「黑風影」

“It's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies”

― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

 

Hey, an em dash! Hello, typography!

Making witty comments passed a lot of time for me, a shame to see this site go.

Seeing my 17k likes disappear will be a bummer, but if the site is causing such a burden then I suppose its for the best.

Gonna take a while to bookmark my 500+ manga follows elsewhere

I mean, if we didn't have likes, where would we be, amirite?

I'm honestly pretty saddened by this.

You're the only site out there that directly links and helps out all the scanlator groups that host on it and respects the licenses of what gets officially localized. Everyone else just takes advantage of the work other people do, which as a former translator myself, quite saddens me.

You've done a great job so far, so thank you for all the work you put in. Not just for the readers, but for the scanlators too. You deserve a break.

I've been here since 2014, this is my first and my last post on your forums. Godspeed.

But... it says you have 8 active posts...

I don't post much (practically never, in fact,) but as someone who followed your work back when The Company scanlation group was new, and an early user of Batoto, who signed up after getting blown away by the beautiful layout and easy navigation, I just like to take this opportunity to say thank you.

 

Thank you for introducing me to some of my favorite Korean Manwhas, from Kubera to To Be an Elite,

 

Thank you for creating this Batoto.com, and fighting for its quality.

 

Thank you for your time,

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

I too, will stay until the end, and I hope that whatever comes next for you is easier on your soul.

Fembot has been informed of your approval of Kubera.

Grumpy thank you so much for the years of your life you've given to this site and this community.  We could never thank you enough for what you're done.

 

Of course I'm going to miss this place and my friends and acquaintances on the forums. Batoto was a big part of how I was able to move on after I had to take early/disability retirement in 2012. You didn't owe me that nor anyone else here. Your devotion to the site was an extraordinary gift to all of us.

I don't know why, but this post really stuck out. I'm glad this silly, inconsequential site was able to bring you some joy.

Best wishes to you Grumpy! It was a pleasure.

 

I hope this frees you up to finally relax.

 

P.S. Hello people who know me.

Hey! I know you!

Thank you so much for the work and dedication you put into this site, Grumpy. I appreciate the work you and many others have put into making this site a central hub for scanlation works across the web. Batoto shall be sorely missed, and I wish you and the rest of the team the best in future endeavors.

 

What a beautiful picture.

You people have no spines. His poor management skills and selfish pity party to avoid giving over the site is the marked death of the entire system. Don't take this rolling over, let him know what a mistake it is.

Yeah, preach it, brotha! DOWN WITH THE MAN! RIOT! LET'S BRING DOWN BATOTO! Oh wait...

To everybody wondering why Grumpy isn't just handing the torch to somebody else or hiring more sysadmins, it's not a matter of trust or not finding anybody. I've discussed this with Grumpy myself several times. There's more to running a site like this than just keeping up with visitor demand. The details are brutal, and "more help" won't solve the biggest problems and stress causers behind the scenes.

Grumpy deciding to shut down the site instead of just dumping the problems on other people is well within his rights, and though it hurts me knowing the only place I've read manga (except on my ipad, which hate batoto for some reason) will be closing, I'll send Grumpy off with a smile and a wave, hoping that he lives a damned good life from now on for giving us this site for as long as he did.

And so, one of the best sites that this senile old pervert has been enjoying for the past seven years is coming to an end.

It is truly a sad day for all of us and even though I fully understand your decision, I cannot emotionally agree with it. I wish you all of the best in the future, but I hope that the site will somehow be salvaged by others who will be willing to take it on.

And if not, then Grumpy, can you recommend the next best site to read manga on? Although, I don't believe any other site can come close to Batoto for both the quality or the features that Batoto offered to its readers.

Thanks for everything, good luck to you

Grumpy thank you so much for the years of your life you've given to this site and this community.  We could never thank you enough for what you're done.

Of course I'm going to miss this place and my friends and acquaintances on the forums. Batoto was a big part of how I was able to move on after I had to take early/disability retirement in 2012. You didn't owe me that nor anyone else here. Your devotion to the site was an extraordinary gift to all of us.

Well.  No way could I have stuck it out as long in your place.  Thanks for all these years of hard work. 

It's strange to realize just how much of my leisure time I have spent on this site for the last few years.  It has been by far the best, both to use, as a place of community, and above all in its ethics.  I'm going to miss Batoto badly, and all the avatars I've come to recognize and appreciate the minds behind.  Damn, damn, damn, dash it all, now what?

Just want to say, I always enjoyed reading your posts on Batoto. I used to post often between 2013-2014 in the manga comments before going back to lurking and just reading manga here.

Your posts were some of the most interesting ones I've read on this site.

My favorite part of batoto was coming to read manga and not seeing "MangaPanda", "ReadManga.Today", "Mangahere.com" and things of that nature. I have yet to find another site that bypasses those obnoxious leeches as well as batoto did.

I wonder if there's some kind of scanlation team directory? I always end up going to manga-sites like these, rather than the scanlation team websites, because I can never find them in searches without knowing exactly what to look for. Maybe it already exists and I'm just not aware of it.

Whatever the case, best wishes with your future endeavors.

EDIT: OMG, post above mine used the word 'endeavors' too! I was posting this from page 1...

i've been reading manga from manga viewing site since 8 years ago since my high school times. Many sites come and goes, my journey from onemanga to batoto. It sadden me that one of the best manga viewing site have to end. Thanks for everything, i hope your decision will bring good luck to your life. Godspeed

Yeah, my manga-reading experience really began with onemanga.com. When that shut down ages ago, I used mangafox for a while (but it just wasn't the same) until I stumbled across batoto. I switched over with practically no hesitation (I think Purple Library Guy did too, see his post above). I don't know what the next great manga site will be, we'll have to keep our eyes open. If anyone spots a manga site that's particularly notable, mention it here.

