Manly Battleships

@RekkaAlexiel Japanese labor laws in favor of workers and the historical practice of corporations looking at longterm over shortterm help in that less adversarial view. I feel like after the peak of anti-corporate sentiment in the 70s it's been amicable. But this is changing again

This is also a common misconception. For the large part, corporations are not hated here in Japan like they are elsewhere, because we haven't been betrayed and taken advantage time and time again... So, let's please make that important distinction.

@VirtualMelody @isawmydevil I don't think this is true for trusted circles. But in fairness, I don't really pirate manga enough to know what they do now. Since MangaZ relies on older titles, older translations would just need the makers to willingly donate them so we don't repeat the Crunchyroll cycle

@ManlyBats @isawmydevil A lot of "fan translators" nowadays don't even know Japanese (or even English) and are just using machine translation, with little or no correction, so contributions would have to be heavily checked. I don't think it's realistic.

海外の漫画ファンのみなさんへ 情報を付け加えさせてください。マンガ図書館Zは広告モデル（もしくはメンバーシップ課金モデル）を採用しており、あなたたち海外の漫画ファンが作品を閲覧すると、クリエイターに収益が自動配分される仕組みになっています。もしみなさんが自国で作品を入手する手段がなく、クリエイターと経済的なつながりが絶たれているとしても、作品を見るだけで、みなさんのファンダムは日本のクリエイターの経済的な支えになります。そこが海賊版とのシステム上の決定的な違いです。 もし日本の絶版漫画に興味のある方は、ぜひマンガ図書館Zを訪問してみてください。ちなみにこのサイトは日本の国会議員である赤松健が民間人時代に創業したもので、このサイトを閲覧することによる法的リスクはありません。安心して楽しんでください。 確かに現段階では多言語対応しておらず、言語の壁はありますが、元ポストの方が言っているように、海外からのアクセスが増えることで将来的な多言語対応の道筋が開けるかもしれません！ mangaz.com

If nothing else we should all be getting upset with @elonmusk that it appears Japan has a higher character limit by default because I sure am getting really long replies from people without checkmarks 🤣

Japanese manga artist Shiten Akiyama tried to do something unusual, he translated his own manga HORIZON into English and uploaded it online for free so fans outside Japan could finally read it. But that move backfired. His publisher stepped in and forced him to take everything down, since they control the rights and weren’t okay with him releasing it internationally on his own. The sad part? He wasn’t doing it for profit, he was trying to reach a global audience and keep his series alive. Recently, he opened up on Twitter, saying his work isn’t selling well and that he can barely afford cheap coffee, asking fans for help. Maybe this is a reminder that international fans aren’t as bad as some people make them out to be. And then the internet stepped in. Fans from all over the world flooded his Ko-fi with donations, pushing him close to his goal in just a few hours.

@misago917 @Mashiro_yuh I am just explaining the perspective. I do not think you are a rapist. 🤷‍♂️ Both countries have their problems. I just mean, when a Japanese person pirates something from America, nobody compared them to that. So it is upsetting

@ManlyBats @Mashiro_yuh でも君の国にも強姦犯罪者や小児性愛者はいるじゃん エプスタイン島とか凄かったよね でも私はどっちも違うし、どっちも興味ないわ どうでもいいや 著作権違法なんとかしたいわ

