There is a new kind of "scanlation" in town, and it comes in the form of a midway between releasing "pure translation scripts" and releasing "actual scanlation releases."

Those familiar with doujinshi manga markups that you see on various Booru gallery sites will be familiar with the concept.

Before we begin with our little introductory journey into this website, I wish to inform that you are free to ask any questions and/or give any comments that you wish.

As always, please keep the insults to a minimum, because even if you may not like it, others may not share the same opinion.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with MangaLator in any way, besides being a translator for a few series of my own accord.

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MangaLator.ch is an online reader website (similar to Bato.to) where freelance translators openly and freely translate Japanese manga series (into any language; not necessarily only English) for the public to read.

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Registration
Most manga series are open to the public and readers are free to pop in and read a chapter, without registration. There are some higher-profile series that the administrator has marked as registered users-only, but the registration is highly simple.

Since the website uses Disqus to handle its discussions, you may log-in with an existing Disqus account that you may have. If you choose to register on MangaLator instead, it will create a local Disqus account (that you cannot link back to your main account).

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Content
The administrator of MangaLator uploads the raws of several magazine serializations on a daily basis, that he likely purchases and scans himself.

There is a focus on shoujo manga, but you will find series for other genres as well.

Users may "subscribe" to a manga series to add it to their "My Favourite Manga" list, available through the side bar.

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Translation
Those who translate on MangaLator are usually amateur or retired translators, looking to brush up on their skill, maintain their current abilities, or looking to translate without the hassle of deadlines, reader expectations, or committing to scanlation groups.

Translators simply select the raw text on a page and then type in the appropriate translation on a box that appears on the right side. Once they're finished translating the chapter, they "release" it to the public and it shows on the front page.

If you are a translator and wish to contribute, simply register an account and get straight to translating whatever you wish to translate! Note: Please do not release a chapter until you are completely finished translating it! No reader wants to read an incomplete release.

If you find that somebody else's translation is not adequate, there is nothing preventing you from submitting your own translation! However, it's probably advisable to work on something else since there are a lot of series available to read on MangaLator.

Once again, there is no "claiming a series for yourself." The best you can do is comment saying that you're planning on translating a series or a particular chapter, but there's still no stopping somebody else from translating it anyway.

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Interaction
The online reader simply shows pages of raws on it.

Hovering over a text bubble shows the translation on the right and bottom-left sides of the raw page.

You may use the left and right arrow keys to navigate, or click the Prev/Next buttons.

The reader also features a mobile version that you can access at any time, which is optimized for smaller screens.


Only translators may have profiles on MangaLator.

Attempting to access the profile of ordinary users will just lead to an empty page.

On a translator's profile page, users may "hug" a translator to add them to their "Hugged Translators" list that is available through the side bar.

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Profit
MangaLator runs off of ad revenue and the administrator's own funds, just like Bato.to does. If you don't want to support them, you can leave AdBlock on in Firefox/Chrome.

There isn't any place to donate, nor do you have to pay to use their online reader.

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Script
Below are some Tampermonkey/Greasemonkey scripts you may find useful.

Mouse Pop-up - Shows the translation beneath the bubble instead
Screen: http://waa.ai/vqcA
Script: http://pastebin.com/epNSipMy

Front Page English - Shows only English releases on the front page
Screen: http://waa.ai/vlRS
Script: http://pastebin.com/77uZqrb0

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Release
Please follow these guidelines when submitting MangaLator releases here.

- Do NOT release v2's at all. We are only recording the earliest release for a chapter.

- Please do not include MangaLator as part of a joint release. It isn't logical since MangaLator is an online reader, not a scanlation group. It couldn't have possibly "translated" for your group. Also, the administrator wouldn't want their raws redistributed anyway (hence the usage of watermarks), so being a raw provider is also out of the question.


Remember: MangaLator is a community of freelance translators.

MangaLator is NOT involved in any act such as "stealing your scanlation project."

If your series is being translated on the site, it is merely a coincidence, and there is nothing stopping you from continuing on with what you are doing already.

The administrator reads manga as well, and knows very well that scanlation exists. If a series already exists and has releases available, raws uploaded onto MangaLator tend to start after the latest released chapter, to avoid redundancy.