I've been using MangaPark a little. I like how you can pick different versions of the translated manga. Sometimes I go through and even find a version that doesn't have leech websites' logos plastered all over the pages... usually not, though.

Well.  No way could I have stuck it out as long in your place.  Thanks for all these years of hard work. 

It's strange to realize just how much of my leisure time I have spent on this site for the last few years.  It has been by far the best, both to use, as a place of community, and above all in its ethics.  I'm going to miss Batoto badly, and all the avatars I've come to recognize and appreciate the minds behind.  Damn, damn, damn, dash it all, now what?

I can't really put it in words how grateful I am for this site. It's been there during the lowest points of my life, both the manga and the people. Something to look forward to everyday. Really, my deepest gratitude to Grumpy and the rest of the team for this site. It's been a great ride, and I am now more hopeful going forward rather than sad at looking back. Thanks for the hard work. 

o7

Cheers Grumpy, it was a good run. Enjoy your time, you've earned it.

Just throwing my voice in amongst the hundreds already. I've been using this site for maybe 5-6 years and in the aftermath of Onemanga.com going down this has been the only other Manga reading platform I've ever put this much time into. Even after reading this announcement I found myself reflexively opening up Batoto when I opened a new browser on my computer or my phone, it's that much of a habit for me to come here and just skim the new releases. 

Thank you Grumpy and Co. I know running these types of ventures isn't easy and while I wish there was an easier transition in place, as the uncertainty of when and where the backups of all the series here will resurface. You all have been a major part of my manga reading hobby for the better part of the last decade of my life as I've greatly expanded the types of manga I read and the stories I consume from my younger, Shonen Jump exclusive years. I will honestly miss some of the community here for as little as I've interacted with them since accounts became mandatory. Specifically the Alice in Borderlands/Border Road comment sections as it's one of the only times I've ever interacted with other people online while reading a manga. I have discovered a lot of good series through this platform; Stories to entertain, stories to ponder on, stories to get emotionally invested in, and stories that are just a trashy good time.

Thank you all again and I wish you all the best going into the future.

Grumpy,

I've been a silent follower since you started working on ToG with The Company, creating batoto, having to contend with Naver and webtoons and their works. Signed up for registration when you guys needed it. I remember your ideals in sharing the monetizations by the scan groups for the scan groups.

Thank you.

Thanks for your hard work in creating this site. Thank you for creating a place where I could read manga and not go to scummy monetized pure ripped sites. Thanks for putting so many hours into this site to make it work. It's shows over the years as you guys kept growing, gaining followers appreciating you're work. You deserve a break.

I wish this site could exist without you, but thats your decision to make and I respect that. We will find something else to replace what we have, even if we don't want to . Thanks for letting us export lists, I still want to follow so much.

Take care and have a good life grumpy!

Honestly been frequenting this site since its inception, and been keeping track of Grumpy and the Company for at least a year prior. Sad to see you and this site go, but no one can fault you or your reasons.
 
Live your life, and I hope that you have only happy and fortuitous occurrences in the future. Thanks for all you have done for the community.

Hi Grumpy
Thank you for everything. Really.
I have never been here often safe for a couple of periods when I came to the forums for Tower of God and Kubera to read spoilers and impossible fan theories
I started reading Tower of God thanks to you guys, even when you were just Grumpy & co. on the old website. You have come a really long way.
It was really sad when Naver opened the official western website with the official translations and you had to close down TheCompany and the scans were put down I still believe that if it wasn't for you guys, naver would not have taken those manhwa the same way (i.e. already publishing translated chapters of ToG in order to not lose the fanbase you guys built). And I remember coming to the forums reading complains about the awful translations the first months ahahah
 
Thank you, again, for the beautiful work you always did and for the dedication you put into it

I followed thcompany to batoto, and am sorry to see you go
 
I wish there were a way for a trusted staff member to take it over and continue running it...

I came here since I saw the ads on the first chapters of Tower Of God. After OneManga closed this was my go-to manga reading site. And I loved the emphasis on respecting the Scanlators, their work and the Original Content. It's been years and I've been on this site almost every day since. Even after The Company stopped scanlating TOG because it was licenced by Naver, I never thought of leaving this place. But now this site is leaving me.

Thanks for all your hard work. All of it. I had no idea. I appreciate it. I can't express how glad I am for having had this site. I wish you the best.

As someone who has been around since 2011, who saw onemanga go down in flames, who saw the Company essentially shatter against the forces of Naver: this has been long overdue.
The internet is a very different place then it was seven years ago, and the scanlation scene (especially for manwha) is in a mush different position then i was then.
 
Thanks, it's been a long ride, and i've enjoyed it. Now i hope you find something you find worthwhile, while not having it smother you. <3

Thank you for everything!
I've followed your old website, the company, when you first began scanlating Tower of God til the beginnings of batoto. I loved the quality of your scanlations. I appreciate all the work you and your team have made.
Again, thank you and take care.

 
Crazy to see how many old timers there are here. I took the easy way out and retired, but Grumpy has continued to soldier on.
 
On behalf of Grumpy, and all of the old members of The Company, thanks for the well-wishes; we remain humbled by the small impact we've had on the world. 
 

I think post like this should be resend to all users of this site as personal letter.

 
I think Reddit has that taken care of...

A last question? Why the name Batoto?

Grumpy thought it sounded cute.

Oh, I see.

She must be really busy these days...

The story in The Bar made it sound like cancer. Could be I'm just projecting, because it's taken a sister, two dear friends and two loving kitties in the past decade or so.