The Power of Free Manga

I have read Fujiko's works countless times, but in truth, I am not particularly well-versed in manga.

Other than Fujiko F. Fujio, the only authors I follow are Fujiko A. Fujio, Osamu Tezuka, and Naoki Urasawa.

I used to subscribe to Weekly Shonen Jump and Weekly Spirits since I was a child, but I stopped buying them when 'Slam Dunk' finished its serialization.

However, I continued to read manga that became popular. Starting with works like 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' and 'AKIRA,' I have read whatever I could get my hands on, especially works that received media adaptations, such as 'Parasyte,' 'Berserk,' 'His and Her Circumstances,' 'Attack on Titan,' 'Chihayafuru,' 'March Comes in Like a Lion,' and 'Space Brothers.'

But, that changed. Around the time I turned 30 and got married, I started buying fewer comics and stopped going to the manga cafes I used to frequent.

Once I passed 40 and had children, I became even less likely to pick up new manga, and I even lost interest in them.

Furthermore, by the time you hit 50, it becomes a chore to engage with new content, not just manga, and you find yourself re-reading the same manga you've read many times since childhood. (I don't think young people can understand this feeling.)

However, as someone who is, in one way or another, involved in the entertainment content industry, this situation is extremely dangerous.

Not consuming new content means not being exposed to new stimuli. While you may not need to follow every latest trend, there is a risk that you will eventually become unable to even understand what is currently popular.

If you don't know what's popular now, you won't be able to compete with what will be popular in the future.

In my current line of work, that means becoming completely useless.

With that sense of crisis, I was still just re-reading Fujiko manga, but a few months ago, I suddenly decided to try installing manga apps like Piccoma and LINE Manga.

Then, strangely enough, I gradually started opening the manga apps whenever I had free time, and I began checking the parts that could be read for free.

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but since manga apps allow you to read the first few chapters of even the latest manga for free, I took this opportunity to actively read works that I had heard of but never actually read.

I've started reading almost at random, including Jump titles like 'Jujutsu Kaisen,' 'SPY×FAMILY,' and 'Kaiju No. 8,' countless isekai stories, and shojo manga whose titles I know from movie adaptations.

I also learned that there are daily promotions where you can read an entire series for free for one day, and I started reading those as well.

While there are many works I stop reading after a few chapters, there are some that are so interesting that I lose track of time and keep reading them.

Also, these types of 'read all chapters for free' works often include things that were popular a while ago, things I've heard about, or masterpieces I missed out on during my youth.

Such works often fit my sensibilities, and when I get hooked, I can even find myself in situations where my work and sleep are compromised.

A while ago, all episodes of '4P Tanaka-kun' and 'Mr. Ajikko' were free, and thinking that if I missed this chance I might never read them, I started them, and they were so interesting that I couldn't stop.

Truly, free manga is a force to be reckoned with.

Even today, until just a moment ago, I was endlessly reading 'Taisho Romantica,' which had all its episodes free. It's 23 volumes, after all. There's no way to finish reading it in just one day. I felt bad about skipping to the final episode, so I stopped halfway through, but I can't help but be curious about what happens next.

I suppose I'll have to head to a manga cafe once I have some free time. I'm thinking of making a list of sequels I want to read for that day, but at this rate, it's going to be quite a long list.

Ah, it's truly terrifying.