Legal, Digital Young Animal? There's an App for That

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
For a long time now, I've tried to champion the legal, digital distribution of Berserk. I think that could be a real game changer.

Well, I was surprised to learn that it already exists: http://www.hakusensha-e.net/

yanguanimaru.png


Right now, you can download the latest Young Animal (ヤングアニマル) through Hakusensha's website for about 300 yen, which equates to $3—far better than the $15 I've been paying since Gigantomakhia.

Why this is awesome: You legitimize your episodic Berserk consumption. For $3. Also, unlike just taking scans for free, your $3 investment will get you all the other stuff the magazine offers, including those elusive Miura comments which no one seems to care about except for us. And because it's not sourced on the toilet-paper quality material the magazine is traditionally printed on, it's the highest image quality we'll see until it's printed in the collected volume.

bookinbox1.png


The site is clunky and confusing as hell, since all pages and the purchase details are in Japanese, but I managed it, and I don't have much proficiency with the language at all. The key is just to have a Google Translate tab open as you browse, and when you run into some text you don't recognize, just copy and paste it in there. Step by step, you'll get there.

I can help walk anyone through the process if they're having trouble. Here are the basic steps. Keep in mind the vast majority of these steps are for a _first time_ setup. After that, you'll just download each issue as you like.

1) Attempt to purchase the Young Animal. It will prompt you for a login.
2) Create a login using an email, nickname, password and secret question. The secret question answer has to be in hiragana, which can be tricky. For that, you can just browse Amazon.co.jp for a bit and grab some plain text. Paste that in there, and keep it safe somewhere on your hard drive.
3) Select the credit card option and input your credit card info.
4) After validating the purchase (I got an email from my bank saying they detected a foreign transaction at this point), you'll be prompted to download their reader, which I believe is called Book in box. After you've downloaded the client, unzip it and run the .msi file in the folder (if you're on Windows, not sure what the process is for Mac). That will install the program, which you can access through Program Files.
5) Within the app, you'll be prompted to login using the above details you've just created.
6) After about 10-20 seconds, it will automatically begin downloading your latest purchase. It took some time on my connection, about 5-10 minutes. After that you just double click the issue, and can begin reading. Keep in mind that in traditional Japanese fashion, it opens at the "end" and you will scroll to the left for each subsequent page.

bookinbox2.png


The kicker is... Hakusensha waits a full week before putting the latest issue online, thereby kneecapping any competitive edge they might be fostering in the battle against piracy. But it's still the biggest leap forward we've had.
 
Thanks , I love the idea, pity I'd have to learn japanese for that.
Here in Brazil, digital editions generally run for even higher the price of printed matter... For no reason at all.
If only Darkhorse would offer an english translation
 
Sankari said:
Thanks , I love the idea, pity I'd have to learn japanese for that.
Here in Brazil, digital editions generally run for even higher the price of printed matter... For no reason at all.
If only Darkhorse would offer an english translation
Yes, a simulcast English translation like what Viz is doing with Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha would be nice.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
This is great! I've been wanting to purchase episodically. I've never felt buying the volumes was enough, though I have very minimal Japanese (I don't even remember all of the katakana anymore :sad:), so this is very daunting, but I'm definitely interested in trying to get this to work.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Nice! Thanks for posting that, Walter! I'm downloading the book-in-the-box software right now.

EDIT: I was able to download the software and log-in successfully, but my purchase isn't showing up. I'll tinker with it some more and see what I can do.

EDIT: I had to click the download link in IE, instead of using Google Chrome. My copy of YA is downloading now. Thanks again, Walter!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Rhombaad said:
EDIT: I was able to download the software and log-in successfully, but my purchase isn't showing up. I'll tinker with it some more and see what I can do.

You shouldn't have to, but you could try to initiate the download first by going to the magazine on the website and clicking one of the two buttons (should say DL on it), it'll take you to a screen that basically gives you two options, one to download the software, and one to initiate the download of the magazine (through the software).
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Walter said:
You shouldn't have to, but you could try to initiate the download first by going to the magazine on the website and clicking one of the two buttons (should say DL on it), it'll take you to a screen that basically gives you two options, one to download the software, and one to initiate the download of the magazine (through the software).

That's what I ended up doing, but I had to use IE for some reason, instead of Google Chrome (which I had been using).
 
Hitoshura said:
Yes, a simulcast English translation like what Viz is doing with Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha would be nice.

That's the dream. It's closer to being possible then it was a year or so ago. Someday... :beast:
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
This is fantastic! :isidro: Having to wait the extra week is really a shame, though. What perceived advantage would they even have in doing that?

Regardless, we'll be making use of this. It sure beats having to explain the piles and piles of Japanese bikini-girl magazines I have sitting in my parents' closet. :farnese:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Grail said:
This is fantastic! :isidro: Having to wait the extra week is really a shame, though. What perceived advantage would they even have in doing that?

No good reason. Typical Japanese business logic. They don't want to undercut their print business I would assume. This is probably them dipping their toes in the waters of a digital marketplace. But the release date thing is hard to get around. And does seem utterly stupid.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Walter said:
No good reason. Typical Japanese business logic. They don't want to undercut their print business I would assume. This is probably them dipping their toes in the waters of a digital marketplace. But the release date thing is hard to get around. And does seem utterly stupid.

