We haven't done this specific topic in many years, but AUOdere suggested we do it again. Since then, there's been a huge uptick in manhwa and manhua, which usually is only in digital. What's your preference?

You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: I would choose to be the
Choices:
Hero - votes: 1536 (50.1%)
Villain - votes: 1527 (49.9%)
There were 3063 total votes.
The poll ended: July 15th, 2023 11:47am PDT

This is probably our closest poll ever

A just ruler amongst tyrants

Digital due to the accessibility but these releases also need to be saved somewhere. Manga and comic pirates do a fine job of squirrelly everything away and these copies, even if they are rips of official releases, might one day be the only way to access these works. Manhwa and manhua seem to have a big issue with licenses expiring as the links for them on MU tend to be a minefield.

Here is how bad things got with videogames: New Study Compares Classic Games to Silent Movies, Says Just 13 Percent Are Commercially Available
https://www.ign.com/articles/new-study-13-percent-video-game-history-foundation

Disc rot is an issue and paper won´t last either so having a printed copy of something in the wild with no hope of reprints down the line leads to print having the same issue as digital in the end. The only saved copies here will also be scans. WB´s tax write-offs have become a meme at this point and even top dog Disney is now vanishing a 2022 release (Willow) to save money so all media is in danger. Especially if all releases are just for rent and not for sale. Hello Webcomics of all kinds.

The debut works of Yukito Kishiro (Battle Angel Alita) are currently lost media to my knowledge. Miura had the same problem till somewhat recently. These are top creators so think about how bad B and C-level creators will have to preserve their writing down the line.

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

I prefer my manga digital since I won't fear ruining the physical copy by accidentally tearing the pages, breaking the book spine, getting the pages wet from water, etc. Plus digital often keeps coloured pages intact rather than turning it black-and-white for physical release.
Novels however I prefer physical since reading the text hurts my eyes on the PC after a while.

Quote from Karonhioktha

I prefer my manga digital since I won't fear ruining the physical copy by accidentally tearing the pages, breaking the book spine, getting the pages wet from water, etc. Plus digital often keeps coloured pages intact rather than turning it black-and-white for physical release.
Novels however I p ...

Try to increase the size of the font and maybe change the background into dark mode mmm...

I definitely prefer digital over paper, it's easier to store and easier to read everywhere and anytime mmm...
I love reading manga/novel when I'm on treadmill, it makes exercising much more fun mmm...

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

I think I prefer physical more often than not.

Physical typically has better image quality, since it's printed at print resolutions, while digital releases are typically scaled down to monitor resolutions.

Digital does have certain benefits, such as better longevity as well as being able to fully show two-page spreads. However, until the image quality gets to be on par with physical releases, I'll still prefer physical over digital.

Visit my scanning blog: Jammin' Scans

::End of Transmission::

I'll go with digital.
I prefer reading full screen, except wide-ban format the printed ones are too small for my taste. Also, physical copies would occupy a ridiculous amount of space and licenses are a real problem since they take so long to be licensed, the collection ends up being a Frankenstein.

I end up buying the first volume sometimes, but even then I read it online ... Some newer series have very high resolution, though the navigation can be terrible( like shueisha's mangaplus ). 😔

Physical is the superior reading experience IMO, but I appreciate the accessibility of digital books.

Digital. I like getting physical copies of manga I really enjoy though.

http://i.imgur.com/LxhWm.jpg (will reformat this some day…)

I like both but definitely prefer physical. There ain't nothing like the smell of a brand-new manga. I read digital to check out a manga series before I buy it. I buy manga series I want to actually own and re-read whenever I want to. I have physical manga in my collection that dates all the way back from the year 2000 and I love going back and re-reading them. Something about it is just so nostalgic. I don't get the same feeling when I read a digital manga.

I don't know if digital can replicate the experience of running down the block on garbage day in Tokyo collecting all of last week's omnibus of series'.
the streets were literally paved with gold
wipes drool away

Ah, to be honest I love to read the hard copy ones, but they're getting more and more expensive nowadays, so I prefer to read the digital copy (my answer for this poll). My reason is a matter of budget. Lol.

The ones in official apps can be read for free, and even if I buy coins, tickets, inks, or whatever you call it, it's still not as expensive as buying the hard copy.

But for the sake of finishing manga that have long stopped being translated by scanlators and are still not accessible digitally, I still buy the hard copy in bookstores.

I chose digital, but only for the act of reading. Reading actual books really makes me fall asleep. It's the color of the paper. I don't have this problem when I read digitally. Also, I like that everything is viewable at once when I read a manga digitally. The whole page fits the screen of my phone, so I don't have to move my eyes as much. Lol.

But I prefer having physical copies to own, hands down. I wish all the manga and manhwa I read all came out in official English as books. There is nothing like the feeling of actually owning something you love. Digital files change so much and the websites that charge you to read can disappear and you lose everything you thought you "owned", but with proper care, an actual book will last for a very, very long time. It's truly yours. So really...I prefer physical but digital to actually get through a story. Maybe I should buy a good light to make book pages brighter.

떡대수 supremacy

Some of the korean webtoons have physical releases and I'm curious about them because the originals absolutely don't have proper page layouts.

I love my hard copies, but digital is too convenient.

Physicals all the way 🙂
More relaxing to read and I don't have to keep looking at a screen all the time!

Cake is life 🙂

I prefer manga to be physical and webtoons (most manhwa) to be digital. I don't know how to vote for this poll.

I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Too many jars and not enough hands.