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This week's poll of mythical creatures is the brainchild of our member rallwka. Please note that the list of creatures does not include everything in mythology but rather a selection of what is most common in manga series (although I don't think phoenix belongs on that list, but oh well). If your favorite isn't on the list, just choose something that you like that IS on the list.

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Do you read fanfiction for the series you like?
Choices:
All the time - votes: 1495 (11.8%)
Sometimes - votes: 2730 (21.6%)
Seldom - votes: 3190 (25.2%)
Never - votes: 5230 (41.4%)
There were 12645 total votes.
The poll ended: February 9th 2013

I fall in the "Never" camp also. I'll stick with the real, official, and canon stuff.

This week's poll was sort of from a suggestion by Havenc1, but not quite what he/she had in mind. But anyways, fanfiction is a fan-written story for a particular series. Perhaps it's a new or changed plot. Or there's more (better?) romantic pairings than the original series has. I decided not to have an option about writing fanfiction, but I'm sure some of you do that! As for my personal vote: I never read fanfiction. I'll stick with the original stuff.

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Optimal story length
Choices:
Lots of volumes with short chapters - votes: 1203 (11.5%)
Lots of volumes with long chapters - votes: 5142 (49%)
Just a few volumes with short chapters - votes: 371 (3.5%)
Just a few volumes with long chapters - votes: 3777 (36%)
There were 10493 total votes.
The poll ended: February 2nd 2013

Due to the low numbers, it seems like less and less people are voting on these polls. Probably my fault...

This week's poll is from our member jacob66. This poll is actually a mix of 2 polls back in 2008, and based on those results, I'm gonna predict that "Lots of volumes with long chapters" will win. But who knows? I could be wrong

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Question: What font type do you prefer for reading scanlations?
Choices:
Wild Words - votes: 744 (6.9%)
Manga Temple - votes: 164 (1.5%)
Anime Ace - votes: 440 (4.1%)
CC Meanwhile - votes: 19 (0.2%)
DigitalStrip - votes: 45 (0.4%)
CC Comiccrazy - votes: 26 (0.2%)
Blambot Casual - votes: 28 (0.3%)
Arial - votes: 226 (2.1%)
Arial Black - votes: 81 (0.8%)
Calibri - votes: 138 (1.3%)
Comic Sans MS - votes: 723 (6.7%)
Verdana - votes: 68 (0.6%)
Times New Roman - votes: 189 (1.8%)
Webdings - votes: 75 (0.7%)
Tahoma - votes: 64 (0.6%)
Helvetica - votes: 69 (0.6%)
I prefer a font not listed above - votes: 160 (1.5%)
Fonts matter, but I don't know their names - votes: 5693 (53%)
Fonts don't matter at all to me - votes: 1795 (16.7%)
There were 10747 total votes.
The poll ended: January 26th 2013

Of the results for the actual fonts, we have Wild Words, Comic Sans MS, and Anime Ace (in that order). I'm not sure if tons of people just voted for Comic Sans MS to troll, or perhaps that's the only font that common people feel they see in manga. I just can't believe that it's that good of a font...

PS: I believe this poll has caused the most people ever (so far) to demean me and treat me like trash

This week's poll on fonts is from chomio. Now most of you (include myself) don't really care about fonts, but fonts are a very subtle art that can effect the perception of the text. It's like characterizing handwriting and what that says about a person. Then again, if you don't know many fonts, then oh well... It's been a few years since I've been a part of a scanlation group, so I don't even remember what fonts we used. I guess there's a reason why I was a proofreader and not an editor?

[color=red]Edit: Changed the list of fonts, so you guys can all vote again![/color]

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: How much reading (novels, poems, newspapers, blogs, etc) that's not manga (manhua, manhwa, etc)-related?
Choices:
Don't read much manga - votes: 271 (2.3%)
More than I read manga - votes: 2323 (19.3%)
About the same - votes: 3005 (25%)
I read manga more - votes: 5382 (44.8%)
Only read manga - votes: 1032 (8.6%)
There were 12013 total votes.
The poll ended: January 19th 2013

We are a manga site, so that's to be expected...

