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Ever since the Internet came around and changed the way that people consume media, it has opened up new avenues for people to pirate said media. Most people have “flown the black flag” for a TV show or movie in the past, and both of these formats still represent the bulk of pirated media around the world. However, manga is making waves to catch up as more people get hooked on manga and subsequently turn to piracy to fuel their appetite for classic titles like One Piece and new hits like Dan Da Dan.

A study by Muso has revealed that 2024 saw an increase in “publishing” piracy (basically any form of written media) of around 56% - a spike that was primarily due to manga. This is compared to an increase of around 36% in TV and film piracy during the same period. While TV and film still represent more pirated views per quarter (32.2 billion views in Q4 2024 compared to 25.7 billion views of publishing during the same period), it is clear that there is a growing demand for manga that legitimate outlets are struggling to keep up with.

That demand has skyrocketed as the anime’s popularity continues to grow around the world. Popular shows like One Piece, both the anime and Netflix’s live-action adaptation, have introduced manga to many new fans while new hits like Chainsaw Man and Dan Da Dan show off the wonderfully weird side to the medium. When shows break for the season, there is typically a surge in demand for the manga.

While legitimate outlets like the Shonen Jump app try to fill the demand for manga among fans, it can take time for new chapters to be localized in non-Japanese languages. However, it is important to note that piracy is not something that only impacts fans outside Japan; it is common for chapters of One Piece to appear online days before they are due to be published either physically or digitally.

The rise in manga piracy is to be expected as more fans want to see what happens next for their favorite character. The industry itself is expected to balloon to around $66 billion by 2033, potentially ushering in a time when more people pirate manga than hit shows like Squid Games.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Why the finales of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece feel like the end of an era in manga
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• Dan Da Dan is weird, profoundly inappropriate, and the perfect anime this season
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect anime hero for the dark times ahead
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Dan Da Dan's most emotionally devastating sequence proves that sometimes words aren't necessary
• Gnosia, the "Among Us meets Everything Everywhere All at Once" visual novel is getting an anime adaptation that needs to be as weird as possible
• Assassination Classroom is a Shonen anime well worth revisiting, ten years on
• Sony is making big moves to own the anime industry by buying Kadokawa, publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Konosuba
• 2025 is the year One Punch Man season 3 finally adapts the cosmically weird Monster Association Arc and I can't wait