Here in Portugal we dont have many places to buy "this" especific Manga, unfortunatly. So i resort to watch the plot of what im about to read, get "in touch" with it, then i will buy it online if its interesting. Its somewhat like trying new cloths for me. (Since i actualy just read the plot to see if its interesting)

The most expensive one i bought was an old school DragonBall/Z/GT/Special Edition, who was quite expensive but i just had to buy it. (Few years ago)

I don't have enough money to buy all kinds of anime, I guess thats all I need to say.

Then you can't have it. You've no right to it.

Im just watching anime from tv. I dont care anymore how behind they are.

You have to be kidding me. That's the same as saying bums have no right to get food or shelter, because they can't pay for it.

I retract this post as I now know what you meant.

Sorry to have seemed so forthright. This has been discussed earlier. Manga and food/shelter are not analogous. If you have no access to food then you have a right to it from a private or public organisation. You can't make such a demand, moral or legal, about any luxury item like a comic book. Just because someone wants something really bad doesn't give them a right to it.

MMM discussed this earlier so go back and read his posts.
http://www.japanforum.com/forum/anim...tml#post680054

Skuu is right on this subject; manga-wise. Even though I read manga online (not much), I usually buy the volumes for the series later on when I get the cash. The sad thing is, Naruto has a volume a month now so I couldn't keep up after 20 without spending $200+.

Just think about, that's $200 for 25 volumes, right? If you take most of the people who read manga online instead of buying at least 20 volumes, Naruto's production is going down by $200 for each person. That's a lot of money to lose.

I believe anime is entirely different, though. Since you could watch it on television, there's nothing wrong if you watch it on the internet instead. People will say "buy dvds", but will it matter if the show comes on everyday on tv or is widely popular? Even vizmedia for Shippuden has its own site that you can watch free episodes.

It can also count on the series. If it was something main-stream like Naruto or Bleach, I probably wouldn't buy manga or anime because of the rush of episodes and fillers that go into the hundreds. On the other hand, for anime like Fate/Stay Night (favorite), I bought the complete season because it was only 24 episodes.

The way I see it is this.... if you want to go for long-running anime, watch out for prices. If the anime is only about 12-50 episodes or the manga is about 100 chapters or so, I'd say buy it regardless. If the anime is like 400+ episodes and the manga is like 600+ (Detectice Konan), then I'd wing it. At least buy the first few volumes or so to show that you care.

It's just a really touchy subject, I think.

Usually the series I like only come out in Japan, and I usually can't buy anything until a con. (That's where i bought my FSN series)

That's my comment. >_<

If you're putting as much thought into it as Ozukaki seems to be, then you're probably not doing anything wrong.

I agree it's a touchy topic as it's not easy to say to someone "that thing you really love doing, you can't do it anymore". Objectively manga is ofc. different from food, but subjectively people can become obsessed with it so it's very important to their happiness. However this is an extra difficulty, it doesn't change the value of not stealing something.

People who d/l manga/anime liberally, without serious consideration of the author, need to do just this. They are only picturing their need. As MMM has made clear, manga and other similar things are a different ethical issue to copying music from the music industry. If you're a high-profile performer, performing for millions then the amount of people who naturally will want your music but can't/won't afford it won't be affecting your income. However if you're an independent manga writer or publisher, your sales base is much smaller and so you'll definitely feel the effects of people getting your product for free when many of them could have bought it.

I can't tell you how to spend your money or tell you the exact balance on this ethical issue, but most people are probably not even considering it beyond the moral nonequivalence stated above. You have a moral obligation to consider how the producer of the work you are pirating will get by without sales.

Then, this topic like most will reach to the stage that it is just a battle over morals. That's how most debates are...