仮に 「性犯罪なら過去にしょっちゅうやってたよ。今はやってないけど」 って言われたら怒るでしょ？ 日本人にとって海賊版使用のカミングアウトはそれくらいの激怒ポイントだってことだ、というポストをしたらまあ来るわ来るわ文句が。 一番多いのが「この性犯罪者野郎！」みたいなの。あのさあ、たとえ話を出した奴が何で「性犯罪者はいいことだと言ってる」になるのよ。 じゃあミステリ作家は全員殺人犯で逮捕しろよ。 どうやら「絶対に許せない性犯罪者」と「海賊版使用」と同列に並べたのが激怒ポイントみたい。 「性犯罪者が絶対に許せない」のは日本人だって同じだよ。もし身内にされたら警察に逮捕されても私はその犯人を八つ裂きにするよ。 「性犯罪と同じくらい海賊版が許せない」と言ってる。 どうも海外の人は 「性犯罪を海賊版と同じ程度の軽い犯罪だと日本人は考えてる」 という恐ろしい解釈をひねり出しているらしい。 逆だよ！ 「性犯罪が絶対に許せない」のと同じくらいに海賊版は許せないと言ってるだけのこと。 どうやら例え天変地異が起ころうが何しようが絶対に 「海賊版使用は大したことじゃない」 ってのは揺るがないみたいだね。だから性犯罪と並べられると激怒するんだよ。 これに関しては少なくとも即時の相互理解は難しいのかもしれんね。これくらい犯罪に対する意識が違うと。 x.com/Mashiro_yuh/st…

@misago917 @Mashiro_yuh In America we have our own problems with harassment. But I think when the Tokyo Metropolitan Police did that survey many years back and found so many women were running into gropers, but Japan has a low crime rate, it feels like it is low because lack of action against them

@misago917 @Mashiro_yuh For example: a lot of American fans were unhappy that Nobuhiro Watsuki got a light sentence. It's hard because what he did was not illegal for many years. And it is controversial when women-only train cars exist because it seems like they would rather do that than arrest perverts

@Hito_no_tamashi @momiji_manjyuu It's subtle! They are or were synonyms for a long time. "Otaku" was seen as old fashioned or nerdy, like "Japanimation" instead of "anime." But now younger fans when they mean "anime specific" sometimes use "otaku" because "weeb" usually includes many non-anime things

@ManlyBats @momiji_manjyuu I didn't know there was such distinction; I thought these were synonyms (Note: I'm not Japanese, I'm also Western)

今の自称日本人オタクの90%くらいは一般人だな。一般人がアニメ好きだったりするだけに過ぎない。ファッションでオタクを名乗ってるだけ。そんな気色悪い豚に迎合するくらいなら俺は割れ厨の犯罪者と呼ばれた方がマシだな

Дорогие Американцы, я очень сильно прошу прощения за то, что считала вас глупыми, ведясь на мемы про чизбургеры, вашу готовку и незнание географии. Я и не могла подумать, что реально глупыми являетесь не вы, а японцы, наяривающие на корпорации. Мне очень жаль, я раскаиваюсь

We’ve received over ¥900,000 in support from overseas fans. Look at this. No matter how much people argue or divide,everyone still loves manga. That feeling is the same everywhere. And it was proven not by corporations,but by individual fans—through their own love and respect. (This amount is far greater than what I’ve earned from my manga volume.) Now then… what kind of coffee should I go get?

@snic_ethnic Model building is interesting. I have a friend who bought many models directly from Japan before the trade War. This is not my area of expertise, but I'm assuming Gunpla it doesn't matter as much to use imports if you don't speak Japanese

@ManlyBats 結果的に貴方はその作品に関しては客になれたのだろう。他の作品の作者は実に哀れだ。何の価値も分からない愚か者に盗み見られたのだから。実に悲しい。人がどれだけそれにつぎ込めるかは人によるだろう。だからつぎ込んだ先で大切にするんだ。ちなみに僕は趣味の模型で部屋が埋まってしまったよ

「海賊版のおかげで好きになって広めたりグッズ買ってる」っていうアピールよく見るけど、「じゃあ好きにならなかった作品勝手にタダ読みした対価はどこに行ってるの？」ってのはあるよね。

@Uru_ru05 @koge_dobo Yes. And I can calculate the lack of difference between someone in Japan seeing it on TV and forwarding me a copy of an episode. Asking me about revenue split on broadcasts is what we call a "non-seuqitur" here

@ManlyBats @koge_dobo テレビの収入の仕組みをご存知ですか？ CMを出している会社が、スポンサーとしてお金をテレビ会社に払っているのです。いわば広告費です。

@higureshuuen What if the One Piece is just hard drive with every anime and manga ever made and you get to decide to keep it or share it with the world?

