Mangadex Says It Won’t Become a Crunchyroll

Mangadex Says It Won’t Become a Crunchyroll — that was the site team’s direct response after a wave of concerns raised by the community, following the removal of thousands of manga titles from the platform.

The portal, known for offering free manga, received a takedown request that resulted in the deletion of around a thousand works. In an FAQ published on their website, MangaDex addressed many of the users’ questions.

Mangadex Says It Won’t Become a Crunchyroll

The MangaDex team was notified by copyright holders of several series, requesting the immediate removal of their content. In total, more than a thousand manga were directly affected. Still, Mangadex says it won’t become a Crunchyroll, reassuring users about the platform’s future.

But what exactly does it mean to “not become a Crunchyroll”? For those unfamiliar with the story, Crunchyroll started as a piracy site for anime and later became a legal streaming service that now requires a paid subscription. MangaDex is simply stating they don’t plan to follow that path.

Fakku is another site that took a similar route. It was once a piracy platform for hentai manga but now operates legally with a subscription-based model.

Why Weren’t People Warned About the Manga Takedowns?

According to the team, as a hosting service, MangaDex is legally unable to issue prior warnings before complying with takedown requests (DMCA). Uploaders are notified only after the content is removed and have up to 14 days to file a counterclaim if they want to try to reinstate it.

The Future of MangaDex and Its Relationship with NamiComi

One point that sparked speculation was the involvement of NamiComi in managing the site. The truth is, there was no sale — NamiComi simply took over MangaDex’s management due to the sudden increase in legal takedown requests, especially after the shutdown of several other popular aggregators. Even so, Mangadex says it won’t become a Crunchyroll, emphasizing it will continue to operate independently.

What About User Privacy?

Another concern was whether user data would be shared with copyright holders or third parties. MangaDex made it clear: they don’t sell data, and they will only provide information if legally compelled to do so by a valid court order, such as a subpoena.

Changes to the User Experience

Users also reported the loss of reading progress and bookmarks after the takedowns. The team assured that they’re working on tools to restore this data soon. Additionally, a new checkbox was added to the upload system to reinforce the need to follow site guidelines and avoid copyright violations.

MangaDex says the site is not shutting down, but we’ll see what the future holds.

via Você Sabia Anime