They might change the release date wait time in the future (even a day after the magazine goes on sale wouldn't be that bad) if they notice it's affecting profits.
 

Mammon

Mangoku army
Hopefully they do, I was pumped reading Walter's OP until I read that it was released one week after.... seriously, it sucks.
I'm all for supporting Miura, hell I event bought the last 2 movies of the trilogy last week (I had bought the 1st one when it came out), even though I hate the movies, just as a gesture of support (buying the manga is not the same thing, it's pure pleasure) and for collection purposes.

But for the moment screw that... if I was speaking perfect Japanese, I would stick to the printed issues.

They are really giving free ground (if that even make sense :farnese: ) to the scan/scanlation community. If that's the counter-move these brainiacs are planning against piracy, they are asking for it. This is what we were doing when we got pirated, tell us we asking for it! :void:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Sankari said:
Thanks , I love the idea, pity I'd have to learn japanese for that.
Mammon said:
I'm all for supporting Miura, hell I event bought the last 2 movies of the trilogy last week (I had bought the 1st one when it came out), even though I hate the movies, just as a gesture of support (buying the manga is not the same thing, it's pure pleasure) and for collection purposes. But for the moment screw that... if I was speaking perfect Japanese, I would stick to the printed issues.

I understand that it can feel like a waste to pay for something that you can't even read, but I think we shouldn't lose sight of why one would buy Young Animal in the first place: to show support for Berserk and Miura. As long as someone gets to enjoy the episodes as they come out, they're profiting from the prepublication. It doesn't matter how they get the episode, they're still getting it, and so in all fairness they should pay for it.

Buying merchandise is cool and all, but the core business is the manga, and Young Animal is a big part of that. At $3 a pop, given the release schedule these days it's not even $25 a year in total, and it's a way to show the YA management that we support Berserk specifically. And they'll know, since the issues with Berserk will see a surge in numbers compared to the rest.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Aazealh said:
At $3 a pop, given the release schedule these days it's not even $25 a year in total, and it's a way to show the YA management that we support Berserk specifically.

Hear, hear. Let's not let inconvenience stand in the way of supporting the series we love, now that it's more affordable than ever.

This is a landmark moment for those of us who have paid 5x the cover price of a Young Animal for years, due to the costs of international shipping, and the markup of bookstores and importers. It's $3 instead of $15. I paid $200 for a 6-month subscription (minimum purchase order) just to get Gigantomakhia in print. That could have been $18. Also, unless you have a bookstore near you, you wouldn't be getting the issue shipped to you until the Tuesday after the release, and with a week-long delay on these digital releases, it comes out Thursday in the US (Friday in Japan). So that's a difference of two days.

I also don't think this whole "week later" nonsense will stand forever.
 
It's totally fair. And to get good quality material through an official release is also a way of supporting Berserk and showing a distinct western/SK.net presence within the fanbase.

That being said, the whole process remains pretty unclear to me. And that's a big issue for everyone. A tutorial pinned down on the site and the forum would be relevant I think.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
ryOtoha said:
That being said, the whole process remains pretty unclear to me. And that's a big issue for everyone. A tutorial pinned down on the site and the forum would be relevant I think.

Good point. I actually wrote that tutorial from memory. I could certainly do something a little more in-depth, maybe even a video walkthrough or something on YouTube. I know those kinds of things have helped me navigate confusing issues in the past.

Let me think of something.
 
Walter said:
a video walkthrough or something on YouTube. I know those kinds of things have helped me navigate confusing issues in the past.

In my opinion, it would be natural, less complicated for people (and for you to make) a comprehensive walkthrough to read at their own pace instead of play/pause/back a video.
Eventually you could make one if needed :void:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
ryOtoha said:
In my opinion, it would be natural, less complicated for people (and for you to make) a comprehensive walkthrough to read at their own pace instead of play/pause/back a video.
Eventually you could make one if needed :void:

What, you don't want to hear my dulcet tones? I actually think a video would be the least complicated way to do it. Since I'd be walking through the steps as they happen on screen. But we'll see. Thanks for the input!
 
This is pretty awesome news, thanks for breaking it down for us Walter. I'd be down to purchasing episodes and support Berserk in this new digital format in addition to the physical. I'll still try to purchase YA issues if I have the means to do so. This's certainly a good thing for people who don't have access to stores that can sell YA to them and it's a cheaper option (no shipping costs/ subscription costs).

Regardless of which method you use, a walk through would be extremely helpful! My vote goes for a video walk-through ^_^.
 
Walter said:
What, you don't want to hear my dulcet tones?

I'm sure people already told you that you have a radio voice :carcus:

Walter said:
I actually think a video would be the least complicated way to do it. Since I'd be walking through the steps as they happen on screen. But we'll see.

Makes sense.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Walter said:
This is a landmark moment for those of us who have paid 5x the cover price of a Young Animal for years, due to the costs of international shipping, and the markup of bookstores and importers. It's $3 instead of $15. [...] I also don't think this whole "week later" nonsense will stand forever.

Indeed. I think it's important to understand that by it's by supporting this effort on Hakusensha's part that we'll encourage them to invest more into this technology and to give it a bigger place in their business model.

ryOtoha said:
That being said, the whole process remains pretty unclear to me. And that's a big issue for everyone. A tutorial pinned down on the site and the forum would be relevant I think.

Here's your walkthrough.
 
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