ワンピースは海賊だから海賊版で無料で読んで何が悪い。 って外国からコメントきてた。 …。 もう、大喜利大会なの？

@snic_ethnic How much do you spend on anime? I'll bet it's less than me, who first saw anime pirated 🤣 Call me "piece of shit" like you know anything

@ManlyBats そもそもの話、この議論の発端は、"海賊版を利用する人々は正規品を買えるなら買う。だから海賊版を利用する人を批判するのはおかしい。"という話から始まっている。そこで、"海賊版を利用しても買わない者もいる。"その場合はどうするかという話だ。貴方はその存在を肯定したな。黙ってろクソ野郎が。

@FlydayMonday @PUTTYgagaga @phre I am familiar with some unusual video games where controversy caused them to be canceled in America. You're right that exposure can lead to more criticism, but I think this already happens because of international journalism. So it would be nice if there was a positive for fans

@ManlyBats @PUTTYgagaga @phre 日本語版のみを展開するなら多くは問題にならないでしょう 他言語版を公開すると世論や他国の政府から行われる抗議を日本側が受ける事になります(過去に国内限定の製品について海外から抗議を受けた事例があります) 表現規制が行われた場合公式版であっても利用しない人が多いだろうと感じました

There's only one point I don't get regarding this discussion. Why are people asking Japan to translate manga in their languages? They're not the ones supposed to do that. 😅

@TowMemo Many in Japan do not understand that they hold a peculiar place where they have an entire branch of media that isn't distributed normally but a lot of international people want 🤷‍♂️ It doesn't make much sense in the home market, because you can walk down the street and buy it

