When you read scanlations, are you getting the full One Piece story? Jammer and Zach take an in depth look at the history and present-day issues over the illicit publication of One Piece chapters.

This article contains some spoilers for the most recent One Piece chapters and some strong language. This is a collaborative article written by Editor-in-Chief, and editorial writer Joseph “Jammer” Medina and One Piece Podcast host Zach Logan.

I. Introduction

We’re all guilty of reading scanlations at some point in our lives. I definitely have. Chances are, if you’re a One Piece or manga fan in general, you probably have as well. Many of you likely continue to read scanlations on a weekly basis even to this day. What readers may not know is that these scans provide a product that is both inferior to the official release, and actively hurt the authors, assistants, and editors of the series you love. One Piece would not exist today if not for those who support the official release of the material. For One Piece, VIZ has provided simultaneous releases for Weekly Shonen Jump in English since 2013 across the Anglosphere.

Despite the great strides the manga industry has made to keep up with the Japanese releases, there are still many fans who are simply unaware of the official versions. While scanlations may be free and available, we want to take this opportunity to let readers know how scanlations can negatively affect the creators, those who enjoy the series legally, and those who work on the manga. But more importantly, we also want to let you know reading these scans can negatively affect your One Piece experience.

We understand that those abroad may have no legal alternatives, but the quality of scans still affect your experience.

II. The Adventures of Monkey The Luffy

Scanlations of One Piece have been around since just about the beginning of the series itself. At one time they arguably served a function to provide the newest One Piece material to individuals around the world where there was no access to the series. Despite the possible merits at the time, scanlations were, and remain, pirated material. They served the same functions as filesharing websites and torrents.

In the past, both scans and official releases had major issues. The official releases often employed the use of “pirate-speak” or used the lingo adopted by the ill-received 4Kids One Piece dub. Meanwhile, scanlations seemed to make up their own lingo entirely, for example, they named characters like Bartholomew Kuma “Bisoromi Bear Sama” and Donquixote Doflamingo “Tanjiahdo Loflamingo Sama.”

The scanlations of One Piece in the mid-2000s provides a great example of non-native English speakers stealing the Japanese source material and repurposing them with no regard. The scans speak for themselves.

The scanlations of the past may seem ridiculous today, now that we know the official spellings from author Eiichiro Oda himself, but scanlators still take the same leap of faith they did back then. When scanlators translate a name, they can only guess and hope it’s correct. Conversely, the names of people, attacks, places, and so forth in the official release all come from, or are approved by, Shueisha and/or Oda.

In the last decade, the One Piece official release has gotten new editors and a new translator. The English Weekly Shonen Jump now boasts the most well-regarded translator in One Piece history. Stephen Paul, the current translator, has translated One Piece on his own for just about as long as he’s been a fan. His translations have been touted by Japanese speakers and dedicated anime fans alike as the most faithful and well-written adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s source material.

III. Faithfulness to the Source Material

So it’s clear that scanlations have not always been the most reliable means of consuming One Piece. From messed-up names, to skewed meanings, and language escalation, it’s always been a problem in manga fandom. Sure, the scanlators likely have their hearts in the right place — providing a service that is otherwise unavailable to some folks — but all the same, it does provide a bit of a disservice to the fans’ experience.

There is very little quality control in the scanlation process, and given that scanlators aren’t paid for their work, many tend to project their own feelings, opinions, and humor onto the page. These inaccuracies are often eaten up by fans as faithful translations because, let’s face it, we can’t all speak Japanese. We don’t know any better than to trust what is on the page. As readers, we tend to gravitate to what we hear or see first.

Here are a few ways in which fans have been misled by scanlations.

Language Escalation

I can’t necessarily speak first-hand as to why scanlators add certain “flourishes” to their work. Perhaps a translator is not fluent enough in the English language — or One Piece — to know that a character in the series probably would not say “are you fucking shitting me?” Maybe they aren’t fluent enough to know that there are other non-expletive ways to get your point across.

It could even be for the same reason the official release of One Piece used pirate lingo: marketability.

Maybe it is to avoid the perception that others look down on their anime or manga hobby as inferior or childish. Throw in a couple of f-bombs, and all of a sudden, it feels like we’re dealing with adult stuff, right?

I personally don’t believe that, but even if you did, there is no denying that One Piece is a manga that is meant for pre-teen and teenage boys. As such, there is no way an abundance of four-letter words would be allowed by an editor, or an author for that matter. In bringing this language to One Piece, the scanlators give readers a false interpretation of the world Oda has created.

Unnecessary Japanese Words

Scanlations and fansubs have also managed to proliferate the use of untranslated Japanese words. Here is a list of words that have English equivalents. You may still hear these used by fans, or in scanlations or fansubs.

Shichibukai – Seven Warlords

Yonkou – Four Emperors

Nakama – Friend/Comrade/Crewmate

Gorousei – The Five Elder Stars

Despite the fact that these words or phrases translate cleanly into English, scanlators have opted not to translate them, resulting in a generation of fans who ardently believe that anyone calling the Shichibukai the “Seven Warlords” is wrong. The most egregious of all of these non-translations is the word “nakama” which does not have some sort of untranslatable, higher meaning. In the image above, Luffy can still say “I still have my crew” or “I still have my friends” and it doesn’t lose any meaning.

Translators of these series try to ascribe greater meaning to words in Japanese, and it may be because they sound “cool” or “foreign” or “unique,” but Oda and other authors had not meant for those phrases to sound “unique.” When translators don’t do their job and translate the material, it robs fans from the experience they were intended to have.

