A manga box subscription based on reading level!

Japanese Language Reading
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I just had this service come up in my Facebook feed, and figured it may be beneficial to some people that may not know about it.

Choose your reading level and set up a subscription. 4 manga every month for only $30

Obvious pitfalls of this is that you’ll have to effectively read one manga volume a week, or stagger your boxes to be more spaced out if you’re not an avid reader, and they also don’t provide any English translations or grammar info like the Yotsubato reading pack does, but it’s still a decent way to get a variety of exposure from different sources based on your Japanese ability.

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That’s a decent idea. How super mainstream the proposed titles are kind of discourages me from subscribing though, improving your reading is fine but I would also expect such service to make me discover stuff not so well known abroad and not translated in every single language.

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Yeah, but presumably that’s just for marketing?

I think it looks really cool but that’s way too many per month for me! Especially as you’re never gonna get followup volumes (though you might get multiple from one series in one box), so if you find one you like you’re gonna want to buy more volumes yourself.

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Seems like an unnecessary step to get your manga :man_shrugging: …

Why don’t just buy whatever you’re into. There’re lots of places to try some pages and see what level it might be (https://wakarukana.com/ for example). There’s amazon for starters to buy directly… and also some services that let you send stuff in the luggage of actual people traveling, in case you want to get closer to those 2nd hand prices you see in amazon, but won’t do for international shipping.
Though probably nothing will be as cheap as going to BookOFF in Japan and buying those 100 yen a piece volumes they’re probably selling in the boxes. :sweat_smile:

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I have gotten a few of these and they do send continuations of stuff you’ve gotten previously every now and then. (Of course, that also has some downsides, like not knowing if they’ll send you the remaining volumes at some point, and the possibility of ending up with two of the same volume if you do buy it yourself).

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Ah, I see - I was looking at the FAQs and it didn’t seem like that would be the case. That would be good but yeah, you still don’t have any input over that.

It feels like it would be a cool way of discovering new manga, but because they send so many each month it’s too overwhelming. Maybe you could just cancel it after one month and just do it once a year or something :stuck_out_tongue:

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and also some services that let you send stuff in the luggage of actual people traveling

:open_mouth: whaat ? really ? would you mind giving some links, it sounds really interesting !

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Haha I was afraid that you’d have no time for learning Japanese now that you dedicate 23 hours a day to solve the jiddle.

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I found about these kind of services while visiting family for hollidays. the one they used is restricted to Chile and Peru. But a quick search brought up this one.

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I think the cost of traveling to Japan might negate the savings a bit. :stuck_out_tongue:

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This does look interesting - I sometimes find myself staring at the shelves upon shelves of Japanese manga in my local Kinokuniya wondering what I should get. I’m not sure I need any particularly assistance in filling my already-full shelves with more books, though…

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:man_shrugging:

I’m just sharing it 'cause I thought it looked like it could be useful to some people, especially those that really don’t know where to start but want to practice reading. I’m not gonna defend the product, or even use it for that matter, that’s for you to decide, if you have a preference use that instead :slight_smile:

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I have no time for either now I’m back in work :sob: reviews take up a good chunk of my free time, waahhhh

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I love the idea, but the risk of getting duplicates are so high!

*checks *

Examples they show on front page:

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I own ALL of these :rofl:
All volumes of all these series =P

I guess it works for some, but if you can’t list all the mangas you own then you will end up with so many duplicates =P

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Yeah, I don’t think it’s a service for those who already have extensive collections :stuck_out_tongue:

You could always try to sell on any duplicates, but success may be variable and it’s extra effort!

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Sorry if it came out as a direct comment on you :slightly_smiling_face:.
I actually meant for anyone currently it’s easy enough already to search recommendations, even graded according to level… and then searching the delivery service that can bring those products the cheapest way is also something that it’s improving too.

I think if BookOff were to ship overseas… that would be it. :hugs:

Maybe to me it just feels weird the whole mistery box approach :sweat_smile: . But then, maybe this guys have great taste and recommend awsome stuff in a very tailored manner to their customers too.:man_shrugging:

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You can message them and tell them what you already own and they won’t send you duplicates! The couple who run it are really easy to communicate with .

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If it was for me it would be for probably a two year old level! :rofl:

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I signed up for this box because I’m looking to expand my manga collection and start reading more frequently. I’m not super picky about what I read either, so I like not having to put in the effort of selecting each manga xD

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Can you let us know what you get in your first box? :slightly_smiling_face:

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