Forum - View topicWhy don't people use Libraries instead of scanlations?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
|
||
|
I'm really curious. Why do people (especially those in the United States and Canada) use scanlations for manga, manhwa, etc. instead of libraries?
|
|||
|
|||
zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
|
||
|
I personally use libraries a lot, all the time to try out new things (it saves me much money that way). But there are still reasons:
1) Newest chapters of favorite series are likely to be fan translated well before they hit bookshelves here. 2) Things that aren't licensed. And the person can't read another language (not necessarily Japanese, could be German or French too). Could be newer things, could be older things. 3) Things that are impossibly out of print, so out of print that the libraries cannot get them and have no interest in carrying them, and trying to buy it online would be like $80+ or something. 4) The library is missing volumes. Perhaps they have 1-4 and 6 of a rare manga but not 5 and the only way to really read that right now is to go online. Or perhaps you bought it, but the same deal. I eventually got v13 of Please Save My Earth, a series too old for the library to carry, but in the meantime... 5) Not every library has a good selection. I'm lucky, mine does, but some libraries suck. I know it's common for American libraries to carry at least some manga, not sure about Canadian ones. |
|||
|
|||
RAmmsoldat
 Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
|
||
|
im my case the library isnt close and even if i do go there is no manga at all. theres a small magazine rack with some batman comics and the like on there and thats it.
I suspect that the only time there was ever manga in there was when i took a copy of yen plus in there to read while i waited for my sister to finish her session of bookstart with her daughter. |
|||
|
|||
Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
|
||
|
All of the things that have been mentioned are factors, and I think that the biggest of those is availability.
Even if I limit my search to books that have been published in the US I am a lot more likely to find any particular volume on a scanlation site than at a library. Scanlation sites do not have the limitations of money and space that libraries have to deal with. Also, on a scanlation site you do not need to be concerned about a book being checked out. No matter how many people might already be reading it you can still get your own copy. Another thing that is important to some people is convenience (or "laziness" if you prefer). I can find and read almost any manga that I want without moving my butt out of this chair. To get a book from the library I need to go to the library. For me going to the library is a good thing because I enjoy just browsing around, but not everybody feels that way. I use some scanlation sites for research, they can provide some information about the Japanese releases, but other than hentai doujinshi I have never actually read a scanlated book, so far. I also have not made good use of the local libraries until recently. My main library suffers from all of the problems that have been mentioned. Up until less than a year ago they had very little manga available, and almost no complete series. But now they are starting to get a good selection. I have been able to keep up to date with Fairy Tail, Soul Eater, and Library Wars through the library. I have also completed some older series such as Marmalade Boy, YuYu Hakusho, Battle Angel Alita, Vampire Game, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, and Night of the Beasts. Unfortunately there is still a problem with volumes that go "missing." It is really pathetic when people steal something that is free to borrow. I wonder how many of the used ex-library books on eBay were stolen? |
|||
|
|||
|
RAmmsoldat
Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
|
||
|
plus you can read series that publishers wont touch, i enjoy reading kangoku gakuen but kodansha USA doesn't want to know
|
|||
|
|||
Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9838 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
I don't use either.
I don't use scanlations as they are not legal and I have enough manga to keep me busy in any case. I don't use libraries as I would have to go there and look for something. It is a lot easier to order anything that looks interesting and pick it up from the comic shop when it comes in. In any case, the library insists that you give things back. |
|||
|
|||
manjiorin
 Posts: 8 |
|
||
|
I think a lot of just has to do with waiting time. Personally I use libraries pretty frequently for manga (especially ones I'm on the fence about purchasing) as mine has a pretty large selection over multiple branches, and I buy so much manga and have such a large backlog that I really don't look at scanlations much. I realize I'm probably not the majority, lol.
That being said libraries don't always have the most up-to-date volumes or volumes could be missing or they just may not have the series you want. It's fairly easy to request things at the library I think, but again I think people just don't want to wait. I guess it helps to have a backlog, lol. |
|||
|
|||
Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
|
||
|
I think this thread is a number of questions unfairly grouped together.
