Many of the "free manga reading sites on the Internet" are illegal sites that upload full-text manga without permission from the author or publisher and profit from advertising revenue.
The most talked-about of these sites is probably "Manga-mura" operated by "Hoshino Romi. Manga-mura," the leading pirate manga site, once had more than 90 million users and became a serious social problem.
This time, the We will explain what "Hoshino Romi" is, what the current situation is, and whether there are other pirate sites besides "Manga-mura" and "Hoshino Romi" in operation.
What is Hoshino Romi?
Hoshino Romi" is the name of the former operator of the illegal manga site "Mangamura," which was launched in 2016 and became a major topic of conversation among young people with low legal awareness because it is one of the leading "illegal manga sites," where many popular manga are collected across the board and can be read for free. In just a few years, it became one of the top pirate sites. In just a few years, it has grown to become the top piracy site and is now synonymous with "illegal comic sites" and well known to the public.
The number of users of Mangamura has skyrocketed since 2017, with up to 90 million users; in 2018, its illegality was highlighted by the House of Representatives Budget Committee, and the Japan Cartoonists Association also issued a statement urging people to stop using the pirate site. Needless to say, its influence is enormous.
Can Hoshino Romi be used as an illegal manga site now?
Mangamura was forced to shut down in 2019 after its developer and operator was arrested, only two years from the day it was established.
The manga site "Hoshino Romi" was one of the sites run (allegedly) by Mr. Hoshino, the operator of the original Mangamura, and was established as the legitimate "successor" illegal manga site to Mangamura.
However, its use was discontinued due to Mr. Hoshino's arrest, and the site was on the verge of closure. In addition to "Hoshino Romi," all other Mangamura successor sites have been shut down and rendered inaccessible.
Current Status of Hoshino Romi [as of November 2022].
Rumors are circulating that Hoshino Romi has been revived, but in fact, a look at the Hoshino Romi URL "hoshinoromi.org" circulating on social networking sites showed the following screen
It is now clear that the site has been completely shut down.
What caused Hoshinoromi to be closed?
Hoshinoromi, the successor to Mangamura, was one of the most well-known illegal websites that was shut down in 2018, and one of the most popular illegal websites with a large user base and a major blow to the publishing industry.
Mangamura was scheduled to be shut down in April 2018 after the publisher filed a complaint with an investigative agency. Nevertheless, Mangamura's operator, Romi Hoshino, opened a string of clone sites. Hoshino Romi, the manga site that claimed to be the operator of Manga Village, was one of the sites created at that time.
When Hoshino Romi was arrested in 2019, all of its successor sites were also shut down.
Since the operator has been arrested, it is unlikely that the site will be revived in the future.
Summary of illegal manga sites similar to Hoshino Romi
Manga Bank
Like Hoshino-Romi, Manga Bank is a website that illegally uploads manga. After Mangamura was shut down, it gained popularity as a successor site and attracted numerous users.
However, due to a disclosure request from Shueisha, the site was closed on November 4, 2021.
Although the original Manga BANK URL was closed, it seems to have been repeatedly revived by creating a clone site behind the scenes, and is now reborn as a site called 13DL.
They will be forced to close down after a while as regulations against illegal sites are tightened.
Manga Raw
Mangaraw is an illegal manga site that is still in operation; it was temporarily shut down in 2022, but was restored the next day.
Rumor has it that the site is now being let go because its illegal activities were discovered by the authorities.
If you use MangaLou, you will likely be charged with a crime.
mangazip
The main feature of mangazip is that the manga data is uploaded in a ZIP file format and can be easily downloaded at any time. It is still in operation and accessible.
However, according to copyright law, unauthorized downloading of illegally uploaded manga is recognized as an illegal act.
Using Mangazip is a very high legal risk, so do not use it.
Sakuramannga
sakuraManga is another manga piracy site that has emerged as an alternative to Mangamura and Hoshino Romi.
Like Sen Manga, it is an overseas site, and most of the site design and notations are in English.
Those who have used the site have noted that it contains advertisements for Internet scams.
These are dangerous advertisements that, if accidentally clicked on, could result in infection with viruses or leakage of personal information.
Please be aware that these pirate sites are not only against the law, but are also a security concern, so please do not access them.
Sen mannga
Sen Manga is an illegal manga site that has been in operation since 2012, prior to Mangamura and Hoshi Lomi.
As a result of its long-term operation, it has caused serious damage to popular works such as "Kingdom" and "Blade of the Demon".
Since the site is operated overseas, the main notation is in Roman and English. However, there are many users in Japan as well.
