An extensive guide to read English licensed BL manga/manhua/manhwa legally, using platforms that I've tried and still using to this day: Renta!, Manga Planet (Futekiya), INKR, DLsite, JuNe, and SuBLime.
This post is for y'all fellow fujodanshi who wants to support official release (the English version) but doesn't know how or where to start. I've been there, then I thought why not share my personal "research" and comparisons so that anyone who found this post don't have to. Ahead to choose which platform(s) suit you best.
The Legal Services
These are the legal online BL manga services I have tried by far. Some of them are also publishers. Basically, reading on these platforms support and compensate creators and publishers, as opposed to reading fan-translations.
I won't go to such length describing their services individually, they each have an informative "About" page. Some of these websites may publish the same mangas, which means creators have decided to work with more than one online services. All of them offer free previews, some are gracious enough to give one chapter free (usually chapter 1-2).
Honorable mentions that I check once in a blue moon but haven't made any transactions:
*) only accessible to some region (gear up VPN or find other ways)
Comparison
Obviously not apple-to-apple, I purely describe it from my point of view and experience as a user as per November 2023. I use no benchmark for quantifiable stats (for example, for website load speed.. it's purely subjective).
Translations and Lettering Quality (Ranked)
I'm not a professional who works in manga industry. I am not qualified to give any snobbish translation quality reviews because it won't do any justice for the translators and letterers anyway. There's something you can only tell by reading it (try peeking the preview pages on each website).
The only thing I can use to somehow gauge the translation and lettering quality is solely based on my 18 years experience of reading manga, with 8 years reading English-translated ones—instinct-based readability.
- SuBLime and JuNe (on par) — the high quality is understandable considering they're also a publishing house
- MangaPlanet
- Renta!
- INKR
- DLsite — lots of doujinshis are under different freelance translator(s) and they don't bother cleaning sound effects
If number 2-5 are publishing the same titles/sourced from the same publisher, then it's practically the same quality.
Image Quality (Ranked)
- SuBLime and JuNe (on par)
- DLsite* — every title could be different, but usually used as raw sources so some are of really good quality
- Renta! — have options to control image quality for faster load
- MangaPlanet
- INKR — it blurs a little but noticeable when zoomed
Price Range
- Renta!
- 100 points = 1 USD
- 1 chapter = 100 - 150 points = 1 - 1.5 USD
- MangaPlanet
- 1 point = 0.01 USD
- 1 chapter = 89 - 164 points = 0.9 - 1.64 USD
- INKR
- 32 coins = 2 USD
- 1 chapter = 3 - 16 coins = 0.2 - 1 USD
- 3 - 5 coins per chapter is usually for webtoons
- DLsite
- 1 chapter = 0.7 - 1.54 USD
- A whole lot of chapters (maybe 50% of licensed titles) are 1 USD/chapter
- The cheapest
JuNe and SuBLime publish in volumes, which has similar range everywhere else, depends on the title/popularity (7 - 14 USD).
How to Pick Your Platform
1. If you want to own copies and keep it for yourself, not depending on platforms
- Definitely check SuBLime and JuNe first. Even if the titles are available in Amazon or Google Play Book, because owning PDFs/ePUBs directly are awesome yo.
- DLsite for the stellar amount of doujinshis. It's quite the happiness for non-Japanese speaker like me who also don't have access to go to Comiket/similar events.
2. If you are a voracious BL reader who wants to read casually of whatever available
- I highly recommend MangaPlanet. They even have weekly subscription (it's called MangaPlanet Pass). Weekly! Of only 2 USD/week. Pretty much binge as much as you can on that one week. They also have titles that are on rental/purchase status in Renta!, but available for subscriber in MangaPlanet. The non-BL libraries are also growing quite rapidly.
- If you like more format and genre variations, INKR has a lot of webtoons as well and wider general manga collection (the non-BL ones). And if you're patience enough to collect "inks" and diligently convert it to coins, you can read for free.
3. If you have one particular title that you want to read, and it requires you to pay per chapter
- Compare price list
- If price range doesn't matter, then of course, please use whichever platform is the most convenient for you
- In terms of paid contents (must rent/buy), Renta! has a LOT of titles not available in anywhere else yet
4. But if you're like me, who likes to make things difficult for yourself
- SuBLime: -
- JuNe: -
- DLsite: -
- Renta!: available
- MangaPlanet: available for buying per volumes
- INKR: available via coins — I'll choose this cause it has discounts for bulk purchases
Example 2: I wanted to read An Impossible Marriage (freakin' cute, I recommend!)
- SuBLime: -
- JuNe: -
- DLsite: -
- Renta!: available — therefore I purchased
- MangaPlanet: -
- INKR: -
Example 3: I wanted to read What to do with a Bad-mannered Bodyguard
- SuBLime: -
- JuNe: -
- DLsite: available
- Renta!: available
- MangaPlanet: available via subscription — with no hesitation I chose this
- INKR: available via coins
There are exclusive titles on SuBLime (Links, for example) and JuNe (Deadlock, for example) that I have to own, so I pretty much utilize all of the services mentioned, depends on the situation.
Nevertheless, Manga Planet is my champion for binge-reading.
Honorable Mention for BL Webtoons
Honestly, Lezhin is still a single big player in the BL webtoon market by far. Sure, there are the legal and free online reading service like Kakao, Tapas, TappyToon, and Naver/LINE Webtoons, but Lezhin arguably has all the best remarkable BL (due to Playstore regulation, NSFW is only accessible on website and/or a separate app). It's costly, yes, but it has everything:
- Direct support to creators
- Mobile app is responsive
- HQ image
- Website is rather easy to navigate
- Superb translation and lettering
- Easy payment (credit card, PayPal)
- If one's extremely patient enough to collect bonus points, one can read for free
So, there you have it folks. I tried to keep it simple and straightforward, I hope it doesn't cause further confusion but rather shed light, even if just a little. Please support official release when you can 🌻
P.S.
I am not compensated for endorsement by any means by the websites or services mentioned in this post. I could care less about that. I just wanted to spread loooove (◡ ᴗ ◡)ﾉ♡
Happy reading!
Comments
Post a Comment