Manga is a common name given to Japanese comics that are in the form of books and graphic novels. Manga is often mistaken for an anime while both do not mean the same.
Anime is very much different from the Manga series. Manga represents comics while an anime is a name given for Japanese animation. Both Manga and anime mean the same kind of content, while the content production process is different. Its popularity is unbeatable in the world.
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History
The Manga term originated in the year 1798, at present there are 172 manga series while 100 series among them completed while the rest are currently ongoing. Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Osamu Tezuka are some of the greatest Manga writers of all time.
Dokaben has claimed to be the lengthy manga series in the world while One piece and Dragon Ball are unbeatable in terms of sales volume which crosses 400 Million.
Since 2007, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started awarding “The International Manga Award” annually.
The Manga series first entered the US with the help of anime and later it got published on its own. Due to the Manga’s Popularity and global reach, these series were affected by Scanlations. (Scanlate is a term given for Japanese comics piracy, especially to Manga series.)
The Scanlation activity is done by an individual or group, without any form of communications. Popular comics like Manga are not available in some regions due to the nature of the content and the government rules. So, the piracy sites created by fans tend to provide fan made copies of the original comics.
This scanlation activity is often performed as an un-official work without getting permission from the author or the copyright holder. One Manga and Manga Stream are very popular scanlation sites that produce high-quality piracy content of the Manga series.
According to the international copyright law, these kinds of piracy of any means is illegal. As the Manga’s popularity increases in the overseas market, authors and publishers face a part of revenue loss (around 2010) as the scanlators are interrupting the sales by providing free contents online.
A “Manga multinational Anti-Piracy” union was also formed by a group of Japanese and US publishers to stop illegal content piracy of the Manga Series.
Growing Popularity among Gen Z
The famous sites like One Manga and Manga Stream were mentioned in the list of Scanlators and threatened to take legal action against them.
This coalition achieved some degree of success, the One Manga site which ranked 925 in the entire internet announced its closure in 2010. This official close down is to show their respect to the creators and to stop the displeasure caused to the publishers.
The biggest Manga stream site that operated for many years has also announced its shutdown in 2019. These respectful actions from the piracy sites have increased the respect and popularity of the Japanese Manga comics.
The popularity of Manga and the scanlation activity have not been reduced until now. People should be aware of the ethics and the losses faced by authors and producers to stop the scanlation activity completely.
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