bugs me more than the possibility of paying for scanlations (even though I know the point of OpenManga is to stay free)...is the issue of time.

Honestly, the one thing that makes scanlations so appealing to me and I'm pretty sure, most of the fans, is the fact that they tend to stay extremely current, maybe (I'm talking about mainstream) only a couple of days behind from the last current Japanese release.

If this is to take effect...will the same hold true? Because, to me...the way it's sounding, I wouldn't be surprised if the scanlations ended up being a month behind or more. If scanlators have to contact the mangaka, make arrangements, and have everything approved before uploaded...wouldn't that take a lot more time? Of course, the benefit for translators and scanlators is that this would all be legal.

But the point of scanlations...initially, correct me if I'm wrong, was to provide those outside Japan with a means of currently keeping up with a mangaka's work. What I'm asking is that... a time delay seems to be inevitable, but will it cause drastic changes?

Maybe that was a stupid question. ^___^"
#21. by benelori (The Hero MH Deserves)
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
Quote:
I think this is great...in theory.

One thing that bugs me more than the possibility of paying for scanlations (even though I know the point of OpenManga is to stay free)...is the issue of time.

Honestly, the one thing that makes scanlations so appealing to me and I'm pretty sure, most of the fans, is the fact that they tend to stay extremely current, maybe (I'm talking about mainstream) only a couple of days behind from the last current Japanese release.

If this is to take effect...will the same hold true? Because, to me...the way it's sounding, I wouldn't be surprised if the scanlations ended up being a month behind or more. If scanlators have to contact the mangaka, make arrangements, and have everything approved before uploaded...wouldn't that take a lot more time? Of course, the benefit for translators and scanlators is that this would all be legal.

But the point of scanlations...initially, correct me if I'm wrong, was to provide those outside Japan with a means of currently keeping up with a mangaka's work. What I'm asking is that... a time delay seems to be inevitable, but will it cause drastic changes?

Maybe that was a stupid question. ^___^"

The thing is that the delay won't occur...if an author decides to create a partnership with OpenManga, then OpenManga will receive the Raw material before it gets published, just like it happens now...that's because the material is already drawn a week before or even more
#22. by Transfade ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
I have a few questions about the system you're going with.

1) Should we work on a series and we get designated as its sole scanlator, will we get free access to said series? We won't have to pay to work on the series right?
2) Will we be given a release schedule to follow if we work on series? We'll still be doing it in our free time after all.
3) What kind of works would we be working with? Works currently being published under another company, new works by established authors or works by relatively unknown ones?
#23. by juUnior ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
Lyra Belaqua's comment are what I think right now about this - in other words: I agree with her.
#24. by fmarulz ()
Posted on Jun 18, 2010
I know this is unrelated but I don`t know were to ask for help....
the Latest Releases and raws that appears since last week are always the same.....
the only thing that updates are the translations and I don`t know what to do to get the page updated D :
#25. by Anon. ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
Quote:
The thing is that the delay won't occur...if an author decides to create a partnership with OpenManga, then OpenManga will receive the Raw material before it gets published, just like it happens now...that's because the material is already drawn a week before or even more

Ah. That's a miscalculation on my part. I didn't realize that could happen.

If so, then it's brilliant. No other flaws are apparent to me right now.

Quote:
I know this is unrelated but I don`t know were to ask for help....
the Latest Releases and raws that appears since last week are always the same.....
the only thing that updates are the translations and I don`t know what to do to get the page updated D :


You're either a bit late or missed the post. MangaHelpers has taken down all Scanlations and Raws due to Japan making some huge announcement to pursue legal action against huge sites. For now, only the people who uploaded scanlations (and maybe raws, not too sure), can look at them, and it's for backup purposes only. Then even those will be gone.
#26. by death13a ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
You know try to attract Webcomics creators (American comics that people create on web for free and then sell paper versions), for those people that do comics/manga for fun, OpenManga could help to keep them together as it's now just a pain to find those kinda people.
#27. by doggygirl_10 ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
I hope they don't expect us to call them "OM" from now on. (=_=)
#28. by oralyon ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
webcomic author aren't all american. If they can write in english, I don't see why they shouldn't be accepted.
#29. by ashher ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
@lyra belaque and juUnior and all the like minded people i suppose you didn't bother reading all the answers that nimloth took trouble to answer to. He said clearly that they don't intend to make a writer post his work only in their website just because they reached an agreement. The writer is going to have the right to post his work in other legal open sites, which should include his own site as well. So why not post on openmanga as well and get as much exposure as possible. And to those who are expecting the illegal titles here, i thing there is no such possibility. But then again those who are saying that because it won't feature any title that is already owned by other publishers, its bound to fail i don't think so at all. I am pretty sure majority of the manga community will look forward with great interest by the time it actually launches and any decent title even if its new and by 'hacks' will get a very good chance to gain popularity.
#30. by unok-kun ()
Posted on Jun 19, 2010
Quote by oralyon:
webcomic author aren't all american. If they can write in english, I don't see why they shouldn't be accepted.
Or even in other languages... Right?

