Related Anime/Manga Section Changes

Offline

Apr 2017

140

Reply to Darkonius

@YoshiYogurt
There are three things that are annoying about the change.

The inconsistent design style,
the bad readability of the "important" relations,
and the fact that you have to fold out to see all relations.

1. This makes the whole thing look weird and disorienting because of how different the style is, as if the two parts aren't actually the same section - but they are. The "big" style is instead consistent with the unrelated character and creator sections, that are separated by the rest of the relations and then a row of MxJ ads from their design "sibling".
2. The "important" relations are not in a list but a two-column design, making them harder to parse as you have to check the type for each one and then see what the entry is, while not offering any real value in the small preview images provided. It's the same issue as with everything that's not a straight list.
3. This means a lot of extra clicks, and because it hides some of the most important relations because they're not deemed important by default (e.g. Macross: Do You Remember Love is the most important relation to Macross, and it's in the dropdown, while decades-later novelizations that nobody has read are featured in the big section.), it'll lead to confusion, especially among newer users. Not everyone will always go out of their way to check all relations, especially when they're now more hidden.

Now I agree that the previous design was not great, just being a big run-on of titles in each category, and I think that the new one-per-row compact style with proper release order is much more readable and intuitive, while adding new information (show type). It's just unfortunate that it's ruined by the "important" relations section that dominates the section now while not at all fitting into it. If it was all the more compact style, this would be a universally positive change, but as it is, it's self-sabotaged.

So I'd recommend just changing the whole thing to the new compact style, leaving it expanded (at least up to a bigger size, maybe 10-20 entries - 4 isn't a lot, and in the compact style 8-10 titles will fit into the space of 4 big ones, depending on relation type, and it'd still be considerably smaller than some of the large relation lists in the old style). Those changes would make it way more useable, and the only real cost is no images that nobody needed anyway.

@Darkerplayer Yeah, especially the last part is what I wish for the most. Just show everything in the compact style. In fact, I already wrote a script for that since it bothered me so much, it requires you to have the tampermonkey extension installed in your browser, but that's pretty much it. Feel free to use it.

May 25, 6:52 AM

#55

Offline

Jul 2015

253

Reply to MysticalMagic

@YoshiYogurt It is because now I need to click to expand pretty much every time just to see sequels/related content when it was fully visible before.

@MysticalMagic One extra click, poor you. That's a good trade off from before when everything was jumbled unreadable mess, especially on the One Piece and Gundam pages.

May 25, 6:55 AM

#56

Offline

Jul 2015

253

Reply to Darkonius

@YoshiYogurt
There are three things that are annoying about the change.

The inconsistent design style,
the bad readability of the "important" relations,
and the fact that you have to fold out to see all relations.

1. This makes the whole thing look weird and disorienting because of how different the style is, as if the two parts aren't actually the same section - but they are. The "big" style is instead consistent with the unrelated character and creator sections, that are separated by the rest of the relations and then a row of MxJ ads from their design "sibling".
2. The "important" relations are not in a list but a two-column design, making them harder to parse as you have to check the type for each one and then see what the entry is, while not offering any real value in the small preview images provided. It's the same issue as with everything that's not a straight list.
3. This means a lot of extra clicks, and because it hides some of the most important relations because they're not deemed important by default (e.g. Macross: Do You Remember Love is the most important relation to Macross, and it's in the dropdown, while decades-later novelizations that nobody has read are featured in the big section.), it'll lead to confusion, especially among newer users. Not everyone will always go out of their way to check all relations, especially when they're now more hidden.

Now I agree that the previous design was not great, just being a big run-on of titles in each category, and I think that the new one-per-row compact style with proper release order is much more readable and intuitive, while adding new information (show type). It's just unfortunate that it's ruined by the "important" relations section that dominates the section now while not at all fitting into it. If it was all the more compact style, this would be a universally positive change, but as it is, it's self-sabotaged.

So I'd recommend just changing the whole thing to the new compact style, leaving it expanded (at least up to a bigger size, maybe 10-20 entries - 4 isn't a lot, and in the compact style 8-10 titles will fit into the space of 4 big ones, depending on relation type, and it'd still be considerably smaller than some of the large relation lists in the old style). Those changes would make it way more useable, and the only real cost is no images that nobody needed anyway.

@Darkerplayer

It's been out for a day or 2. It can improve.

Everyone who is saying "bad change." is delusional or enjoyed having to open 20 tabs to see if every entry was an OVA/special etc.

