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How to: Guide for Manga Scanlation

To a fan of manga -- Japanese comic books -- being able to read the latest issue of a manga translated into English almost immediately after the manga's been published in Japan is practically a dream come true. Make that a task the fan can do free of charge and you're dealing with the realm beyond a fan's wildest dreams. Manga "scanlations," a fan-coined term referring to a digital "scan" of a manga that features an English "translation," provide exactly that for a fan -- fast, often free translated manga available online.

Instructions

- 1
  Find a legitimate manga scanlation site. You can find yourself in legal trouble if you opt to read manga scanlation at a site that does not have the legal rights to post that series. Viz (via its Shonen Sunday and Sigikki sites), Square Enix Manga and eManga are three legitimate manga scanlation companies that only post access to manga titles for which they own the legal rights to share in English.
- 2
  Read sample manga previews. Some manga scanlation sites, such as eManga and Square Enix Manga, ask for payment to be able to read manga. Take advantage of free samples and don't pay until you're sure that you want to read more of the manga. Besides legitimate sites that post manga issues weekly for free such as Shonen Sunday and Sigikki, legitimate manga scanlation websites are also available with just a free sample first issue of manga titles, such as Viz's Shojo Beat site. These free manga scanlations can help you decide whether or not you want to pay for more scanlation issues or purchase a printed copy of the manga if no legal full scanlation is online.
- 3
  Know the genre. Don't bother wasting time sampling manga scanlations for genres that don't interest you. Viz makes its selections easy to sample by genre. Shonen Sunday features only shonen manga, action-packed battle manga aimed primarily at pre-teen and teen boys. Sigikki features more mature seinen manga suitable for young adults. Shojo Beat is comprised of shojo manga, which is heavy on romance and is written for teenage girls. eManga has a lot of adult-only manga. The yaoi (gay love) and hentai (pornographic) selections feature images suitable only for ages 18 and up.
- 4
  Read right to left. A manga scanlation reader, which presents the manga two pages at a time like in a book, should pop-up once you've selected a title. Nearly all manga scanlations are presented in the Japanese format, as this preserves the original manga artwork. A legitimate manga scanlation provider will present you with instructions on how to read the manga. You begin at the upper right corner of the rightmost page and then shift to the next panel immediately to its left. Once you've reached the end of a page, you move down on the same page, starting with the rightmost side. You read the left page after you've completely finished the right page.

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