Random Additions

The lack of quality control has a wide-variety of implications. A specific translator may think that a joke will read better in a certain way, and therefore, on his or her own, decides to change it on a whim. With nothing in place to stop the scanlator, these additions often slip through, and become solidified as canon in the reader’s minds.

Below is an example from One Piece Chapter 801, but is not unique to just that chapter. Here we have a scanlator adding a bit of “flavor” to the text.

Is it funny? Sure. I’ll admit I laughed at it. It’s not inherently terrible. But is it what Oda wrote? No. And while on the surface, this is an incredibly minor change, it definitely changes how we look at Law’s character. Rather than being an aloof guy who doesn’t care what anybody thinks, he comes across as a condescending wise-ass. Again, not a huge deal, but it is endemic of a larger problem. The more this kind of “addition” is allowed, the more it distorts the characters in the series.

The Translation Process

The goal of any translation or adaptation is not just to literally transliterate what’s being said, but to adapt the language to evoke the same emotional response in foreign readers as it did in native readers. This includes adapting expressions or sayings in such a way that your average non-native person can not only understand, but can also relate to what is happening in the story.

Oftentimes, what we see in scanlations are literal translations of the text. Without the proper cultural context, these translations mean absolutely nothing to readers. I know personally, I would just scan over those parts and hope I could understand what was happening based on the context of the visuals. But even then it’s a crapshoot, and if the translator decides to make bold assumptions as to what Oda may be alluding to, the chances are great that they’ll miss the mark completely, as they have no connection to Oda or Shueisha.

To top it all off, scanlations often have spelling errors, grammatical errors, and a lack of oversight. While these groups definitely take pride in the work they do, at the end of the day, these scanlation sites are racing against each other to put their product out first, quality be damned. Whoever comes out first is very likely the one who can secure the most traffic and ad revenue on a pirated product.

IV. Art Quality

Art quality is a tricky topic to tackle. Even in Japan, the Weekly Shonen Jump issue is printed on garbage paper (literally — it’s printed on pulp), and it’s from these garbage papers that scans are pulled and touched up by scanlators.

Luckily, the folks over at VIZ have access to the scanned raw files from the original source. Once they receive these files, they are then touched up, given quality translations, typesetting, and editing. Here are a couple side-by-side panels of a couple of scanlation sites right next to the VIZ edition. It honestly speaks for itself.

As you can see in the above examples, the official release offers increased clarity and a more dynamic gray scale. With the VIZ release, we get a much better look at the details Oda and his assistants put so much work into drawing.

If you’re one of those people who love to pore over each page in search of the most minute details, the official release is your best option, as it is scanned directly from the source (i.e., Oda’s original drawing), and is completely devoid of the newsprint noise that plagues the Japanese scans. In short, the official digital releases are far superior to even the official print releases in Japan.

To top it all off, scanlators tend to plaster their watermarks all over the pages in an effort to own work that isn’t theirs to begin with.

VI. Ruining the Experience for Others

It’s well established that official releases include better translations, a better quality presentation of the material, and a faithful adaptation. With all of this taken into consideration, many decide to follow the official release. There is still one issue that makes it difficult for scanlation readers and legal readers to live side-by-side, and it all revolves around the release date.

Often, the misunderstanding about release dates is not a product of ill-will, but instead a product of ignorance of what actually happens. A chapter that comes out on Thursday in a scanlation, does not come out officially until Monday. Many would call this a “delayed” release, when in fact, in Japan the official release does not officially arrive until Monday as well. Shonen Jump in the Anglosphere and Japan arrive simultaneously, or near-simultaneously.

So after all of this you may think, “so what? I want my One Piece fix, and I want it as soon as I can get it.” Trust me, you’re in good company. However, when you indulge in this compulsion to get your fix, you risk ruining the experience of opening that chapter for the first time for others. Just because you may have read the latest chapter of One Piece on a Thursday, does not mean every other person on the Internet has the same desire to do so.

As we have outlined, there are many, many downsides to reading scanlations. Therefore, many people try and avoid them and patiently wait for the official release. It’s the equivalent to stealing a low-quality version of a movie before it comes out and promptly talking about it online for everyone to see. Even if 70% of the people on the Internet are doing that, it doesn’t make it right to the 30% who decided to wait to see the movie in a theater and get the full experience when they first see it.

You may choose to read scans, or may not have the option to read an official release, but in doing so, keep in mind that many may not read the chapter until Monday.

VII. How to Move to a Brighter Future

We understand that not every country has access to legal translations, and if you happen to live in one of these said countries, do what you can to contact your local manga distributors. These companies are usually rather small, and go to great lengths to keep their consumers happy. If enough folks let them know that One Piece is a series that’s in demand, then they’d be foolish to ignore it.

Many manga readers with access to legal manga do not understand that they hurt the manga industry as a whole when they decide to read scanlations. Even fewer people who read scanlations understand that they are getting a significantly inferior product that often does not represent the true intentions of the author.

All in all, scanlation websites ask for monetary compensation, rely on questionable advertisers, and ultimately provide an illegal and inferior product. Everything we presented here will hopefully bring light to how scanlations harm those that work on the series you love. They harm those who try to bring it to you legally in your country and harm those that try and enjoy it legally. At the very least, scanlations provide an inferior experience that ultimately takes away from the enjoyment of the story as it was intended by the author.

We want to help improve your experience, so we are going to give away four free subscriptions to Weekly Shonen Jump. If you live in the anglosphere and have never subscribed to Weekly Shonen Jump, now’s your chance! Enter below:

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