May 25, 7:00 AM

#57

Offline

Feb 2016

11116

Reply to karton_realista

We finally have LN and Mangas indicated properly on the anime page, although I still don't like the "alternative version" crap on manga/ln pages for the same series. It's a manga adaptation of a light novel, not an alternative version. An alternative version would be let's say a reboot or a retelling from another perspective, not an adaptation. I like the images though, it looks nice on the page.

Also it would be cool if there was a LN List on one's userpage and the "chapters" counter disappeared from LN entries as it's completely useless (who thought that was a good idea? LNs don't have a global chapter count listed anywhere. They start like "Vol. 5, ch. 1", who knows how many chapters have there been in preceding volumes?). But hell will sooner freeze over than those common sense things get implemented.

karton_realista said:
Also it would be cool if there was a LN List on one's userpage and the "chapters" counter disappeared from LN entries as it's completely useless (who thought that was a good idea? LNs don't have a global chapter count listed anywhere. They start like "Vol. 5, ch. 1", who knows how many chapters have there been in preceding volumes?). But hell will sooner freeze over than those common sense things get implemented.

Many manga don't have their chapters listed anywhere either.

その目だれの目？

May 25, 7:08 AM

#58

Offline

Feb 2016

11116

Reply to flammeur

@Lucifrost
If you look at the scores individually it was just the score average from all users independently from who scored and if the anime was in watching, completed, dropped, etc... It was a very logical score system so there's no way that MAL was virtually increasing them.

Now you may be right that bots were involved, I saw a lot of people talking about it too but how are they spotted by the scoring system, does mal have a list or did MAL made the bot accounts themselves (for what reason would they do that???).

In the end it's very frustrating that we had no official statement about it and that the scoring system became weighted in a way or another, if they published the new scoring algorithm it would help a lot but with the trend of hiding the algorithms for social network nowadays we may never have a clear answer.

flammeur said:
Now you may be right that bots were involved, I saw a lot of people talking about it too but how are they spotted by the scoring system, does mal have a list or did MAL made the bot accounts themselves (for what reason would they do that???).

In the end it's very frustrating that we had no official statement about it and that the scoring system became weighted in a way or another, if they published the new scoring algorithm it would help a lot but with the trend of hiding the algorithms for social network nowadays we may never have a clear answer.

Where did you see people discussing the rising scores? I'm on MAL every day and thought I was the only one who had noticed. It was frustrating.

Presumably, the lower scores are the result of MAL banning bots after discovering hundreds of fake 10/10 scores. MAL hides its algorithm in order to keep it a secret from bots. This is supposed to make it easier to counter those bots.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1824703

その目だれの目？

May 25, 7:22 AM

#59

Darkonius

Offline

Aug 2016

37

Reply to flammeur

@Lucifrost
If you look at the scores individually it was just the score average from all users independently from who scored and if the anime was in watching, completed, dropped, etc... It was a very logical score system so there's no way that MAL was virtually increasing them.

Now you may be right that bots were involved, I saw a lot of people talking about it too but how are they spotted by the scoring system, does mal have a list or did MAL made the bot accounts themselves (for what reason would they do that???).

In the end it's very frustrating that we had no official statement about it and that the scoring system became weighted in a way or another, if they published the new scoring algorithm it would help a lot but with the trend of hiding the algorithms for social network nowadays we may never have a clear answer.

@flammeur
MAL has used weighted scores for ages, and you should not expect it to agree with the average you calculate from the stats page of a show. This is not new, and it is mentioned and explained, e.g. in the "How do we rate shows?" link on the Top Anime page, in the hover over a show's score or in the statistics section on the left of the anime page.
Here's the direct link to the explanation:
https://myanimelist.net/info.php?go=topanime

The only changes to it that I can remember are that MAL has started filtering out illegitimate votes, and that around the same time the minimum number of votes was increased to further reduce manipulation. This was like 5 years ago though.

In this specific case, the botting was most likely done with accounts that had their list hidden, so their scores fed into the calculation but only MAL admins could actually see the accounts responsible. It was noticed due to the anomalous score rises since mid-April, and confirmed with data that tracked user numbers and score over time, and it clearly showed unnatural member growth along with unnatural score rise. This information was fed to MAL staff, and presumably they have identified the accounts responsible and have started filtering them out now, which is why most shows returned to scores around or slightly lower than they were in early April 2024. Some shows have had larger rebounds, and it's not quite clear why, but it may have to do with other bots getting filtered as well, or that factors in the weighted calculation have shifted in such a way as to lower the score further. MAL obviously keeps secrets when it comes to detecting and filtering bots, so we'll likely never know, but it's presumably something like this, and not an actual change in the scoring formula.

