Platform Review: Manta Comics

In the realm of webtoon platforms, Manta seems to have flown under the radar in terms of popularity. Despite its 15 million+ downloads, most people still tend to default using Webtoon, Tappytoon, or Lezhin. As a long-time user, my opinions of Manta have definitely shifted over the years, but I ultimately believe that it's a solid platform that more people should take advantage of.   

Subscriptions and Cost  

Current membership prices

One of the most unique factors of Manta is its subscription-based model. For $4.99 a month, you can gain access to the 300+ titles in their Unlimited Library. This is an amazing deal compared to the pay-per-chapter system that most webcomic platforms have. There are a few titles available for non-subscribers as well, but the options are limited. For everyone, the first few chapters of a title are often free, but in some cases for non-subscribers, the remaining chapters are locked and make you wait 24 hours to access the next chapter. While this isn't convenient for binge-reading, the 24-hour wait isn't as grueling as it seems considering that active titles release new chapters each week.   

Within the last year, Manta integrated the Premium subscription tier and the gem system, which works in the same pay-per-chapter model on other platforms. The Premium tier functions the same as the Standard but also includes a monthly gem allowance and more bonus gems when purchasing bundles. I've personally upgraded to the Premium level, but I wouldn't necessarily say that this is a must. There are so many gem-only titles that I have saved, but I can only afford to keep up with a handful of them. The monthly gem allowance is enough to help me unlock my weekly chapters each month and have the occasional excess to slowly chip away at the completed works. I've found that this is the most cost-effective way for me to read the completed gem-only titles since it would normally take around 2,000+ gems to fully unlock a completed title or catch up to an active one, and purchasing a bundle that fulfills that minimum is at least $19.99.   

gem breakdown per level

 If you are a casual reader, then I would recommend sticking to the Standard $4.99 membership. There are so many quality titles available in the Unlimited Library, and new stories are constantly being added. There are also chances to earn gems by reading up to a certain number of chapters in a certain title or occasionally when you've completed a story. It isn't enough to fully unlock a gem-only title, but it'll let you slowly chip away at some of the chapters, ultimately lowering the overall gem cost to fully unlock it.   

Selection  

Manta has a wide variety of genres and will definitely have something that'll cater to your interests. Romantasy and BL saturate most of the offerings, so I would highly recommend you join Manta if you're into either of those, especially romantasy. Under the Oak Tree is one of the biggest draws to Manta and is currently still ongoing. Despite its popularity and Manta's incorporation of the gem system, Under the Oak Tree remains free to read in the Unlimited Library. Popular BL Semantic Error is also partly available via the 24-hour free pass but shifts to gem only halfway through the series. While this isn't ideal, Semantic Error's popularity has increased exponentially with the release of the live action BL series, so I understand why they would lock it behind a paywall. For people who are interested in spicier stories, Manta has a surprisingly vast selection. From the titles that I’ve read, the content may be mature, but it isn’t as explicit as some other webcomics I’ve seen. Though they’re available to read on the app, there is some censorship in the form of heavy shadows that block out most of the panel. It’s recommended to save the web version of Manta as a shortcut onto your phone if you want to read the full, untampered version.  

Recently, Manta has begun to offer manga as well, including notable titles like A Sign of Affection, Blue Lock, and 10 Dance. Unlike the webcomics, the manga titles are exclusively gem-only and can only be purchased by volume. The average volume is a little less than 1,400 gems, though there are often sales that bring the costs to about 800 gems. If you are someone who doesn't collect physical manga, then this could be a good option for you. If you have the Premium membership, then you can essentially unlock one volume a month with your allotted monthly gems, and for the amount of chapters that come in a volume, it averages out to be the same amount as unlocking 4 to 5 gem-only chapters of a webcomic title.   

Though I love the access to various manga, I personally don't find it worth it for me to do all of my manga reading on Manta. So far, everything is locked behind a paywall with only the first chapter of volume 1 being available to preview for free. Since many of these titles are licensed and available for physical purchase, I'd rather spend $12 on a physical volume and know I have it forever than use all of my monthly gems to unlock a single volume when I could've used it to keep up with my webcomics that are only offered digitally. I can see this being useful if you can catch the first volume of the manga on sale, and so you can see if it's something worth buying, but aside from that, I'd stick to saving your gems for the webtoons.   

Overall Thoughts  

When the gem system was first announced, I was a bit frustrated that an entire extra library was locked behind a paywall. Since I was subscribed to Manta back when it was only $3.99 to access the entire library, if I had stuck with just the Standard membership tier then I could've kept that price point. It's been about a year since I've upgraded to the Premium subscription, and though I can't necessarily afford to read every title that I want right now, the monthly gems do help me keep up with weekly gem-only releases. The old model of having one subscription price that gives you unlimited access to all titles was my main draw to the platform in the first place, but I understand why they shifted to the gems. Before, Manta was directly purchasing licensing rights, but with the current model multiple creators can be paid directly, and Manta can host more titles in return. The saving grace for me is the monthly gem allowance and the access to the Unlimited Library that constantly has new titles being uploaded to it. In spite of its flaws, I'd say that Manta is at least worth the Standard membership, and all things considered, the Premium membership isn't that bad if you don't mind taking it slow and coasting off your monthly gems.