Aiko's Gazebo of Thoughts

When a work has 戦記 in its title I knew it'd be great (for me)
Related, "Youjo Senki" (The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl) is so boring I'm glad the official English version went with "Saga of Tanya the Evil", it slaps SO HARD and it's so memorable
To be more precise, "Youjo Senki" is such a boring and generic title that it can apply to other works too. Even to Mitsuba (she's also a little girl) lol
I think "Mitsuba Monogatari" can be "Mitsuba Senki" too but I guess "Senki" is a bit too common?? But "Monogatari" is common, too...then again despite the military themes, the author never used that in their titles
"Saga of Mitsuba the Evil" fits too actually, even better than Tanya I think lol
Mitsuba...(SPOILERS ALERT) Read moreit is her nature to crave blood, violence, and calamity. She's the true embodiment of "wants to watch the world burn" lolFold

Something is going on with Kakao Webtoon ID. Usually, there'd be events (give tickets or cash - the coin/point currency) for some webtoons running everyday. There were daily free gifts (free tickets) for select webtoons, too. And yet, for a few months now, they suddenly stopped coming. At some point, even "read the selected webtoons for free every 3 hours" vanished. On Monday, the updates even stopped coming. Obviously, this raised a lot of questions and even alarms. For a while now, people have been asking in the app and on Twitter, even mentioning the official Twitter account and asking about it under its replies. And yet, despite how active the official account is, no statement was ever given. We, the users/readers, were ghosted. Until today.

This morning, Kakao Webtoon ID official Twitter account FINALLY addressed the worries.

My thoughts:
Read more
Late cause I just saw this (the WEBCOMICFESS' tweet) orz. Yeah, it's been like a month+ since the last ticket gift and events too, it's worrying. Wouldn't be surprised if it closes soon honestly. 😢 But at least please communicate to us?? We've been asking for so long.

(Then FINALLY got a response lmao)

I'm glad we FINALLY got a response about it from the official Twitter account (which has been active except addressing this). But not gonna lie, I still feel suspicious. The answer to the rumored closure is pretty vague I think. I personally don't wanna get my hopes up too much. Gonna wait & see.

#manhwa #media_preservation #media_accessibilityFold

On Manga UP! starting a subscription option...
I think it's great to have subscription option to those who want it. As much as I despise subscription, it's ultimately better than the system of "buying in-app currencies to unlock each chapter" (which is also still done by other comic platforms) as it usually leads to higher cost in the long run. Though of course, subscription also costs a lot over time, and that's another can of worms. What made a lot of people despise in-app currencies is how it seems like the total price of renting (you don't even own it!) a comic is more expensive than buying the physical/digital volumes.

On the other side, subscription is still not helping the problem of accessibility and preservation of media. That said, the other option doesn't help with that, either. I think it's a complicated situation. I still think subscription is a win for consumers, especially when the publisher still offers traditional publishing (as Manga UP! owned by Square Enix does - there are even some old manga in Manga UP! that were originally released as volumes years ago), but it is a saddening fact how fleeting media is in today's world.

#media_preservation #manga #media_accessibility