YoshiYogurt said:
It's been out for a day or 2. It can improve.

Everyone who is saying "bad change." is delusional or enjoyed having to open 20 tabs to see if every entry was an OVA/special etc.

Yes, it can improve, my critique is explicitly pointing out how they can improve it. I hope they change it, but MAL's previous actions when it comes to polarizing changes aren't confidence-inspiring.

I also don't think people are delusional for not liking an update that is worse than the previous implementation in more than one way, even if it is better in other aspects. And it's not like seeing the type of an entry in the related list is all the info one would want to know about an entry, so you'd have to open it anyway, so you aren't even saving that one click (that you invested to open the dropdown).

May 25, 7:27 AM

#60

Offline

Jul 2015

253

Reply to Darkonius

@flammeur
MAL has used weighted scores for ages, and you should not expect it to agree with the average you calculate from the stats page of a show. This is not new, and it is mentioned and explained, e.g. in the "How do we rate shows?" link on the Top Anime page, in the hover over a show's score or in the statistics section on the left of the anime page.
Here's the direct link to the explanation:
https://myanimelist.net/info.php?go=topanime

The only changes to it that I can remember are that MAL has started filtering out illegitimate votes, and that around the same time the minimum number of votes was increased to further reduce manipulation. This was like 5 years ago though.

In this specific case, the botting was most likely done with accounts that had their list hidden, so their scores fed into the calculation but only MAL admins could actually see the accounts responsible. It was noticed due to the anomalous score rises since mid-April, and confirmed with data that tracked user numbers and score over time, and it clearly showed unnatural member growth along with unnatural score rise. This information was fed to MAL staff, and presumably they have identified the accounts responsible and have started filtering them out now, which is why most shows returned to scores around or slightly lower than they were in early April 2024. Some shows have had larger rebounds, and it's not quite clear why, but it may have to do with other bots getting filtered as well, or that factors in the weighted calculation have shifted in such a way as to lower the score further. MAL obviously keeps secrets when it comes to detecting and filtering bots, so we'll likely never know, but it's presumably something like this, and not an actual change in the scoring formula.

YoshiYogurt said:
It's been out for a day or 2. It can improve.

Everyone who is saying "bad change." is delusional or enjoyed having to open 20 tabs to see if every entry was an OVA/special etc.

Yes, it can improve, my critique is explicitly pointing out how they can improve it. I hope they change it, but MAL's previous actions when it comes to polarizing changes aren't confidence-inspiring.

I also don't think people are delusional for not liking an update that is worse than the previous implementation in more than one way, even if it is better in other aspects. And it's not like seeing the type of an entry in the related list is all the info one would want to know about an entry, so you'd have to open it anyway, so you aren't even saving that one click (that you invested to open the dropdown).

You all are really crying over one extra click ?

Go back to last week and try to remember what any big series' main entry page looked like, it was clusterfuck wall of text with no justification, so you'd have a list of 50 things separated by commas. Please tell me how that mess was better.

May 25, 8:00 AM

#61

Darkonius

Offline

Aug 2016

37

@YoshiYogurt
Can you read? I've literally said that the new compact design is better than the old one, but that doesn't mean that the changes are universally positive.

And yes, that one click is an issue, because it's not one click. It's a hundred, a thousand clicks you'll have to do every time you want to see all the related entries - and the primary justification for it is the amount of space the new design takes up, when most of that space is used for the new "big" design. It's an anti-functional solution to an avoidable problem. It's a step backwards in this respect.

People who say they want the old system back probably quickly saw how the changes are detrimental while disregarding the positive changes because they were already accustomed to the issues of the old system and could thus work around the problem that is now fixed, namely the massive run-on lists. This is not the first time this has happened with a MAL change either, since they tend to be in this vein of fixing one thing but breaking another in the process.

May 25, 8:10 AM

#62

flammeur

Offline

Jan 2013

65

Reply to Darkonius

@flammeur
MAL has used weighted scores for ages, and you should not expect it to agree with the average you calculate from the stats page of a show. This is not new, and it is mentioned and explained, e.g. in the "How do we rate shows?" link on the Top Anime page, in the hover over a show's score or in the statistics section on the left of the anime page.
Here's the direct link to the explanation:
https://myanimelist.net/info.php?go=topanime

The only changes to it that I can remember are that MAL has started filtering out illegitimate votes, and that around the same time the minimum number of votes was increased to further reduce manipulation. This was like 5 years ago though.