Set 1 - Why read manga from the library 1) Does your local library carry manga? 2) Does your local library carry manga that you don't own? 3) Does your local library carry manga you want to read? Set 2 - Why read scanlations 1) Is the manga you want to read legally available in your country/language? 2) Is the manga you want to read still in print in your country/language? 3) Is the manga you want to read current/complete in your country/language? Yes, you're going to get people who don't want to pay for their manga reading scanlations because they can do it for free. Yes, you're going to get people who are too lazy to go to/wait for books from the library. However, I'd say most people are probably going to be reading scanlations because they have no other option of reading what they want. Either the published/available books don't go up to the newest/final chapter, or it's simply too hard to get a hold of the books because they're rare. That being said... I've been toying with the idea of us building a mini-database/list of what library systems do carry manga and how their collections are. Would anyone be interested in it? Obviously, it would be based on our own personal experiences with our own library systems, but we could try to get people to add to it and build it. |
|||
|
|||
|
RAmmsoldat
Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
|
||
|
well as a rule if a series im reading is available in english to buy i stop reading it online so that i have new content to read when i buy the books so the "latest chapter not being available to me" isnt an issue mostly its the out of print or publishers don't want to print it parts that force me onto the scan sites. Really not into reading scans if given the option though, part of the reason dislike digital is because they are scans you have to pay for which i wont do.
|
|||
|
|||
st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
|
||
|
My main problem with libraries is that most of the time they won't have all the volumes, especially for longer series. I have managed to read a few shorter series where the library had all the volumes (Full Moon is the first one which springs to mind) but they only have up to volume 10 of Arata the Legend, and despite my request, have not got any of the later ones in.
I have also found that sometimes the city's library system will have all the volumes, but they'll all be kept at different libraries, which means you have to request them which takes time and effort. Don't even get me started on the series that they have just random single volumes of, sometimes not even the first one. |
|||
|
|||
One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
|
||
|
I used to live in a fairly rural and conservative area. The libraries were poor with limited space, the local Barnes and Noble had a very limited selection of manga, and even the local Community College Library wasn't too hot. Anime was even more limited. No local Wal-marts carried any, neither did the local Big Lots, and you'd be lucky if you found a handful (usually Dragon Ball Z) in a 50 mile radius at all the Best Buys you visited. Let's not even talk about some parts of the community that liked to make the library their favorite ideological target.
So yea, in the past not really easy to get your hands on stuff and give it a try. I usually read stuff scanned and if I find it pretty good then I'll stop and buy the licensed hard copies. I expect at some point in the future I will get a tablet and buy and store manga that way. I already have too many regular books, anime, and music taking up space, so something is going to have to go virtual. I recently move to a new state and city, so I am interested in seeing what the library system here has to offer. Traffic isn't going to make it fun though. |
|||
|
|||
Kadmos1
 Posts: 13552 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
|
||
|
Because there's a Crunchyroll thread with the same title/question, I think that the OP is also the CR user kronosking who started the CR thread.
In a library, you can't get the latest Naruto chapters though subscribers can legally read it on Viz's Weekly Shonen Jump site. |
|||
|
|||
CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
|
||
|
The library around here carries a lot of manga, including the Gundam: The Origin hardcovers and stuff that would be too expensive for me to buy on my own, but even the librarian encourages scanlations for certain series - ex. Ghost Hunt, which we watched in Anime Club but now the manga is insanely priced for a couple of volumes even used.
Sure, I'd be interested. |
|||
|
|||
|
Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
|
||
I am not sure exactly what you have in mind, but I am interestind in learning more about it and participating, if I can contribute anything useful. |
|||
|
|||
|
Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
|
||
|
^Basically, we'd have a [preferably sticky] thread with an intro post and 3 placeholders.
Those 3 placeholders would get filled with links to posts further down in the thread. Each post would be a "category" of libraries: Library systems with very small manga collections, library systems with a decent manga collection, and library systems with a large manga system. We ourselves would write reviews of our own library systems (or ones that we can get info on), and they'd be linked to the placeholder posts, organized by category and location. Then, if someone is looking to see if their library has manga, they can check to see if we have info on their system. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group