Toshiba and Manganovel Take Manga Global in a New Way

[NatCh]

Thanks to grimo1re for the tip on this one!

"World’s First Interactive Japanese Manga Web Service Creates Community of 'Reader-Translators'"

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manganovel Corporation and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they will bring the universe of Japanese manga to the global market with the launch of “Manganovel,” an on-line service that allows readers not only to download and read manga in Japanese but to post and offer for sale their own translations of content. The service started beta testing in June this year, and is now officially ready to take manga characters to anime lovers around the world. The site can be accessed at: URL: https://www.manganovel.com.

Here's the nutshell version: Working together, Toshiba and MangaNovel (it looks to me like the one partly owns the other) have created an on-line distribution point for manga in Japanese. However, they've gone a step further allowing their readers to upload their own translations of the original for sale to others who don't read Japanese. A peer-rating system will give buyers an idea of how good the translations might be.

It's an interesting approach, apparently the reader translators are selling only their translated scripts, not copies of the manga itself. When someone purchases a volume of Manga, they have the option of purchasing a translation as well (if the translator charges for it), and the translator gets half of any proceeds from the purchase of their translation. It's not clear to me if the translation would be inserted into the manga images, or be a "subtitle" sort of approach.

There's also no comment on what, if any, role DRM will play in the process, nor could I find any mention of it in a quick browse of the site. They seem to have their own viewer software, so that might be complicated, but they do claim that the app will allow you to "read your favorite comics anywhere off or online."

Details:

The “Manganovel” Concept

1. Members buy Japanese version of comics for $4 to $5.

2. “Reader-translators” translate the comic to other languages.

3. The “reader translator” e-mails the “translation” to “Manganovel” and can price it at either free or 2 percent of the original comic price.

4. Readers can purchase the original Japanese comic and the translation data.

5. If a translation is purchased, the “reader-translator” gets 50% of the sale price as a royalty.

6. Readers who purchase translations can review them on “Manganovel’s” discussion board, and use reviews to select a translation of a comic from among multiple translations. The original “reader-translator” can also use the feedback from discussions to revise the text and try to improve it.

What do y'all think? Will this approach work? Will it take off like a rocket or crash and burn?

Or perhaps you're all off to Manganovel's site to download new manga?

Full Press Release ....... Manganovel's Site

[Nightwing]

That it interesting!

[nekokami]

The idea of letting readers sell their own translations is extremely cool. Unfortunately, it looks like yet another DRM scheme and custom client are involved:

“Manganovel’s” operating security will be guaranteed by “MQbic” (Multi-cubic), Toshiba’s proprietary digital copyright and rights management and protection technology (DRM: digital rights management).

(from the press release)

[Hadrien]

Well... There's already a fantastic community for both manga and anime translations. I don't think people will buy any of these.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by nekokami

The idea of letting readers sell their own translations is extremely cool. Unfortunately, it looks like yet another DRM scheme and custom client are involved:

(from the press release)

Ah, yes, I missed that in my perusal -- thanks, nekokami!