I'm always sad to report such news, but Endless Abyss is closing its doors after nearly 5 years in the business of scanlating. The best of luck to the future of those staff. Several of their projects will be continued by other groups, and other series are up for grabs for whoever wants to take them over. More specific details can be found on their last blog post on their site.

Thanks to chomio for bringing this piece of news to my attention.

This week's poll is a suggestion from our member achyif. Compared to your other reading intake, is manga proportionally more or less? For me, I tend to read novels much more than manga, especially since I own an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite.

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Start of a new year, so your most important "first" for this year is...
Choices:
First sunrise - votes: 386 (3.8%)
First sunset - votes: 55 (0.5%)
First email - votes: 46 (0.5%)
First meal - votes: 340 (3.4%)
First full moon - votes: 215 (2.1%)
First kiss - votes: 916 (9.1%)
First heartache - votes: 135 (1.3%)
First new manga / anime - votes: 1668 (16.6%)
First dream - votes: 445 (4.4%)
First laugh - votes: 373 (3.7%)
First new friend - votes: 302 (3%)
First day of work / school - votes: 930 (9.3%)
First vacation - votes: 409 (4.1%)
First new movie - votes: 168 (1.7%)
First new article of clothing - votes: 90 (0.9%)
First paycheck - votes: 914 (9.1%)
First hug - votes: 234 (2.3%)
First sickness - votes: 140 (1.4%)
First party - votes: 158 (1.6%)
First pet - votes: 35 (0.3%)
First win (game, gambling, etc) - votes: 325 (3.2%)
First child - votes: 53 (0.5%)
First smile - votes: 272 (2.7%)
First death - votes: 251 (2.5%)
First anniversary - votes: 77 (0.8%)
First crush / love - votes: 1110 (11%)
There were 10047 total votes.
The poll ended: January 12th 2013

Of course, the winner would be manga since we're a manga site. But after that, 2nd most popular is a bit of romance~

Reportedly, it's back! Not back to its former glory, but at least it's a start. Hetalia fans, hats off to you.

You can read a news report here: http://comicsbeat.com/tokyopop-is-back/
Thanks to Dr. Love for giving me the news

I'll admit, this poll from our member nowyat is a little weird. Since we just started a new year, I thought this suggestion was most relevant. Think of what your most important "first" for this year would be. Of course, the list is not exhaustive (there is at least 1 specific choice I purposely left out) and there is no "other" category or else we'd get like 90% there.

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: 24 hours in Japan and money is not an issue. You...
Choices:
Buy a ton of anime / manga merchandise - votes: 4348 (31%)
Stuff yourself with food - votes: 1066 (7.6%)
Buy big purchases (house, car, etc) - votes: 2463 (17.6%)
Blow your money on department store goods - votes: 455 (3.2%)
Get electronics at Akihabara - votes: 711 (5.1%)
Go to a matsuri (festival) - votes: 536 (3.8%)
Play pachinko and other gambling - votes: 55 (0.4%)
Spend those quarters at an arcade gaming center - votes: 77 (0.5%)
Go to host / hostess (and related) clubs - votes: 801 (5.7%)
Go to maid cafes - votes: 224 (1.6%)
Ride all the shinkansen (bullet) trains - votes: 141 (1%)
Visit all the famous landmarks - votes: 1748 (12.5%)
Soak up in a hot spring - votes: 1038 (7.4%)
Meet as many celebrities as possible - votes: 351 (2.5%)
There were 14014 total votes.
The poll ended: January 5th 2013

Well, we are a site about manga! Hence I suspect "First new manga / anime" will win for this week's poll.

Another year of existence! Technically still 21 minutes away where I live, but oh well...

PS: Just saw Les Miserables. Great movie.