In this specific case, the botting was most likely done with accounts that had their list hidden, so their scores fed into the calculation but only MAL admins could actually see the accounts responsible. It was noticed due to the anomalous score rises since mid-April, and confirmed with data that tracked user numbers and score over time, and it clearly showed unnatural member growth along with unnatural score rise. This information was fed to MAL staff, and presumably they have identified the accounts responsible and have started filtering them out now, which is why most shows returned to scores around or slightly lower than they were in early April 2024. Some shows have had larger rebounds, and it's not quite clear why, but it may have to do with other bots getting filtered as well, or that factors in the weighted calculation have shifted in such a way as to lower the score further. MAL obviously keeps secrets when it comes to detecting and filtering bots, so we'll likely never know, but it's presumably something like this, and not an actual change in the scoring formula.

YoshiYogurt said:
It's been out for a day or 2. It can improve.

Everyone who is saying "bad change." is delusional or enjoyed having to open 20 tabs to see if every entry was an OVA/special etc.

Yes, it can improve, my critique is explicitly pointing out how they can improve it. I hope they change it, but MAL's previous actions when it comes to polarizing changes aren't confidence-inspiring.

I also don't think people are delusional for not liking an update that is worse than the previous implementation in more than one way, even if it is better in other aspects. And it's not like seeing the type of an entry in the related list is all the info one would want to know about an entry, so you'd have to open it anyway, so you aren't even saving that one click (that you invested to open the dropdown).

@Darkerplayer Big thanks for the info and sorry about my ranting.

I had been completely unaware of the bot hunting that happened in the last few years, I would have appreciated an announcement about such a big amount of illegitimate accounts discover since it affected so many entries though.

If my portion of anime seen ever gets lower than 10% of the database, consider me dead.

May 25, 8:25 AM

#63

karton_realista

Offline

Jan 2017

37

Reply to Lucifrost

karton_realista said:
Also it would be cool if there was a LN List on one's userpage and the "chapters" counter disappeared from LN entries as it's completely useless (who thought that was a good idea? LNs don't have a global chapter count listed anywhere. They start like "Vol. 5, ch. 1", who knows how many chapters have there been in preceding volumes?). But hell will sooner freeze over than those common sense things get implemented.

Many manga don't have their chapters listed anywhere either.

@Lucifrost I'm not sure you understood what I'm saying. Do you have an example of a manga series where the number given for the chapter isn't the number for the whole series, but internal to the volume? Most manga are released in magazines and later compiled into volumes, which is why they have a chapter number representing the total chapter count for the series.

For example, Gabriel Dropout volume 13 contains chapters 90-97. On the LN side, An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride volume 13 has a Prologue, chapters 1-4 and an Epilogue. It's pretty obvious which one needs a chapter counter and which one doesn't.

karton_realistaMay 25, 8:28 AM

May 25, 8:33 AM

#64

Offline

Feb 2016

11116

Reply to flammeur

@Darkerplayer Big thanks for the info and sorry about my ranting.

I had been completely unaware of the bot hunting that happened in the last few years, I would have appreciated an announcement about such a big amount of illegitimate accounts discover since it affected so many entries though.

flammeur said:
I had been completely unaware of the bot hunting that happened in the last few years, I would have appreciated an announcement about such a big amount of illegitimate accounts discover since it affected so many entries though.

I knew about the 2020 bots, but that was then and this is now. A mod even told me earlier this month that I should not worry about bots because the problem was solved 4 years ago and suspicious votes now get "fixed after a few days." This reassurance is so blatantly untrue that I can't imagine any attempt other than to deceive me.

その目だれの目？

May 25, 8:43 AM

#65

Offline

Feb 2016

11116

Reply to karton_realista

@Lucifrost I'm not sure you understood what I'm saying. Do you have an example of a manga series where the number given for the chapter isn't the number for the whole series, but internal to the volume? Most manga are released in magazines and later compiled into volumes, which is why they have a chapter number representing the total chapter count for the series.

For example, Gabriel Dropout volume 13 contains chapters 90-97. On the LN side, An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride volume 13 has a Prologue, chapters 1-4 and an Epilogue. It's pretty obvious which one needs a chapter counter and which one doesn't.

karton_realista said:
I'm not sure you understood what I'm saying. Do you have an example of a manga series where the number given for the chapter isn't the number for the whole series, but internal to the volume?

The exact thing you are describing can be found in the English translation I own of Ranma 1/2. The final volume has chapters #1-#18 followed by a "final chapter."

