OneManga :: What Can You Do?

Written in big bold letters on the Onemanga.com page writes, “There is an end to everything, to good things as well.”

OneManga has announced this week that it is shutting down its site and removing all scans that it has put up.  This is devastating news to any anime otaku that has ever been on that site.  One reader even quoted, “This is probably the saddest news since the death of Sir Billy Mays.”

Even though there are various petitions going around and many readers trying to keep the site alive, none of us can do anything.  As quoted by OneManga, “Manga publishers have recently changed their stance on manga scanlations and made it clear that they no longer approve of it. We have decided to abide by their wishes, and remove all manga content (regardless of licensing status) from the site.”  This has been true already on this site as they discontinued updates or disabled manga titles such as Soul Eater.  Also, many manga and anime sites have been fighting with publishers and dubbing companies.   People who have translated manga have also used various fansubs in order to see if they translated your books and shows correctly and in the right context.

Funimation has fought with many fansub sites about fansubbing series like Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club, Kuroshitsuji, and even Hetalia.  The only difference is that Funimation now shows subbed and dubbed episodes for free on streaming sites like Youtube and Hulu so people can watch and want to purchase a copy of the DVDs or Blue Ray disks.  Some other subbing and dubbing companies have also joined in on this bandwagon to show copies of their shows like Bandai.
OneManga is gradually deleting its scans now.  Some series that have been disabled and discontinued have already disappeared, but many popular manga like Naruto, One Piece, or Bleach are staying for the time being due to popularity.  More unpopular titles are probably the next to go, unfortunately, which makes people, including myself, looking for sites that may host those titles even if it is very unlikely that they would carry it.  Eventually, the site will be cleared of its scans and all the Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach fans will rage… And all of us know that we don’t want that to happen.

So what can you do?  Sadly, none of us can do anything.  We have to respect the wishes whether we like it or not.  I would say to go onto the OneManga page and like it if you have a Facebook account just to let them know that you have supported them throughout the years.  Also, every time you read a series and like it, please go buy a copy of it if it is available in America or any other country that you may possibly belong to.  It is just like reading it at a bookstore.  This also doesn’t stop at manga.  I would say do it with everything from the song you hear on the radio to the anime you watch on your computer.  Please support music companies, artists, and everyone else that might be involved in creating the media you possibly see or hear every single day.  Thousands of people are involved and some are barely paid for all the work that they do.  I think the least we can do for them is support them even if it is just one book, song, or DVD at a time.