Quote by Anon:
I think this is great...in theory.

One thing that bugs me more than the possibility of paying for scanlations (even though I know the point of OpenManga is to stay free)...is the issue of time.

Honestly, the one thing that makes scanlations so appealing to me and I'm pretty sure, most of the fans, is the fact that they tend to stay extremely current, maybe (I'm talking about mainstream) only a couple of days behind from the last current Japanese release.

Actually, the earliest mainstream scanlations lately have been being released before the street release date (say, Shounen Jump is released on Mondays, and you get your Naruto/Bleach/OP fix the Wednesday-Thursday before...)
#31. by chisanahikari ()
Posted on Jun 20, 2010
please add paymo as payment so I can pay for the manga author
#32. by Leo Seta ()
Posted on Jun 21, 2010
@Lyra Belaqua

This is the problem with people on the internet, you see a problem and just say "lols it will fail", rather than figuring out a solution. That's why so much half-assed stuff on the internet does die and fail.

The quality control thing is simple, just have a top ten (or twenty, or one hundred or whatever) list of mangas on the front page of the site (could be based on number of views, or being able to give the manga a rating like on this site etc), and suddenly the good stuff isn't buried under crap. You could also have a new artist feature etc so new people can gain exposure. There are plenty of artists out there who aren't published who are better than a lot of what's currently on the market.

Also, as has been previously stated, the artist owns the copyright, not OM. So they are free to place their work on as many sites (including their own) as they want. If that's the case, then why wouldn't you place your work on OM if it's a free way of being able to get your work exposed to more fans and everyone getting more money?
#33. by Trejon ()
Posted on Jun 21, 2010
ok guys, you are the last light hope in the complete darkness in the world right now for us manga lovers... well since i saw coming that publishers after taking down raw providers they will try to shutdown scannalations webs too...SIGHT.... OPENMANGA its our last hope and I REALLY HOPE that the openmanga has all the 200 more or less mangas im currently reading

OPENMANGA FTW!!!!, and i hope openmanga its ready to work soon, and that it will keep working letting me read my mangas at least until im death LOL
#34. by Feanor ()
Posted on Jun 22, 2010
Highly doubtful if you are reading licensened mangas. The publishers already told Mh they wouldn't work with them. If OM would put stuff like Naruto, One Piece, Air Gear etc on their site, it wouldn't be different from MH.
#35. by Sarex ()
Posted on Jun 22, 2010
I'm sorry to say but everything you said makes me feel like you are making a business.
#36. by HisshouBuraiKen ()
Posted on Jun 23, 2010
^ Manga IS a business, whether we like it or not.

At least OpenManga would do more to support artists - the big aggregator sites like MangaFox and OneManga make tons of money off their ads and not one cent of it goes to the creators.

About the Author:

Alias: Nimloth
Rank: よろず屋 / Yorozuya
Registered: Oct 4, 2007
Message: PM |

Author's Contributions

Forum Posts: 198

Latest Translations

Date Manga Ch Lang Translator
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 130 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 129 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 128 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 127 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 126 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 125 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 124 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 123 tr McMaster68
Dec 8, 2023 Hitoribocchi no... 122 tr McMaster68
Dec 3, 2023 D.Gray-Man 249 fr Erinyes

Latest Releases

Date Manga Ch Lang Uploader
Apr 14 MH Yearbook 2019 Mangahe...
Feb 15 MH Yearbook 2018 Mangahe...
Mar 1 MH Yearbook 2013 Mangahe...
Jan 19 MH Yearbook 2012 Mangahe...
Nov 14 Houkago 1 Osso
Nov 14 Oragamura 1 Osso
Nov 14 Kenka 1 Osso
Nov 14 101Kg 1 Osso
Nov 14 Murder 1 Osso
Nov 14 Doubles 1 Osso