In addition, translators on MangaLator usually translate for one of three reasons; the first being that they just want something to translate, the second being that they might not like the pace at which a series is being released via scanlation, and the third being random selection (raws are available on the main page, so they choose to translate it for fun).

Besides, since these are freelance translators, the translation quality may sometimes be questionable. If you don't feel confident about their translations, do your own.

In addition, since these are freelances who are not affiliated with MangaLator in any way, you are free to comment on their profile asking whether you may borrow their translations or whether they would like to translate for your group. They're human too, so you have a good chance of them helping you out. It probably won't come off as annoying if you don't bug them about it.

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Finally, be sure to thank the translator involved with a chapter's release. You may comment on the release, on the series' page, or even on their profile page.

...That's all for now. If I think of anything else, or if there's anything else you think I should mention, please don't be afraid to leave a reply, and I'll update this post.

Last edited by Sayori x3 at 4:45 pm, Jul 5 2015

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

Post reserved

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

So the only difference between MangaLator and Batoto is the "providing raws" concept?

I don't want to sound insensitive but....
What happens to your site if Batoto decides to have raws accessibly uploaded to their site and only viewed by those who are staff-members and verified-scanlators on Batoto? What if Batoto decides to make category pages for the translators/cleaners/scanners/etc for each scanlation group? Wouldn't that make MangaLator useless?

It's just weird that MangaLator seems to have a different design from other online reader sites. It makes it look like nothing is happening. Also, is this supposed to be some sort of resume zone for translators/scanlators? Like a Translator's Internet Media Database? Well, if that is so, I'm not too convinced that it can fulfill its purpose to the capacity that your descriptions seem to describe.

First off, it's not my site. I am not affiliated with it MangaLator any way. Nor is anybody else there.

Batoto is a release host. MangaLator is a raw host that allows freelance translators to translate directly on the pages. It's somewhat different. There's no requirement for any particular translator to be verified or part of a group of any sort. It's meant to be open to the public to join in; a collective effort.

The closest comparison you could make is probably if a group only releases on Bato.to, and even their group page is based on Bato.to (they don't have their own standalone site). But that's still a scanlation release in the traditional sense.

And yeah, the site does have a sort of minimalist interface. It's just, "here are some new raws, and here are some recent translated chapters."

What do you mean by a "resume zone?" MangaLator doesn't really have a goal. It's just a place for freelances to translate, if they so wish to.

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

I've been using mangalator.ch as well as raffmanga.ch and to my knowledge, a scanlation group by the name of fakemangatranslations.blogspot.com (blog has been removed) used scans from the website with the watermark still apparent. Is that allowed?

I guess what I'm saying is that can other scanlation groups be allowed to take scans from mangalator.ch/raffmanga.ch to clean/translate/typeset/etc them then post them online?

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"I will love you always." - Uchiha Itachi

...I see. But then who is paying for the domain, the hosting server, and who did the web coding? The person who did those things are obviously affiliated to MangaLator.


I meant if translators would have some sort of proof of what they translated through such sites. But I wasn't really expecting verification on that particular statement.


Anyways, I get it. It's an interesting concept.
It's just too flawed for this one reason you stated: MangaLator doesn't really have a goal.
Most Translators tend to get involved with something that have a goal. MangaUpdates.com has a goal. MangaHelpers.com has a goal. IMDB.com has a goal. Wikipedia.org, Tumblr.com, Twitter.com, Google.com, FaceBook.com, and I can go on and on. Websites don't exist with no goal. It's just unheard of.

You're not affiliated with the site, and yet you make such a huge description for the site.
Maybe I just don't understand. Thanks for the info regardless.

Raffmanga and MangaLator belong to the same owner. Raffmanga is the head site that the owner uses to post news, which isn't important for MangaUpdates as it does not provide actual releases.

And technically, no it is not allowed. Taking private raws without explicit permission is considered stealing. There's a reason why the owner applied watermarks. A lot of the series the owner scans and uploads are not available on the Internet as public raws.

So either that group is related to MangaLator in some fashion, or they're just ripping raws.

The only thing scanlation groups are allowed to do for MangaLator is ask individual translators whether it is okay to use the translation scripts they put up there.



