As if getting bought by Gaudiy wasn’t enough of a headline for them, MyAnimeList’s CEO, Atsushi Mizoguchi, wants to combat manga piracy and has called upon Japan to unite and create a “large, fast, and comprehensive” manga translation service to combat overseas manga piracy.
His belief is that manga is pirated overseas due to the lack of speed of getting official translations into the hands of manga fans, stating that they are turning to fan groups to translate and post the chapters online. He did acknowledge that some fan translation sites do remove the fan translations once the official translated release hits store shelves; however, there are those who do not take such actions.
In addition, he believes better reading services are also a key tool to combat manga piracy stating that since the global pandemic, the international anime audience has grown exponentially and that caused an increase in pirated anime and manga content.
He had this to say about how manga is currently translated by fans and A.I.
“They surprisingly show a certain level of ethics, sometimes taking down titles once an official translation is released. This doesn’t excuse their actions, but it does show a level of respect toward authors and publishers.” In order to solve the issue of manga piracy, Mizoguchi believes that a much larger volume of accurately translated manga needs to be offered officially. “First, the number of translated works must be increased,” Mizoguchi said. “While Japan has over 500,000 electronic manga titles, only a few percent are available in English. Proper localization is also needed — not just translating speech bubbles, but adapting sound effects and even artwork.”
In addition to creating a service for speedier official translations, he believes that such a service will also require localization labor costs, international licensing, and the overseas talent required to undergo a wide diversity of translations. Of course, a project like this will require copious amounts of funding, but believes it would be worth it in the long run to help bring piracy to an end.
Source: CBR
