In Russia, there is a growing interest in Asian comics, which has led to the development of piracy schemes in this segment. It has been reported “Kommersant” regarding book market participants and marketplaces.
Komilfo, a division of Eksmo-AST, emphasized that in February 2023, the demand for such publications increased by 200% year-on-year. Among the prominent positions of manga in the Shounen genre, there is growing popularity among the Chinese comics manhua and the Korean manhwa.
Yandex.Market also noted a growing interest in Asian comics. According to the marketplace, in the first quarter of 2023, its sales on the site increased 20 times on an annual basis.
The interlocutor of the publication emphasized that this interest has led to the development of piracy in this market segment. A newspaper source at one of the comics translation agencies claims that the participants in the piracy schemes independently imported copies of the publications into Russia or purchased digital copies over the Internet, after which they ordered a professional translation from the agency, and more often a ready-made translation. – Made by amateurs from specialized communities on the Internet. Later, Asian comics are printed in small numbers and sold under the guise of used goods through marketplaces or communities on social networks.
Previously, the first manga in Japanese industry history to be drawn entirely by the Midjourney neural network, registered On sale March 9th.
Source: Gazeta
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