Manga: Hard copy or Scanlation Download?

Started by FairyGarland November 5th, 2008 1:00 AM
  • 1054 views
  • 19 replies
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Buying or downloading manga?

Age 29
Female
In your worst nightmares, Hell, Australia
Seen March 2nd, 2017
Posted April 14th, 2010
180 posts
14.6 Years
Just wondering: Do you prefer to buy your manga and read it in a hard copy format or just download it?
Personally I like my manga in book format right in front of me and looking nice on my bookshelf but I know some people who just download it.
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Age 33
The N-Field
Seen September 12th, 2009
Posted November 5th, 2008
108 posts
14.6 Years
Hard copy would be wonderful, but I'm a student who doesn't have money to burn like that. So I tend to download the manga I want to read.
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Age 29
Female
In your worst nightmares, Hell, Australia
Seen March 2nd, 2017
Posted April 14th, 2010
180 posts
14.6 Years
Hard copy would be wonderful, but I'm a student who doesn't have money to burn like that. So I tend to download the manga I want to read.
Fair enough. I'm a student too only I admit I tend to beg lots (maybe too much) for stuff like manga.
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Cherrim

Age 34
she / her
Toronto
Seen 20 Hours Ago
Posted 20 Hours Ago
33,052 posts
20.4 Years
I've probably got 60-80 manga or so? Rough guess since I'm not home nor do I know exactly what I have. >_<;

I hate reading manga or comics on the computer. It stems from back when I read Death Note. I collected the first 7 but... you all probably know the plot twist and the official licensed manga hadn't come out yet, so I downloaded the rest of the story because I couldn't wait. My screen resolution was 1024x768 and the scanlations were only okay. They didn't look good except at their original size and that was hell to read on a laptop with a low resolution. >:| So ever since I just can't stand it, even if my monitor is big enough to comfortably display a page at full size.

So yeah, I wait and buy manga wherever I can. I'll even buy it in Japanese over downloading scanlations if there's no chance of it coming out in English. I was a lot more into buying manga before, but now with less money for it (student excuse, plus almost all my spare change goes toward my gaming/Pokémon collecting hobby), I don't buy much manga anymore anyway. I just read less as a result.


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Aegis

The Savage Nymph

Age 29
Male
Canada
Seen May 20th, 2015
Posted October 30th, 2012
4,558 posts
17.3 Years
Depends on the manga :x I prefer to buy a lot of them, but there's some that I like reading on the computer better. Usually, the ones I read on the computer I don't like as much... or they aren't as appropriate >_>; Really, the only one on the computer I read regularly is "My Balls", and it should be fairly obvious why I don't want a hard copy of it XD;

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Yuoaman

I don't know who I am either.

Age 30
Male
Ontario, Canada
Seen January 28th, 2023
Posted December 12th, 2018
4,582 posts
17.8 Years
I'd love to buy them, but you can't buy them in this small town, so I have no choice but to download 'em...
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Ryoutarou

Seen April 2nd, 2023
Posted December 29th, 2020
30,927 posts
19.3 Years
I've always preferred to buy them rather than grab scanlations, which I honestly haven't tried out more than a couple of times, but it's never seemed like an appealing way of reading manga to me. I like actually having the book in hand and being able to flip through the pages, it's stupid, but that part of the "experience" is something I look forward to.

digi-kun

Hourai NEET

Age 33
Male
Seen March 12th, 2018
Posted July 12th, 2016
4,638 posts
19.3 Years
hmmm...i would say books over web browsing it's partially the portability that comes with it, and partially quality. On occasions i'll do online, but usually that's when i either want to get ahead (xxxHolic, HayaCom), have a low series priority (most Jump manga), or it isn't in America (Mirai Nikki, Touhou Bougetsushou)

Phanima

That servant of the evil one

Seen October 11th, 2011
Posted February 12th, 2010
1,566 posts
17.3 Years
I'm more of a selective reader. There are only a few series to which I would/could afford to buy the hard copy of. Naturally, I'd love to own every manga I've read to date since I have a collection fetish but since my local bookstore hardly supplies them (not to mention having ridiculously high mark ups per book) and because I'm often strapped for cash, I read the majority of my manga online.

Still, having recently cleared out my shelves, I'm looking to fill the space with some new reading material. Once I save enough of course...
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Realm of Darkness
Seen December 15th, 2008
Posted November 8th, 2008
6 posts
14.5 Years
I like to purchase hard copies. One can take them anywhere. If I want to read a manga when I am away from home, I can simply take it with me if it is in the form of a book. Besides, having a book in hand and being able to flip through its pages adds to the experience of reading manga. I know that I certainly enjoy reading manga more when I read books instead of scanlations.
Male
Seen 4 Days Ago
Posted August 21st, 2021
5,853 posts
17 Years
Being short on cash as of late and local stores having high mark ups, I've had to read manga on the computer. It's not a bad thing, but I'd always rather have the book so I can read it on the go.

I got some monies, now, so I'll be going on a spree soon enough, haha. it's gonna cost so much, damn long running shounens.

In any case I'll probably still download since I can stay up to date that way and also read many series that don't get released outside of Japan.

Elite Overlord LeSabre™

On that 'Non stop road'

Age 97
Shimoda City
Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted January 25th, 2022
9,705 posts
15.5 Years
I always buy hard copies of my manga. I don't buy a whole lot, so money isn't too much of an issue. Hard drive space is, however. Which is why I don't download.

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