Friday, July 23, 2010

One Manga shuts down

"There is an end to everything, to good things as well."

It pains me to announce that this is the last week of manga reading on One Manga (!!). Manga publishers have recently changed their stance on manga scanlations and made it clear that they no longer approve of it. We have decided to abide by their wishes, and remove all manga content (regardless of licensing status) from the site. The removal of content will happen gradually (so you can at least finish some of the outstanding reading you have), but we expect all content to be gone by early next week (RIP OM July '10).

So what next? We're not really sure at this point, but we have some ideas we would like to try out. Until then, the One Manga forums will remain active and we encourage all of you to continue using them. OMF has developed into a great community and it would be a shame to see that disappear..

This message will pop up when you first visit OneManga.com today. In just a matter of minutes my online friends shared this surprising news: OneManga will now stop publishing free manga scanlations. This is due to the Japanese and US manga publishers' advise that they will file lawsuits against sites that offer free scanlation of their works. [more info here]

Due to this, OM is one of the biggest scanlation websites that voluntarily stopped operations. One Manga, we're sad to see you go. I'm afraid the other sites are next. But when we look at it on the manga makers' side, they do have the right to act on their declining sales due to these free scanlations sites.

I'm really sad about this though. Here in my country, it's hard to have access to actual mangas. If you do find one it's either too expensive or outdated. The next possible way is to order mangas online, which is both hard and expensive. Unfortunately for many of us, we can't afford it.

So I guess we will need to say goodbye to Fairy Tail and other good mangas soon =(

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Eiga Sai 2010

The Japan Foundation Manila has posted the screening schedule for this year's Eiga Sai (Japanese Film Festival)  in celebration of the Philippines–Japan Friendship Month (July 2010) . More info from their website:
Now on its 12th year, “Eigasai,” which literally means ‘film festival’, aims to bolster further the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan by continuously providing an opportunity for Filipinos to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Japanese arts and culture explored in this medium. This year’s offering brings together eight contemporary films and 2 anime films in 35mm and DVD format. An invitational screening of Always Sunset on Third Street 2 (Always zoku San-chome no yuhi, 2007) by director Yamazaki Takashi will be held on July 1 (Thursday) at 7:00 p.m. at the Shangri-La Plaza Cinema 4, Edsa, Mandaluyong City.

Source: The Japan Foundation, Manila Official Website

Though I've always been interested, I have never attended this event, I hope I can go this year with my friends. :)

For the complete screening shedule, please visit: EIGA SAI 2010 Screening Shedule.