The mangaka doubled down on finding ways to make her manga more accessible to foreign fans.
Kei Urana, who is known as the creator of the wildly popular shonen manga Gachiakuta, has come out on X (formerly Twitter) to address the ongoing controversy of manga piracy.
The situation came to a head when just a few days prior, a fan asked Urana in a now deleted post if reading Gachiakuta through a fan community discord server is “an official way, even though it's free?”. Urana stressed that it was illegal.
What did Kei Urana say about manga piracy?
In a lengthy post written in English, Urana started out their statement by establishing that they have spent “the past few days” researching the financial situations and circumstances of different countries.
They also said that they understood that prices can be “higher overseas”, and because of this, pirate sites are “the only way they can read manga.”
However, for Urana, this does not warrant not speaking up. “…if we do not speak up now, the value of Japanese manga and creative works, built through the sacrifices and relentless efforts of those who came before us, will be wasted.”
Urana disagrees with the idea of “reading for free doesn't hurt sales.” They point out that “free lowers the values of things.” and that once people “grow used to getting something for free” then they stop looking for legal sources to access legitimate versions of a work. Although they also acknowledge that other people who “truly love” the work will support it “properly.”
We pour ourselves into creating so readers can enjoy our work. Compensation matters, of course, but more than anything, I do not want to see its value diminished.
What is Kei Urana planning to do to address piracy of Gachiakuta?
Urana revealed that they have discussed with a certain Ando, who is likely their editor, in finding ways to help people who “cannot afford to buy [it], enjoy these works”. Although details cannot fully be shared yet, Urana says that they are working together with Ando, and exploring many ideas.
Urana stressed that “publishers are making effort as well.”
Urana then apologised that a solution is taking time. They also implore fans to stop hurling accusations of racism, and saying “misguided things” like “piracy is free promotion for you.”
Urana ends their statement by reiterating that they are “doing everything we can so everyone can enjoy manga.” They also ask fans to “please try to understand our perspective and our culture as well.”
What is Gachiakuta?
Gachiakuta is a dark fantasy action shonen manga written and illustrated by Kei Urana. Kodansha officially describes the story as:
A young boy is framed for murder and cast off the edge of a floating city into the abyss, where he grapples with the monsters that the elite high above would rather forget. The more the rich glitter, the higher the price paid by the poor...
Where can I read Gachiakuta?
You can read the series on Kodansha’s KManga platform.