Shueisha's Manga Million Platform Found Using AI Translation Despite Publisher's Claim
The discovery that AI translation companies are involved directly contradicts Shueisha's stated position, raising questions about whether the publisher knowingly misled readers about how the platform's translations were produced.
Reporting from 1 source: Animehunch.
Shueisha's new global manga platform Manga Million has come under scrutiny after users discovered that translation companies credited on the platform, including Flitto Japan Inc. and EC Innovations, use AI translation solutions. This contradicts the publisher's earlier claim that "real people were working on this" to capture the nuances of the manga.
Manga Million launched as part of Shueisha's 100th anniversary project, offering free access to one million pages of manga translated into over 100 languages with no registration required. The platform's promotional materials and an interview with an editor in charge, referred to as H-no san, claimed that cooperating companies handled translations and that "real people were working on this."
Users on X then pointed out that two credited companies, Flitto Japan Inc. and EC Innovations, advertise AI translation solutions. These firms were credited for translating, editing, and lettering works including One Piece, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and Hunter x Hunter. Not all translations on the platform are AI, as human translators and other Shueisha-affiliated publishers are also involved. Shueisha has not yet commented on the discrepancy.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.