In a year when global digital piracy traffic has slightly declined, one surprising category is surging, and that ismanga. According to fresh data released by piracy analytics firm MUSO, visits to publishing-related pirate sites rose in 2024, withmanga making up the vast majorityof that growth. The U.S. is leading this spike, accounting for over 12% of global visits to publishing piracy websites, outpacing every other country.
While other media categories like music and film are seeing significant drops in piracy, according toTorrentFreak, manga tells a very different story.Despite ongoing lawsuits, takedown requests, and anti-piracy campaigns, the appeal of reading manga illegally online remains strong, especially among U.S. fanseager for the latest chapters the moment they drop in Japan.
Manga Drives a New Era of Publishing Piracy
While Film and Music Sink, Manga Piracy Surges Forward
While global pirate site visits dipped from 229 billion to 216 billion in 2024, traffic to publishing-related pirate sites bucked the trend by rising to 66.4 billion, which is a 4.3% increase.Over 70% of those visits were specifically tied to manga, highlighting its dominant role in this piracy resurgence. Traditional book piracy, by contrast, made up just a fraction of the activity.
This boom is not new. Over the past five years, publishing piracy has more than doubled, even as total pirate visits remained relatively stable.The core driver is a growing global hunger for manga, especially from Gen Z readers who often want instant access to the latest chapters, fan-translated and shared before official English versions are available.
The U.S. Tops the Charts in Manga Piracy, and the Problem
Fragmented Services Leave American Fans Turning to Pirate Sites
When broken down by country, theU.S. remains the biggest source of piracy traffic overall, and that trend continues in manga. MUSO’s report shows over 8 billion publishing piracy visits originated from the U.S. alone, followed by Indonesia, Russia, and Vietnam. Interestingly, Japan, manga’s birthplace, only ranked fifth, despite its cultural and publishing dominance.
The legal avenues for reading manga in English have improved in recent years, with platforms like Manga Plus, Shōnen Jump, and K Manga trying to close the gap. But fragmented availability, inconsistent release schedules, andpaywalls have left a gap that manga pirate sites are more than happy to fill. For many fans, especially younger ones, the unofficial route is faster, cheaper, and often better translated.
Legal options do exist, and continue to improve, but unless they can match the speed and accessibility of pirate alternatives, manga piracy in the U.S. is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
While the rising numbers may alarm publishers, MUSO argues that piracy often highlights consumer demands that legal markets fail to meet. Fans turn to pirate sites not only out of convenience, but because they are seeking content that is delayed, geo-locked, or behind confusing paywalls. Until the manga industry fully addresses these friction points, piracy will remain an attractive option. Legal options do exist, and continue to improve, but unless they can match the speed and accessibility of pirate alternatives,mangapiracy in the U.S. is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