Do not use these illegal sites, as you may be arrested if it is known that you are using them.
Using illegal manga sites like Hoshino Romi is dangerous!
Fear of virus infection and phishing scams.
If you use illegal sites such as pirate sites, you may be infected with a virus planted by the operators.
If you are infected with a virus while accessing a site, your personal information may be extracted or your device may be remotely controlled to commit fraud.
In addition, there are cases where money is demanded by stealing data recorded on mobile devices, so please do not access illegal comic sites.
In addition, if you receive a pop-up warning message or other warning message when accessing a website, it is likely to be a setup phishing scam.
If you inadvertently click on it and proceed to an external link, you may end up being infected with a virus.
Once infected with a virus or malicious program, it is also possible to send spam e-mail to contacts other than yourself that you have saved.
Stop visiting illegal sites to avoid causing trouble not only to yourself but also to others.
Danger of Virtual Currency Mining being Ported
Pirate sites also run the risk of introducing illegal virtual currency mining procedures to your mobile device with programs that run in the background.
Mining is a mechanism for obtaining virtual currency by using the memory and other resources of a mobile terminal to perform enormous calculations.
While not illegal per se, unauthorized use of another company's terminal is a criminal act.
Users are unaware that they are mining, but the battery drains unusually fast. If used for mining for a long period of time, the mobile terminal may suffer irreparable damage.
In general, please do not use illegal sites.
There is a risk of personal information leakage.
Using illegal sites may lead to the leakage of personal information, such as visit history and e-mail addresses.
There is also a risk that some illegal sites may steal your credit card information.
Before Mangamura was shut down, an ad-free website called Mangamura Pro was released.
Mangamura Pro was a subscription-based service that allowed users to read as many manga as they wanted for 500 yen per month.
The site was allegedly designed to extract credit card and personal information.
No one has been a victim of theft, but if Manga Village had not been shut down, it is highly likely that it would have been stolen.
Illegal sites currently in operation may be using the same technique.
Alternative and Successor Legitimate Sites to Hoshino Romi
U-NEXT｜All-genre service where you can enjoy manga, movies, and dramas all at once
U-NEXT offers not only comics, but also movies, dramas, magazines, and other medeia content in general.
When you join U-NEXT as a member, you can enjoy all contents as much as you want in one fell swoop.
The monthly fee is rather expensive at 2,189 yen (including tax), but you can always get coupons and campaigns, making the overall cost performance high.
There are many magazines and video works that are not available on "Hoshino Romi," and they are safe and legal to use. It is considered to be a great service as a successor site.
Moreover, there is a 30-day free trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time without incurring any fees.
FOD Premium｜Unlimited reading of manga and magazines as well as Fuji Television videos
FOD Premium is operated by Fuji Television Network, so you can use it as a safe alternative to Hoshino Romi.
When you subscribe to FOD Premium, you can watch a variety of Fuji Television-produced videos as much as you want. In addition to videos, you can also read as many magazines as you want.
In addition, the FOD Premium service also allows you to purchase manga for a fee. Manga is not unlimited reading, but the unique redemption system allows you to save money.
Hikari TV Book｜Available immediately even if you do not have a Hikari TV subscription
Hikari TV Book is a legally compliant manga site operated by NTT DoCoMo, a well-known telecommunications company.
Like Hoshino Romi, there is nothing illegal about it, and you can use it safely and securely without worrying about your device becoming infected with a virus.
The service is available to everyone, including those who do not subscribe to Hikari TV, and those who have a docomo d-account can use the service immediately.
The service offers more than 840,000 titles, including popular and trending manga.
Download videos from the video distribution service to your PC with software.
Clearly, if you subscribe to a video distribution service, you can connect to the Internet and watch videos anytime, anywhere, so why can't you do that? Then, when you are not connected to the Internet, you can download the videos and watch them.
Do you want to download videos from the three video streaming platforms that I mentioned earlier as alternative platforms for "Hoshino Romi"? You can use the [ FlixPal downloader] on this page.
In fact, FlixPal is compatible with a wide variety of distribution services; believe it or not, FlixPal is compatible with more than 1000 of the world's most popular video distribution services.
NETFLIX, Prime Video, hulu, tver, U-NEXT, FOD, ABEMA, NHK PLUS, and many more. downloading videos from free anime sites such as Anitube, b9Anime, 9Anime, etc. is also easy.
Want to read more?
How can I watch [Stagecrowd] live? Summary explanation of advantages and disadvantages of Stagecrowd