MangaLator is owned by one person, who does everything. The owner doesn't advertise or post releases on MangaUpdates. The owner just leaves the site open for people to use.

Freelance translators on MangaLator have their account names affixed beside their translation, for users to know who did them.

MangaLator doesn't really have a goal, but its reason for existing is to offer raws and allow anyone to freely translate them. It would fall under being a "hobby" of the owner's. Nobody is obligated to do anything for the site, and nobody is obligated to stay there.

On a side note, the free publicity I've given here is because I recently had lambchopsil approve of MangaLator's releases being posted here. Thus, I'm responsible for managing the releases coming from that site.

In addition, often times, readers and scanlators alike harbor "negative opinions" against online readers. This thread can help clarify to everyone what the site is, what it exists for, and how it's different from the ordinary online reader website (aggregate).

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

Hello again Sayori x3. You didn´t mention the Date calculator you gave me so here i go.
Just type in the date for the translation as you see on the site (let´s say 5 months or 3 weeks 2 days) when reporting and i worked from the oldest to the news release when i reported my long backlog. A translated ch.7-10 should be reported to together if the date matches and ch. 7, 9, 11 with the same date would all be separate reports.
Doing one series at a time and to completion is also a good idea to stay in the flow.

ML is the destination for female targeted manga now and i see such easy to use / no bullshit services as the futures for niche scanlation.
Let the reporting begin (and sign up for free today.)

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

I'm sure the original copyright holders would like to have a word about that with Mangalator.

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I want to see how uploaders do first before mentioning it in the first post.



I'm sure the original copyright holders would like to have a word with every single scanlation group, fansubbing group, online reader, manga release database, and even file hosting site on the planet.

But they won't bother since it's futile trying to fight against piracy.

Last edited by Sayori x3 at 6:16 pm, Jul 4 2015

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

Hence why it's silly to say, "And technically, no it is not allowed. Taking private raws without explicit permission is considered stealing."

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Owner of Antisense Scanslation.

I was speaking in the point of view of what is and isn't acceptable for a MangaUpdates release

We could go into a very in-depth discussion about the legality of manga translation, but that is well beyond the scope of this thread.

Last edited by Sayori x3 at 6:31 pm, Jul 4 2015

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

No need for lengthy legality discussions. It's illegal plain and simple unless you got permission.

Now as for stealing raws. Well lets face it. If it's online someone is going to get their hands on it and if they clean out the watermarks. There's no way the site can either prove (unless it's badly done redraw) or do anything.

I've been in scanslation for years and seen groups get upset about titles or scans being 'stolen' which is silly because um we're stealing for the creator anyways so who are we to get upset about having raws or titles taken?

But yes I see what you mean that the site calls it stealing, but meh. XD

Edit: and sorry for getting off topic.

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Owner of Antisense Scanslation.

MangaLator (Raffmanga)'s raws are relatively a pain to try to de-watermark, since they're down-scaled and most of them have huge circular watermarks slapped in the middle of the pages, in addition to a watermark on the bottom-right. The raws are not worth ripping.

As for "stealing," reality is, scanlators don't want to accept the fact that it is piracy, so they justify their actions by being ignorant about it and work under a sort of shroud, thinking they're immune to any and all consequences.

The truth is, the publishing companies don't have the money nor means to fight piracy (and it's a futile attempt anyway), so they really don't bother. Manga scanlation and anime fansubbing are both going down the road of movie and TV show piracy; companies still stand to make a profit, but not as much as they proportionally would a decade or two ago when piracy didn't exist.

Last edited by Sayori x3 at 7:20 pm, Jul 4 2015

________________
Founder of Kirei Cake. We're always looking for new members regardless of experience, so if you're interested, seek us out @ http://KireiCake.com!

It's very true. XD And in no way am I saying what I'm doing is not illegal. =)

But I must ask. Is MangaLator going to have some respect for legally licensed releases and remove all titles if released by English publishers? I haven't checked the site or anything but from some of the releases I saw on MU it seems they only handle with unlicensed stuff. In which case I will applaud the site. Only because it seems it will be a major 'group' and I personally like to stop working on titles once picked up by an actual publisher to give the authors a chance of income.

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Owner of Antisense Scanslation.