Manga Planet: Ahh, I see. So scanlation can be incorporated into your portfolio. Since you worked on the industry side, has your opinion of scanlation changed?

Beverly: I’d say my opinion of scanlation since my teenage years has definitely changed, but when I actually got into it, I was already of the mindset that it wasn’t a good thing for the industry. I was really upfront with my group about the fact that I was basically doing it for practice and they were really accepting and just happy to have another translator on call. I’m really happy with the things I worked on with them because it is an artist I love dearly, but it is a double-edged sword because I do love that artist, and I want them to get an official English release, and I know I’ve hurt that chance for her now.

Manga Planet: What you mean that it “hurt that chance for her now?” Many readers and other scanlators tend to argue that having scanlations could help the artist since it would build an audience for them.

Beverly: It may not be so common knowledge on the other side of the circuit, but when an artist already has well-known scanlations out for some of their work, that can actually become a reason for people not to get a license.

Because scanlation is not new to the scene, companies are already aware that the hit to sales is already there. Since like only 5% of people who read scans actually buy, your target market is people who have heard of the title but haven’t read scans.

It is a big catch-22. If something is already scanlated, then you want if to be popular enough for people to know the artist name, unpopular enough that people will actually buy it. There are even some scan groups whose reputations ruin it for the artist.

I won’t name names, but basically, the ones that are known to still release chapters once the official license is announced, or actually hear about the license and purposefully release everything instead of stopping.

It’s actually a lot more common than you think, and licensors know who these groups are. I can say that when I worked at the manga company, we tried to reach out nicely and warn some people we were going to license something and get them to find a nice stopping place, and people burned us. That sticks with you. Anytime you get the chance to release something that you know that group did— you DO double think it. And it’s absolutely awful to think about as a fan.

Manga Planet: So “double-thinking” leads to series not being picked up?

Beverly: I think it relies heavily on where you are as a company and your corporate outlook though. Like we went through with the (one scanlated series) we did it because it was a very popular title and we expected traffic for it. (Also, the freelancers were jumping at the bit for it.) Had we gotten a license to another work that scanlation group was doing down the line, I probably would have turned it down.

Manga Planet: This is definitely something we have thought about even at Manga Planet-the scanlation status of an artist’s work. So in this regard, you would say that scanlation hurts the industry, specifically artists, more than it helps?

Beverly: I would say so. As a fan, I understand wanting to share your favorite artist with people. And not to get all grandma up on this interview, but back in my dayyyy (haha), you shared the official print. Even in the digital age, you can share the official digital release. The problem with scanlation is that it’s spoiled us. I actually saw something the other day. Someone was posting a top 30 shojo manga list—and something I worked on was on it. I was over the moon! So I click to see what the comments are, and there it was. “Ugh, this cost money. Can someone pay and put it up on an illegal website so we can read it for free?” (I’m not kidding—they typed illegal!) Not only does that hurt the artist, the industry, and the people who DO do this stuff officially’s paycheck, it is the most indescribably serrated knife stab in the back of everyone trying their hardest for this industry. And the problem is, and I know people don’t want to hear it, this is not the minority.

To find answers, we spoke with Beverly Maynor, a professional Japanese to English translator with experience both in scanlation and the manga industry.

English doujinshi debut is now available on @FAKKU!

{Making broad statements and failing to list and specifics when it came to her job. Even something as simple as just name dropping a company, naming a website, or even just the city district where they work, would lend her some credibility, but she does none of that.}
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“Ugh, this cost money. Can someone pay and put it up on an illegal website so we can read it for free?” (I’m not kidding—they typed illegal!)

A lot of scanlators say ‘well this will never be licensed anyway so we’re just bringing what would never come to English over’ or they’re offering ‘timely English releases.’

And not to be harsh but: Who made you the overlord of all licensors? How do you know what would or wouldn’t be licensed? Impatience is not a publishers fault.

In a perfect world, if this manga wasn’t prematurely released, who’s to say what would or wouldn’t get translated into English? Yes, some publishers are picky. Of course, they are. This is something that they worked hard to make a consumable product with the artist. If people want a faster release in Japan, they can’t just take it from something that doesn’t exist yet. They have to wait until the artist creates it. So why does a publisher waiting for the right offer to come along and release it a way that will be satisfying to them and their artist, give you free reign to their copyrighted product?

I think that one varies too much depending on the site for me to give a good answer too.

I can only attest to what I know, and I can’t give you exact numbers but, one thing readers seem to forget is that when it comes to an English release, it’s not just paying someone to translate and typeset. Step one is getting permission from the publisher, a part of that is agreeing on a publishing fee, and what percentage of sales goes back to the publisher(and a cut of that goes to the artist themselves) Depending on titles, this can be tens of thousands of dollars for AAA titles, maybe even hundreds.

On top of that, you have the staff at the English publishing office, who facilitate freelancers or in-house resources for translation, typeset, and any corrections. This is the part that scanlators do for free. They skip that thousands of dollars up front step.

Now, unfortunately, I don’t typeset so I can only speak to what I know, but translation wise– remember this is my bread and butter, I live off this. In an ideal world, everyone is aiming for like at least $20.00 an hour at their full time, college graduate jobs, yeah? Depending on who you’re working for, this can mean anywhere from 4 pages to 20 pages an hour. (You can see how this range hurts me) And how quickly you go is determined by how much text is on a page, how hard it is, etc. Here’s a sample page from one of the works I do with Enshodo from a series called Mesmerism.

Now, as you can see, there is quite a bit of text here, and Mesmerism has a hypnotherapy theme. I’ve never had hypnotherapy before, so this did take some research etc.

I mean, I’ll be blunt, this page alone took me probably took me at least 30 minutes. I have never earned anywhere near $20.00 an hour doing manga, and I probably never will. And I doubt this page was any quicker for the typesetter- bless their talented little soul.

A lot of Japanese publishers are really clueless when it comes to what it takes to make an English release.
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And I certainly think that Japanese publishers aren’t as aware of interacting with fans. Especially in the states, social media is a big way of spreading people’s awareness of a brand.

Numerous television stations here in the U.S. have stagnated because everything has to pull in the same viewership numbers as Game of Thrones or risk getting cancelled, film companies require every one of their films to break some record while leaving all projects of dedication and a possible following out to die, gaming companies have effectively killed their entire catalog and will only release "flavor of the month titles"...

There wouldn't be a problem if scanlators simply quit doing licensed manga. But just like any addict, many leechers will come up with any number of excuses, from plausible to bizarre, for why scanlations should never stop. In reality, people just want everything free and they want it now...

Apparently, very few people are interested in reading old manga. Even in scanlation, barely anyone reads releases of the classics. Scanlators are chasing after the newest hottest manga even if it is licensed.