I'd like to give a rough breakdown of how money is distributed among the various stakeholders in Japan's publishing industry. This is a broad overview, and of course the specifics will differ depending on individual contracts. I should also note that this is based on what I've personally heard and observed, and there are limits to that. There may be discrepancies with what others have seen. As a general baseline, authors receive 10% of the final retail price as royalties. Retailers — that is, bookstores — take roughly 20%, and distributors take around 10%. This can vary by a few percentage points depending on the contract. Whether 10% for the author is considered a lot or a little is a matter of opinion. Based on the figures above, publishers end up with the remainder — somewhere between 65% and 70% — which looks like a large share on the surface. However, it's important to keep in mind that publishers bear the costs of editing, design, illustration (if applicable), printing and binding, and inventory storage. While there are voices saying that the author's 10% is too little, given that publishers shoulder the bulk of the costs and the risk of poor sales, their share is generally considered reasonably justified. For e-books, the royalty rate for authors is higher. It varies depending on the distribution platform and the contract, but based on the examples I'm aware of, it's around 35%. My understanding is that this larger share reflects the absence of inventory risk and printing/binding costs. Taking this into account, there is a reasonable argument to be made that royalty rates could be raised for works that go through multiple print runs — though this would only apply on the premise that the official release had sold extremely well. Returning to physical books: if a 700-yen book is printed in a run of 10,000 copies, the author's share comes to 700,000 yen. Japan's publishing industry is currently in a significant slump. For a new IP that isn't part of an established series, an initial print run of 10,000 copies is actually considered fortunate. The vast majority of Japanese authors earn at this level or below. As a result, most authors are not full-time writers — they hold other jobs as well. I understand that some may argue that the situation described above reflects a failure of integrity on the part of publishers, but as noted, given that publishers take on the bulk of the costs and the risks, it's not so simple to just say "raise the royalty rate." In this environment, the idea of "using piracy to damage large publishers and thereby support the author" cannot work. This is because piracy reduces sales of the official release. Poor sales figures are taken as a direct measure of an author's market value. The author's next book will either be printed in far smaller numbers, or may not be published at all. Unfortunately, the theory that "piracy contributes to promoting a work and boosts sales" does not apply to the vast majority of authors working in Japan. This is the background behind why the Japanese side strongly maintains that "piracy fundamentally does not benefit the author." The Japanese side understands this situation — consciously or unconsciously — and that is why they appeal to people to support authors by purchasing their work. I've heard that Japan once had fierce debate between those who defended piracy and those who opposed it — though I didn't witness this directly. However, the pro-piracy position gradually lost ground and is no longer argued loudly, at least not publicly. I see this as correlated with the publishing industry having been hit by a major slump from which it has yet to recover. My understanding is that when books were selling extremely well, there was some margin for tolerance — but that is no longer the case. There is a fear that if book sales decline any further, the very environment in which beloved works can be brought into the world will be lost. I'd like people to understand that Japan's publishing industry is in a critical state. As a side note, there are cases where publishers purchase the rights from an author outright rather than paying royalties. In such cases, the author's compensation is fixed at the point of purchase, and no royalties follow. However, I believe this arrangement is rare for works that go on to be released internationally. Addendum: In Japan, authors generally hold extremely strong, full-scope copyright. Publishers cannot change so much as a single character of the text without the author's consent. This means that authors are able to withdraw their work from a publisher and have it published elsewhere. There are in fact a number of real-world examples of this. In practice, contracts often stipulate that "the publisher holds exclusive publishing rights for approximately two to three years," and in most cases these rights renew automatically unless the author formally notifies the publisher in writing that they wish to terminate. So if an author becomes dissatisfied with their publisher, they can wait at most two to three years and then reclaim the publishing rights. In terms of rights, authors hold an extremely strong position relative to publishers, and in most cases a conflict with an author results in damage to the publisher. Declining sales are one consequence, but the public nature of a rights withdrawal — and the reputational damage that comes with it — is not something to be taken lightly either. Regarding Shueisha's Shonen Jump specifically, I have heard that authors sign contracts prohibiting them from publishing work with other companies — though this is second-hand information and may not be accurate. That said, it's worth bearing in mind that being published in Shonen Jump very often brings enormous financial benefit to an author. Creators of Jump manga occupy, with very high probability, the top tier of the publishing world. Furthermore, based on reasonable inference, such contracts are presumably time-limited and should be terminable once an appropriate period has elapsed. One more addendum. It's important to understand the structure by which publishers are able to take on the challenge of releasing works that may or may not sell, precisely because they have megahits that serve as their cash cows. The reason a publisher can release a work with a small initial print run may well be that they have other works generating money like a printing press. Inflicting deliberate damage on a megahit could narrow the survival environment for works that "most people may not need, but which are desperately important to me." The Japanese side is, half-consciously, operating with this background in mind.

@2Bxyr I think reading manga in a shop before buying, watching an episode before buying, or seeing a pirate copy online and telling a company i want to buy it please bring it here--all that is pretty similar. How much do you spend on anime?

@ManlyBats テレビアニメと海賊版漫画を同じと考えてるなら会話にならないから議論に首突っ込まない方がいいよ それともそのアニメも違法サイトで見たやつかな？

I apologize if there are any typos.

@FlydayMonday @PUTTYgagaga @phre For some people in countries with restrictions, having a Japanese site do it would remove this problem. In America we do have some who complain that the English misrepresents certain phrases or ideas. In other countries though censorship might be bigger

@ManlyBats @PUTTYgagaga @phre 国によっては表現規制があり国が制限する表現や世論が好ましく無いと感じる翻訳や表現があります 公式版をリリースする時企業が国政に介入するわけにはいかないので当然規制後の作品となります それは恐らくこの話題で発言している人の望む作品にはならないと考えますがこの問題はどう考えますか？