WotakuDigital Manga & Manhwa Info
Information about various types of publishers for manga and manhwa.
Things to consider when buying
- Image quality varies by publisher and by platform
- Convenience of platform apps varies, consider testing them if you plan to read without removing DRM.
- If you're not able to back up your purchases locally you could lose them entirely if a platform closes.
- DRM-free does not always mean "free from identifiable info".
To simplify the guide, here "resolution" essentially means "quality". Although some publishers (e.g. Yen Press) offer low resolution images with minimal JPEG compression as "high quality", we will still consider this as low quality since most readers would see it that way.
Volumes
General Platforms
| Store | Resolution | DRM Removal | SFW | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (Kindle HD) | Highest1 | Medium | YES | |
| Amazon (Comixology)2 | Dead | Hard | NO | |
| Apple Books | Standard | Medium | NO | |
| BookWalker Global | Standard | Hard | NO3 | |
| Google Play Books | Standard | Very Easy | YES | |
| Humble Bundle | Highest | DRM-Free | YES | |
| Kobo | Standard | Easy | YES |
Notes
Blurry downscales for anything that would be above that on other platforms.As of December 5th 2023, Kindle now offers HD on their mobile app (at or above 320dpi and some resolution threshold). Web is likely limited to x1920 (unconfirmed as of December 7th 2023).- Dead as of December 4th 2023, leaving only Kindle.
- Unless they have exclusives or discounts, as other platforms are easier
Publishers
| Store | Resolution | DRM-Free | SFW | Highest Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Manga | x1800 | - | - | |
| Azuki | x48001 | Own Store | ||
| Dark Horse | x3000+2 | Kindle HD | ||
| DENPA3 | Varies | Own Store | ||
| FAKKU! | x3200 | Own Store | ||
| Glacier Bay Books | Varies | Own Store | ||
| Irodori Comics | x3200 | Own Store / Fakku | ||
| J-Novel Club | x3840 | Own Store | ||
| Kaiten Books | ~x2400 | Own Store | ||
| Kodansha USA | ~x30004 | Humble Bundle / Kindle HD | ||
| Medibang 5 | x2048 | - | - | |
| Media Do/Coamix 5 | x1800 | - | - | |
| Seven Seas Entertainment | x30006 | Kindle HD | ||
| Square Enix Manga & Books | ~x2230 | Same Everywhere | ||
| Star Fruit Books | Varies | Own Store | ||
| TOKYOPOP | ~x23007 | Same Everywhere | ||
| VAST Visual | ~x22508 | Apple Books | ||
| VIZ | x2100-x2475 | Kobo | ||
| Yen Press | x1291-x1350 | Same Everywhere |
Notes
- Standard resolution outside of their own storefront is x2400, chapters are
also x2400now x3000 - these figures are only validated for their own licenses. - Standard non-CMX/Amazon HD resolution is x2048 everywhere,
including their own storethey have silently upgraded their own storefront to 1800x (~x25xx). - Their store has a broken download issue with no ETA for a fix. It's recommended to use Kobo to get any of their books for now. Their own store is DRM-free.
- Humble Bundle PDF export resolution (at 600 dpi) ranges from x4200 - x4913. CMX resolution varies, older volumes were mostly between x3056 and x3684, and post-CMX Amazon HD volumes are ~x2700. Standard non-CMX/Amazon HD resolution is 1600x -> x227x - x2400 (except for their own storefront which should be avoided, as it offers the worst quality and resolution combination at x2160 q40).
- Both do NSFW releases on FAKKU, and anything on Fakku that isn't their unlimited chapters is x3200 more or less.
- Ranges between x3206 - x3713 for Comixology volumes. Post-CMX Amazon HD volume res has been downgraded to x2565 - ~x272x. Standard non-CMX/Amazon HD resolution is x2000 everywhere (except for Bookwalker Web where it is x1500).
- ~x2300 for newer (~post mid-2021) releases, but ~x1600 for older releases. Same quality no matter where you buy.
- Older titles are low quality, recent titles are decent quality. Apple Books has the highest quality.
Chapters
Manga
| Platform | Resolution | SFW |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Manga | x1536 | |
| Azuki | x2400-3000 | |
| Comikey | x2048 | |
| Coolmic | x1536 | |
| INKR | Varies1 | |
| MangaPlus | x21002 | |
| MangaPlanet | x1536 / x1600 | |
| MangaUp! | x3072+3 | |
| Mangamo | ~x17xx | |
| K Manga (by Kodansha JP)4 | x1378 | |
| Yen Press | x1291-x1350 | |
| VIZ | ~x1145 |
Notes
- Every manga is cross-licensed. So whatever the original publisher's standard resolution release is.
- For Non-VIZ imports. Kaiju No. 8 is an exception despite being also simulpubbed by Viz, MangaPlus started simulpubbing it a few weeks earlier.
- Own licenses are x3072 or higher (lowest is x2560) [Yen Press imports are Yen Press resolution. Rare Crunchyroll imports are usually Crunchyroll resolution, so x1600]
- Region-locked to the US, extremely rare random simulpub/backfill chapters are HD (2000x). Kodansha USA-licensed volume chapters imported into K Manga are Kodansha USA's standard-res (so 1600x -> x227x/x2400 based on the trim size).
Manhwa
| Platform | Resolution | SFW |
|---|---|---|
| Lezhin | 1280x 1 | |
| Line Webtoon | 720-800x | |
| Manta 2 | 720x | |
| Tapas 2 | 940x | |
| Tappytoon2 | 720x | |
| Day Comics 3 | 720x | |
| Toomics 4 | 720x | |
| INKR | Varies5 |
Notes
- By default, Lezhin is 1080x. But 1280x is available, if you know how.
- Manta, Tapas and Tappytoon have some mature (non-porn) titles.
- Merged with Toptoon Plus so they primarily have pornhwa now, but they do also have SFW titles.
- Does have SFW titles, even if they're primarily known for their NSFW titles.
- Inkr does have their own licenses, for manhwa it's typically 1080x but they do plenty of cross-licensing here as well. Their own licenses are often SFW but they have plenty of NSFW content on the site both cross-licensed from others and licensed by themselves so they've been marked as NSFW.