Is that because we are slowly killing it ourselves, some scan groups are so afraid of bots stealing their work that they are isolating themselves and their community more and more from the larger community. Batoto was something the community needs and we are going to need something similar going forward.

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"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown"

This is sad news, what a terrible way to start the year. I've been using faithfully Batoto since it came around as it was respecting the wishes of the scanlators and taking care to remove licensed manga chapters. The scanlations in other languages are going to be sorely missed as well, they are not usually so accessible as the manga community seems to be fragmented by country+forums. No way to stumble by chance on a manga in French/Russian/etc. while searching for info or translations in English.

Maybe some user activity should have been restricted to allow for a more manageable space? Although I loved the vibrant community, if it became too much to handle I am sure most users would accept some policing here and there instead of simply seeing everything gone. Knowing that we won't be able to see it anymore is just... too much somehow.

Still, thank you mods and thank you Grumpy for bringing us together on your platform until now. I hope your legacy won't be lost.

TBH when the first time I join Batoto back in 2011, I also never thought that it will be this huge mmm...
I thought it will be small heaven for scanlation group and most people will still go to other aggregator site which "provide" faster load since they rescale the image and stuff mmm...

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I will change this world mmm...
So the world can change me mmm...

well double standards with mu, would be nice if u followed through with such policys but even light novel translations can form a group and not produce twitter or facebook links to other links to their actual websites that show downloads or release sites or where its uploaded, for not allowing anon or some random people to form a group is just one way...maybe try and fight back crooks like cruncyroll and support more independent less greedy small groups, might be hard but more beneficial, likewise don't go allowing chinese heavy translation groups as they ruin many sites and become flood heay

Please don't leave lambchopsil. I depend on this database for keeping track of my manga and discovering new ones. The database on this site is so extensive that it's irreplaceable. Thank you for the hard work you do to maintain this!

Also, Batoto will be dearly missed. I've continued to use them since the beginning due to how they respected the wishes of scanlation groups. Thanks for posting about this.

And nothing of value was lost. Needing an account just to read stuff is disgusting as it gives them the ability to track you.

Ditto on the "Please don't leave!" I'm an old guy who loves manga. I discovered all these great stories in 2010, shortly after I retired, while I was looking for free stories online. And I was absolutely LOST in the huge mass of manga! Eventually I figured out that most manga were not aimed at my age group (to say the least), but I also finally understood that the category Seinen often fit my tastes.

Baka has been my friend ever since. I'd still be lost in the world of manga without it.

You guys do a wonderful job.

I don't want to see the day when I open MU and see the dreaded announcement that MU will close its door. I understand the hardwork the admins and mods to maintain this site, you must be sacrificing a lot of time to enjoy your life. I won't persuade and beg you to stay on this site, Lamb. You have been doing so much for us, so when the time you'll say you are gonna quit, I will respect that decision. Just ensure a new leaf is ready to continue to take care of this beloved site.
On regard of Batoto, though I don't go there anymore, it's still a very sad news and I want to cry for the lost of one of great community. But Grumpy has decided. Wish him the best for all his future endeavors and the rest of us need to move on.

Last edited by Akatsubaki at 7:40 pm, Jan 15 2018

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I'm really sad about batoto and know some people who really depend on that site for their manga...although i directly follow the groups now since batoto often didn't update fast enough for my liking lol

omg PLEASE never close this site down! my manga habits literally depend on it ;_; if you guys ever need money to cover costs I will gladly fork some over.

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;D

Could manga updates send out an email to all the groups that listed batoto as their web site. Ask them to update it?

It would be a shame to lose all the groups.

Some may not realise there is a script that helps users, that makes listing a web site convenient.

Maybe give them an option to use something very simple for the web link if they already have a facebook/twitter link, like ghostbin
At least then smaller single person groups can link to their folders without having to set up a site.


Last edited by sushiaddiction at 4:21 pm, Jan 16 2018

I'm assuming the majority of those groups simply did that out of convenience. I mean come on, it takes about a minute and a half to set up a (free) Word Press or Blogger account (all you need).....oh, that's right, and they gotta actually offer downloads/some way to share their releases now.........yeah, add another minute and a half to sign up (free) with Dropbox, MediaFire or Imgur.

If they're at all serious about continuing their hobby, they'll just have to do what all the rest of us have done, which is be an actual scan group and not just a member of some composite reader site that uploads content there.

So I was reading, and apparently a discord chat is being made (via Comics) kinda as a backdrop of batoto. Here

I don't know if people who aren't considered groups would join or not?

With batoto closing I feel that many groups may go back to the old school irc servers. Sigh... Reminds me of the old days with Onemanga shutting down.

Yeah, anyone can come join that discord chat.

And I definitely was triggered nostalgia when I happened upon Onemanga shutting down on my search results when I was looking up if Mangafox was closing too.

This is just sad.. so many websites closed and opened during the years and now one of the good ones who actually has good quality manga is closing down.

On another note, I've beem into manga since the early 2000s and the forming (and discovery) of baka updates has been a huge part in my manga+anime info. I always use baka for info on manga, mangaka, licensed volumes and what to buy, you seriously have no idea how helpful your website is (it has also helped me win a couple of manga related arguments xD).

The thought that you might be closing is very heart breaking, and we are sorry if we don't show you how much we appreciate your efforts and hard work on this website (and the iOS app). Really, its an excellent website and thank you very much for your hard work. Everything you provide on the website: tags, categories, mangaka info, manga names, mangas associated, reviews, ratings, how many volumes, licensing status and even your weekly polls are some of the things I always look for when I enter the website.

What I'm trying to say is... please don't close TT~~~TT and what can we do to help?

The suggestion that the scanlation scene is slowly eroding is utter nonsense and i can easily disprove it with http://alexa.com/siteinfo.
Viewers sites live of clicks and kissmanga has a global rank of 2.023. Mangafox is at 2.978. Mangapark is at 3.143. While bato is at 4.351. Still a top 10.000 site, so they survived the member only policy just fine, but they weren´t the leader last year. Also look just how much manga and anime reddit and sub-reddits get traffic and those directly link to scans. Who knows what the peak year for the manga piracy scene is but it can´t be far in the past. MU is at place 12.856 btw. and was around 10.000 this summer.

It´s the legal side of the market, aka. the actual market, that we need to worry about. Bato lastly had less manga that the typical viewer due to their (random) curation decisions. Onemanga or mangatraders shut down and nothing came of that. Traders was even past it´s prime. Mangahelpers going though their "reform" couldn´t even shake the pirates so nothing will come of this too.

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