It's all fun and games until you feel the repercussions.
Summary:
Leaks steal attention from official releases.
They usually are lower quality and happen not only in manga but in different types of media.
The weekly-released manga is short-lived.
Leaks may dull your perception of manga and severely affect your enjoyment.
So, let's suppose that there's a manga series that is released weekly, say, on Friday. And there's an account that posts photos of the original manga two days before the official release and adds some translation in the notes. People are hyped, and the hashtag of the chapter is trending on various social media platforms, but by the time the official release comes, it all goes silent. Sometimes the only news that surrounds the official release of the chapter is the ones dunking on the translation.
Is it actually worth it?
With the leaks, people substitute the clean and at least somehow polished translation with angled and sometimes blurry images with huge watermarks that ruin the art just because it's available a few days earlier. Is this enjoyable?
Now, don't get us wrong: leaks existed way before Jujutsu Kaisen and they are known in all media formats. You probably remember the leaked version of your favorite albums just a few days before the release, or the huge uproar that was caused by the leak of the final Harry Potter book. But there's a difference, and it's about the way we consume these things.
A manga chapter, especially with a weekly release schedule, is something that most of us will probably read only once. We won't forget its existence, the information will be safely stored in our heads, but we won't get back to it unless we need to find some proof for our words in a heated discussion.
The music, however, is something that you will definitely listen to more than once. That leaked album can become a staple in your playlist during these days before the official release and fuel your passion. A short manga chapter doesn't have enough time to become special to you until you get a new dose of leaks. If nothing exceptional happens, that is.
Read and forget
One of the most famous leakable manga currently is Jujutsu Kaisen, and there are people who read it only through leaks — they don't care about the art, they don't particularly care about the specifics and details of the story, they just follow this weekly dose of hyped-up serotonin, indulge in it for an hour, and then forget about it if it didn't have any memeable panels.
And it's not because Jujutsu Kaisen manga is forgettable: it's full of twists, sometimes questionable, but still, it's full of interesting events and sophisticated world-building. Yet leaks don't really allow people to get deep into that. They feel like fast food, something that you digest in a hurry and then go your way.
It feels like the people who are most harmed by leaks are the readers themselves — or, rather, their perception of this work and their enjoyment.
It's all fun and games until you feel the repercussions.
Summary:
Leaks steal attention from official releases.
They usually are lower quality and happen not only in manga but in different types of media.
The weekly-released manga is short-lived.
Leaks may dull your perception of manga and severely affect your enjoyment.
So, let's suppose that there's a manga series that is released weekly, say, on Friday. And there's an account that posts photos of the original manga two days before the official release and adds some translation in the notes. People are hyped, and the hashtag of the chapter is trending on various social media platforms, but by the time the official release comes, it all goes silent. Sometimes the only news that surrounds the official release of the chapter is the ones dunking on the translation.
Is it actually worth it?
With the leaks, people substitute the clean and at least somehow polished translation with angled and sometimes blurry images with huge watermarks that ruin the art just because it's available a few days earlier. Is this enjoyable?
Now, don't get us wrong: leaks existed way before Jujutsu Kaisen and they are known in all media formats. You probably remember the leaked version of your favorite albums just a few days before the release, or the huge uproar that was caused by the leak of the final Harry Potter book. But there's a difference, and it's about the way we consume these things.
A manga chapter, especially with a weekly release schedule, is something that most of us will probably read only once. We won't forget its existence, the information will be safely stored in our heads, but we won't get back to it unless we need to find some proof for our words in a heated discussion.
The music, however, is something that you will definitely listen to more than once. That leaked album can become a staple in your playlist during these days before the official release and fuel your passion. A short manga chapter doesn't have enough time to become special to you until you get a new dose of leaks. If nothing exceptional happens, that is.
Read and forget
One of the most famous leakable manga currently is Jujutsu Kaisen, and there are people who read it only through leaks — they don't care about the art, they don't particularly care about the specifics and details of the story, they just follow this weekly dose of hyped-up serotonin, indulge in it for an hour, and then forget about it if it didn't have any memeable panels.
And it's not because Jujutsu Kaisen manga is forgettable: it's full of twists, sometimes questionable, but still, it's full of interesting events and sophisticated world-building. Yet leaks don't really allow people to get deep into that. They feel like fast food, something that you digest in a hurry and then go your way.
It feels like the people who are most harmed by leaks are the readers themselves — or, rather, their perception of this work and their enjoyment.
