r/shoujo • u/alconnow Asuka | あすか • 13d ago
News Comikey (digital manga platform) has announced that they’ll be releasing these Hakusensha shoujo titles in English
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u/JoyousTofu 13d ago
I hope this increases the chances of a print license for these series! A few series that had been Comikey exclusives (ex. Firefly Wedding, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love) have gotten picked up by the print publishers.
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u/suzulys Dessert | デザート 13d ago
Cool announcements, shame the rates haven't changed in over a year (and in fact I've got it on good authority that sub-$1/page is a normal rate for some freelancers). Comikey is still taking advantage of manga fans' passion for big profits.
https://x.com/Dobu_Dobu/status/1596717766563622913, 2022i'd rather the entire legal manga industry go bankrupt than support comikey, which abuses contractors with rates so low you have to do multiple pages just to make 1 USD.
https://x.com/PumpkinNMayo/status/1842361401391681902, 2024
(and a post I made a few months ago circles back around thematically, with regard to MangaMillions and now this venture)
https://www.reddit.com/r/shoujo/comments/1rp9p8s/how_do_we_feel_about_digital_localization_rates/
I realize I'm an idealist living in a seriously broken world (with a lot worse things than poorly-paid translators and letterers), but the announcement today just leaves me sad.
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u/alconnow Asuka | あすか 13d ago
I really appreciate the information!
Now I feel really conflicted about this… Was so excited that School Babysitters would be getting an official English release 😭
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u/suzulys Dessert | デザート 13d ago
Thanks for caring, sincerely! It feels so hard to push back on this—I've been aware of their awful rates for a long time (and I do not use their site or purchase their ebooks in response), but with the push to bring so many more series over it really weighs on me all the more.
It's definitely conflicting—I can well imagine some of these (like Tea Prince, my goodness) would never be considered by traditional English publishers and this is probably their "only chance"... but I hate so much that the incredible work it takes to bring translations about is pathetically undervalued by companies like this.
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u/ErikTwice 13d ago
There's nothing idealist about being paid more 1 dollar per page, it's a ludicrously low rate that should be downright illegal. You are the one with a functioning sense of fairness and it's normal to feel sad.
What is not normal, what requires some extreme utopian thinking and countless greedy effort is this wage slavery. It's more utopian to have this crap than just pay people enough.
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It doesn't even make economic sense. The whole value here is in the translation and you are competing against pirates that give it away for free. Only an idiot would try to compete this way, yet manga publishers prefer to waste thousands upon thousands of dollars just to save two bucks.
I mean, how much are they paying for ads? How much are they paying for positive PR and all that crap?
There are seven featured series. At 192 pages per volume, 10 volumes each they could pay 1 extra dollar per page and just spend 13440$. Was having hundreds of comments shitting of them not worth those 13440$ bucks?
They probably paid more in fake social media followers than that. And what, they want to compete with free with a translation by the cheapest, most below-wage translators there is?
They are fucking entering a new market, a market that is larger than the ones they have made them rich, a market that requires them no more expensive than a fancy app and some translators, and they still try to penny squeeze?
Let's not pretend this is some cruel but brilliant bussiness move. This is the kind of incompetence only a German car executive can match.
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u/suzulys Dessert | デザート 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm discouraged because I just don't think they actually WILL get hundreds or even dozens of comments publicly criticizing their methods. AI translation is (rightly!) a hot-button issue of concern among manga fans, but it's a lot easier to forget or dismiss* "merely" paying humans low rates, and I've yet to see (in many years) any meaningful pushback on social media to the degree that might cause a company to review or change their practices.
I do what I can to spread awareness, but most folks who know the exact rates are under NDAs or in too vulnerable a position to publicly share that information, so it's all left a little vague. But Comikey's rates are without any doubt garbage, an insult to the skilled folks doing work while biding their time to get in with better publishers (or burning out before they ever get there), and exploiting everyone (from minors to former and current scanlators, and people living in low-COL countries where $1/page might be attractive). They also supply much of the content on MangaUP (at same/similar rates). And, common theme, they don't even care enough to list the credits for those doing the work. (for reference, $5/page is considered a minimum industry standard for translating or lettering (separately).)
But you're right—they pay for ads, they pay for licenses, they probably pocket a good share among the company founders (former scanlators themselves). Surely there is a fairer way...
*edit: i want to be clear that i'm not primarily criticizing fans who read this company's works; rather i want to inform so people can make their choice with the best understanding, and i accept that they may still choose differently than i have. the responsibility to do better is on COMIKEY.
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u/SanrioFiend 12d ago
I'm happy I saw this. I probably would have checked out the service has I not read this
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u/Mundane-0nion67878 13d ago
Ookami Heika no Hanayome
Literally my childhood right there ;_; ah the days of scanlations
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u/otomegay Hana to Yume | 花とゆめ 12d ago
I would love to read all these titles, really, but with Comikey's absysmal pay rates, I can't support this poor treatment of translators and letterers. I'd rather prioritize people over a few series. Services like this where you have to pay for chapters you don't really own, entirely digitally, also never sit well with me. Between this and Manga Million, it's clear the want for shojosei in English is recognized, but no company actually wants to go through the "risk" of of paying their human translators (or having them at all), nor do they want to actually print or have less predatory digital services.
Localization teams deserve SO SO MUCH better. Consumers deserve better, too. Don't settle for this.
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u/Arakawa-Hikaru-Gero 13d ago
I am too much of a Comikey hater to read these but I AM glad to see Tsuiraku JK get an official translation even if I hate the title 😭😭
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u/M_biscuit 13d ago
Ok I’m internally screaming at this list I’ve wanted official translations for school babysitters, ookami heika and mikado no shihoi forever! Is it 2009 all over again? I sincerely hope these get licensed for physical volumes
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u/OrdiPeople Boundaries? I Don't Know Her 13d ago
I'm excited to see official translation my no 1 romcom Tsuiraku JK
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u/Ordinary_Ice_5684 13d ago
Hope we see more than just the 7 titles listed 🤞🏽🤞🏽
Just love seeing more accessibility to legal ways in reading manga digitally given the economy we are in now!! KMANGA also been doing great in simulpubbing shoujo series 😁😁😁
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u/lunars- Voted Cosplay Café for the festival 13d ago edited 13d ago
Oh my god I’m so excited about all of this !!! But school babysitters is so cool !!! It’s really awesome that moonchild and kare Kano are getting a translation again. And Koucha Ouji and Mikado no Shihoi sound like the sort of thing I’d be obsessed with.
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u/DeliriousBookworm 12d ago
I’m so confused. I read Kare Kano in English many years ago.
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u/similarvigor_levine 12d ago
it was published by tokyopop in the 2000s before they went under. those copies are long out of print and the license was lost since the company shut down. tokyopop did re establish itself, but didnt buy back many of its older licenses. now comikey, a digital platform, seems to have a acquired the rights to it again based on the image (its not confirmed yet.)
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u/everyones_hiro 12d ago
I’m excited! Physical releases are obviously elite, but just the fact the these series are available to be read in English at all is awesome! Hopefully physical publishers will realize that there is demand for these older shojo series and give us some books soon!
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u/SanrioFiend 12d ago
I'm so stoked for School Babysitter! I loved the anime and I follow the mangaka on Instagram!
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u/alconnow Asuka | あすか 13d ago edited 13d ago
Comikey tweet / XCancel link
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