Hey I’m looking for some reading materials, preferably manga, does anyone have some recommendation? Shipping from Japan is hella expensive so I am pretty much exclusive looking for things on the web.
ありがとうございます！
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Edit: By the way, I think it’s obvious, but both websites are perfectly legal (since they belong to their respective publishers)
Some labels, like comic newtype, allow you to read their (recent?) content online.
Another one I know is matogrosso http://matogrosso.jp/
There are also some self-publishing sites (I haven’t used one in a long time so I don’t have any example in mind). Be careful that the quality of the content is much more random on those.
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You could also try digital manga if you’re worried about shipping costs. http://amazon.jp sells digital manga, and http://bookwalker.jp is pretty popular as well.
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The original webcomic is available on the author’s website:
http://galaxyheavyblow.web.fc2.com/
Like with many webcomics that become manga, you’re basically paying for professional art and layout in a nicely packaged form. Totally worth it, IMO, since I’ve bought a few volumes, but the original has its own charm.
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If I’m not wrong Murata’s version is also a web comic that you can read for free on the website.
Yeah, it’s not legal. And from what I’ve heard from people using it, it’s not all that great either. Oh sure, it’s got translations, but they can occasionally be… iffy.
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I’ve fiddled around with amazon.jp and it looks like it needs a Japanese address. As for bookwalker.jp I’ll look into it. Thanks!
I’ve never heard of these two. I’ll be checking these out. Thanks!
For Amazon Japan you can just put in any Japanese address and it’ll work. Might need a VPN for a few purchases, but then it’s never needed again. It’s a hassle at first, but not a problem after a bit.
I really really really like bookwalker.
I’ve never had any problems using it overseas at all - I think if I remember right it might have required half-width alphanumeric characters (which you can put in with an IME) for entering some personal information when registering, but otherwise it takes non-Japanese credit cards, paypal and even google account cross-log-in just fine as far as I know, and doesn’t require anything Japan-exclusive.
The selection is extremely wide (I’m surprised when books aren’t on the site, not the reverse), there’s a lot of free stuff and sales, and the rewards and wishlist systems are dangerously addictive.
The only drawback to me is you can only read the stuff you buy in their browser app - so if you don’t have a tablet or want to read on the go, or don’t have a stable internet connection, it may be less convenient than other options.
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Pixiv Comics is also legitimate. Pixiv is an art sharing website and some original comics get picked up to be made into print comics. Most of them have a couple of initial chapters you can read.
Notably, おじさまと猫 and Way of the Househusband
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Me too
Although I’ve found the app to be a little buggy and the fact that you can’t directly copy text frustrates me to no end.
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I’m just glad it doesn’t block the windows snip tool. I try to always look things up on a separate device (my phone) anyway, so I didn’t notice the no-text-copying, but I really like being able to easily take a lot of screenshots.
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Do you have to actually download all the Bookwalker books, or can they just stay in your inventory via the website? With that many, I’m thinking of just downloading everything free on there and perusing it once I actually have time.
takes notes
I haven’t tried Bookwalker yet, but I’ll be sure to check it out! ^>^ Thanks for the tips! 
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I’m not sure about android/ios (I looked at their faq and it sounded like it might be different), but with Windows at least, I don’t think you can download them (in the sense of like, getting a file you can move around). You get a library, and you can access the books in your library through their browser app only. It’s a lot like Steam. I don’t know of a way (on Windows) to ‘preload’ if worried about download times or to read offline.
Free stuff you can just click a couple buttons and it’s added to your library, which is a lot of how mine has ballooned… I’m not very picky.
One thing to watch out for though is that most of the free stuff has the label 【期間限定 無料お試し版】- I believe these are a separate version of the book that disappears from your library after a time limit expires.
I try to avoid these because they clutter up the library and I’m never going to get around to reading them in time anyway, but they could be useful if you want to try something out on the spur of the moment.
Ones like this (picking a random one from the front ‘free’ page), on the other hand, are free to keep forever (or you know, until the platform collapses or they revoke your license to it anyway):
There’s no 期間限定 label, and the price is a temporary promotion, not the listing itself.
There’s definitely fewer of this latter type, but still a surprisingly large number.
It can be kind of a pain to sort through, but it’s definitely possible to enjoy trawling through and accumulating free stuff! There’s a thread somewhere around here where someone was posting free diamonds in the rough… I might post there from time to time when stuff stands out (right now, sadly, I would not describe it as a sales bonanza)
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Yeah the workaround is to use “search web” function through the dictionary and then copy the text from the search box.
The ones in my screenshot with the cloud icon aren’t downloaded. And your library doesn’t even have to show up on your bookshelf at all. So you can only download the ones you’re reading.
Like @rodan mentioned, the free ones are usually only available for a limited time. On the app, when that happens, tapping on it takes you to the store page.
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I’ve been watching way of the househusband on netflix. For a premise that sounds so boring, it’s actually kind of entertaining
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