Lately, if you have been feeling, man, I keep getting spoiled way more than usual about my favorite manga; trust me, you are not alone! If you have been closely observing, there has been a big blowup of the spoiler and leak culture in the animanga community in recent times. With the Jujutsu Kaisen series soaring high in popularity, the growth of manga leaks became unstoppable. Now that the JJK manga has officially ended, it’s high time we put an end to the egregious leak and spoiler culture.
Note: This post includes minor spoilers for some of the leaked manga like JJK, Chainsaw Man, HxH, and others. You’ve been warned.
First of All, What is the Manga Leak Culture?
Many of you here may have been a victim of the spoiler/leak culture but may not completely know how it works. So, let me explain it to you in simple terms. This isn’t something that was born out of the blue as you can trace its roots all the way back to the Dragon Ball era. So yeah, the leak culture has existed for a long time but its growth exploded lately with social media’s boom.
Many leakers, scanlators, and others have sources either inside production or distribution units in Japan. So, the leakers essentially get key information from an insider or from distributors who get the physical copies earlier than the official release. So, they get details about an upcoming chapter ahead of release and proceed to leak it to social media platforms. These spoilers first arrive as text summaries, followed by raw scans of manga panels.
Next, the scanlators work on the raw panels to transform them into high-quality chapters with fan translations. These chapters are then shared on social platforms again ahead of the official chapter’s release. All these forms of manga leaks are primarily shared on X, Reddit, and Discord platforms and then they make their way to even Facebook and other platforms.
How Leak Culture Ruins the Fun for the Animanga Community?
The indomitable rise of anime and manga’s popularity directly increased demand among fans to learn more about their favorite series before the official chapters arrived. At the end of the day, it was about who gets to learn everything first. Back then, fans preferred to read spoilers, and scans were minimal and the spoilers stayed inside their bubble for the most part.
However, in recent times, there has been an outburst of spoilers that were leaked on almost every platform we use day-to-day. The leak culture got so worse to the extent that a fan who hadn’t seen a series would be exposed to the latest happenings in that story. A great example of this case would be Jujutsu Kaisen where not only manga fans, but also anime-only and people who don’t even watch JJK, learned about Gojo’s death.
So, if you are wondering about the motive behind these leaks, it could be attributed to many reasons. It could be clout-chasers or someone who wants to spoil the fun for everyone. What used to be a small movement evolved into a much larger phenomenon that started to ruin the fun for every animanga fan who just wanted to experience their favorite anime and manga comfortably without spoilers.
The Tremendous Fan-Following of Leakers
Are you still on the fence about the leaks not being as terrible? Let me walk you through this with solid proof. Earlier this year, analytics company Similarweb shared a list of popular X accounts with the highest traffic. You can see the popular content creators across various fields, but what caught our eye was that JJK leaker (@Go_Jover) was ranked 5th in this list, as you can see below:
It’s crazy that a leaker’s account gained immense traction more than the current president of the USA and the most popular content creator on the planet right now. This is a testament to how the leak culture has grown substantially.
So, How Can We Abolish the Leak Culture in the Community?
As stated earlier, the leak culture has existed for a long time but expanded greatly in the current era. While a few people in the community like to read spoilers, most tend to read first because they don’t wish to be spoiled by someone else. Even if you quit social media to avoid manga spoilers, the leak culture these days makes sure the spoilers spread like wildfire. Thus, you are bound to accidentally see it somewhere else or hear it from your friend.
So, how can we make the spoiler/leak culture disappear from the internet? There are a few ways to do so. The first way is to completely go with the digital editions (for example, Chainsaw Man) and it will automatically subside the leak sources. But this process could be a trip down the wrong road as it will incapacitate the physical manga sales and traditions in Japan, which has a long history.
The officials have been taking legal action against these leakers. Nevertheless, a new leaker keeps popping up, and it seems like there is no way to put a full stop to them.
But what if I tell you that there is one solid solution to crumble this incessant culture? It is in the hands of the fans and the community to achieve it. Let me explain how through the fantastic movements that have been taking place in multiple manga communities below.
Manga Fans Taking a Stand Against Leaks & Spoilers
As the Jujutsu Kaisen manga came to a close last year, many of the leakers decided to go for leaking Kagurabachi, the next big thing in Shonen. But the Bachi Bros (Kagurabachi fans) community came together to take a stand against the leakers. This was totally unexpected and many fans continued to oppose the leaks for their favorite new manga. Eventually, they made the leaker give up.
Recently, Kei Urana, the author of Gachiakuta, also addressed this issue in a tweet. She expressed her gratitude towards the fans who are opposing and putting an end to the leaks. She remarked that all the creator wants is to see the fans pick up their manga and read it officially on manga apps and websites or using physical copies instead of opting for leaks or replicas.
There is another great example of this movement led by Hunter x Hunter fans. In case you missed it, HxH manga officially came back in Weekly Shonen Jump after a long hiatus. So, after they gave up on Kagurabachi, the leakers turned their attention to Togashi’s work.
As a result, Chapter 401 was leaked by them before the official release. This event triggered the HxH community who have been waiting for a new chapter for a long time. In the end, they raised their voice against the leakers and made them back off from their favorite manga.
I Hope the Leak Culture Ends Now That Jujutsu Kaisen Has
So, let’s be real, as manga and anime fans, we are all fed up with the leak culture. What used to be a nice thing has evolved into a never-ending tradition that continues to spoil the fun of reading manga and watching anime for everyone. If someone’s okay with getting spoiled, then that’s fine as it’s their wish. But the problem arises when this culture gets shoved into every fan’s life.
In my opinion, the rest of the manga communities should learn from the fans of Kagurabachi, HxH, and Gachiakuta, and take a stand for their favorite series. The community can pull the plug on leak culture successfully by drawing a fine line and making the leakers retreat.
While the spoilers will be spread on other platforms like Discord, they won’t dare share it on public platforms. As a result, not a single fan has to worry about spoilers ever again and can perfectly enjoy and get the experience as the author intends to. As a publication that covers anime and manga series regularly, Beebom does not condone this behavior, and you will never see spoilers and leaks on our website ahead of the official chapter release.
With that said, what are your thoughts on putting an end to the leak culture that has been gnawing the fans? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
