2010
Since the launch of Inside Scanlation, several events took place that drastically changed the scanlation landscape, so much so that an epilogue is needed to provide an overview of the incidents and their effect on the scanlation community.
In 2010, many efforts were taken to turn scanlation into a more mainstream and legitimized practice. A job-listing website called Animejobber.com was launched in March 2010 that offers scanlators and fansubbers a chance to earn some cash while doing their work. In November 2010, another effort by Digital Manga Guild (DMG) was announced that looked to legitimize scanlation.
However, the biggest surprise came in June 2010, when MangaHelpers announced its OpenManga initiative, which aims to legitimize scanlation and make the practice profitable. Following the OpenManga announcement, MangaHelpers removed its hosted and linked scanlations. The move was met with mixed feelings from the scanlation community. While some were intrigued by MangaHelpers' brand new venture, many criticized the move, feeling that MangaHelpers is becoming more and more detached from the scanlation community by pursuing a more commercialized route.
Due to the fact MangaHelpers' no longer host raws and scanlations, fans turned to other online readers for their scanlation. In May 2010, online news websites reported that OneManga became one of the world's 1,000 most-visited websites, ranking 935 with 4.2 million unique visitors each month. In June 2010, news began circulating that U.S. and Japanese manga publishers are banding together to fight against scanlation. While manga publishers have made efforts to fight scanlation in the past, this is the first time many publishers from both the U.S. and Japan banded together to form a coalition.
The results of this coalition were soon felt in the scanlation community. Rumors began spreading that MangaVolume may be shutting down, and that MangaHelpers' OpenManga initiative was also in part a response to the coalition. In July, MangaToshokan announced that it would be taking down most of its manga and will instead focus on manhwa and manhua. Raw Paradise, a site focused on distributing raw manga, closed down. Manga Fox also announced that it would take down many of its hosted manga. Finally, toward the end of July, OneManga announced that it would close its doors at the end of the month. Although in the end OneManga did not completely shutdown, it did remove all of its hosted manga, marking the end of one of the largest and most recognizable online readers.
This rapid development shocked the scanlation community, and many wondered if scanlation as they knew it were coming to an end, and many prolific scanlation groups and communities began going underground to keep a low profile until things died down. Due to the demise of established online readers like OneManga and Manga Fox, many smaller online readers such as MangaStream and Manga Reader began to see an increase in popularity. Also, as it became clear online readers would attract too much attention, some began to look into alternative ways to distribute scanlation, such as direct download and even going back to IRC.
As the result of a series of crackdowns in mid 2010, the future of scanlation seemed uncertain. As the crackdown died down in late 2010, many communities once again grew. Will the crackdown repeat itself as online readers and communities reach a certain point in popularity, or will scanlators began seeking ways to co-exist with publishers as MangaHelpers has done? No matter what the future may hold for scanlation, 2010 marks a important turning point for the world of scanlation.