Online manga

Akira (Aoi Hana)
Akira (Aoi Hana)

If like me you are vaguely aware of online manga scanlations (that’s fan translations of Japanese comic magazines, to the un-initiated) you might be surprised to find how much this has mushroomed in the past few years.  I have been following the manga versions of  a couple of anime that I liked, so was aware that there was online manga, but not how much.

In fact, the quantity of scanlated manga is comparable with the higher-profile and more contentious quantity of  digital fansub anime.

At this point I could give a lengthy guide with links to the databases, the scanlator’s websites, the subgenres and so forth, but since this would involve re-hashing much material from other sites I’ll save myself the bother and let the interested reader search it out for her/himself.

Freed from the the commercial constraints of animation, the range of material and subject matter in manga is wider than in anime, and so is the quality.  If you are fortunate enough to find a series whose art, story and characters you really like, downloading and reading successive chapters can become highly addictive.

Enjoy.