But that's not what I was talking about. I'm talking about manga that have no chapters.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=361583
The whole volume just looks like a single, 200 page chapter. I have seen this in Japanese editions too. Scanlators are left to guess where one chapter ends and another begins, often getting it wrong.

LucifrostMay 25, 8:48 AM

その目だれの目？

May 25, 9:08 AM

#66

Red_Ranger_Wien

Offline

Sep 2011

2305

This is very annoying. Not every link has images and it just clutters each page and makes things uneven. The old way is much preferred.

May 25, 10:57 AM

#67

Hayukoo

Offline

Nov 2021

156

Nice challenge

May 25, 11:57 AM

#68

MysticalMagic

Offline

Apr 2019

8

Reply to RobbiRobb

@Darkerplayer Yeah, especially the last part is what I wish for the most. Just show everything in the compact style. In fact, I already wrote a script for that since it bothered me so much, it requires you to have the tampermonkey extension installed in your browser, but that's pretty much it. Feel free to use it.

RobbiRobb said:
In fact, I already wrote a script for that since it bothered me so much

Thanks!! It was driving me insane.

May 25, 1:00 PM

#69

coshkunz

Offline

Sep 2014

13

Instead of this unnecessary change, do something about the unfunctional search bar. It's been a problem for the longest time. Google finds MAL manga pages more quickly than on your own site.

coshkunzMay 25, 1:03 PM

May 25, 2:02 PM

#70

VampireLord1024

Offline

May 2021

1970

Reply to Catalano

I would have liked something like this, why complicate the format?

@Catalano Anime-Planet's got a nice layout for anime/manga.

May 25, 2:07 PM

#71

removed-user

Offline

Jul 2018

564452

Was user consideration taken into account? Not happy with the change, plus you have given no setting to revert! Preferred the compact view and it worked but now the thumbnails create a distraction and the button to expand is an unneeded click(s). Its as if you have copied other sites (ex. anilist) but somehow worse? I do like having each item in a new line as it used to be comma separated in one line and the braces with the type is also fine in the compact view but the thumbnails addon with hidden compact view is awful. The compact view had a format, you knew where to look and it was easy to follow but now with the thumbnails added on it creates a waste of time as i try and figure out where i wanted to go.

Just give people the choice, a revert button (thumbnail view or compact view), you did with the titles allowing a choice.

May 25, 3:00 PM

#72

modaren

Offline

Aug 2013

44

awful and unnecessary change. I shouldn't have to press a button(more related entries) to see sequels and related anime. Please revert the change or give us options to change how we want it to be like.

meh :v

May 25, 9:41 PM

#73

ratchet-0417

Wisewolf

Offline

Dec 2021

22

Reply to RobbiRobb

@Darkerplayer Yeah, especially the last part is what I wish for the most. Just show everything in the compact style. In fact, I already wrote a script for that since it bothered me so much, it requires you to have the tampermonkey extension installed in your browser, but that's pretty much it. Feel free to use it.

@RobbiRobb you legend thank you very much for sharing this

May 26, 4:41 AM

#74

alucinotronic

Offline

Aug 2020

47

I personally don’t like this update nor see it’s relevancy. I’d prefer such a rather minimalist design without image popping up in between sessions, the entry is already polluted because of how many information is needed to display so why to pollute more of it? Makes no sense in my mind.

I’d love to have a way to switch it back to text-only.

🎃 My MALoween Candy 2023 🎃

May 26, 5:47 AM

#75

DarkDooM2

Offline

Dec 2010

692

RobbiRobb said:
In fact, I already wrote a script for that

Thank you, but your script seems to have one small bug. The More videos link is unfortunately missing.

May 26, 5:48 AM

#76

fast2611

Offline

Mar 2020

293

Appreciate the added function, dont appreciate reducing the UI efficiency by 75%. But considering the bar for "modern" UI "improvements" I suppose I should be glad I dont have to go through 3 different dropdowns to click a hyperlink

May 26, 6:15 AM

#77

Offline

Apr 2017

140

Reply to DarkDooM2

RobbiRobb said:
In fact, I already wrote a script for that

Thank you, but your script seems to have one small bug. The More videos link is unfortunately missing.

@DarkDooM2 Oh yeah, that uses the same classes... I updated the script, so that should be fixed. Thanks for letting me know!

May 26, 8:20 AM

#78

El-Melloi

Offline

May 2015

592

Seems like a good change. I hope the "Justin Cook situation" will eventually be dealt with as well (him being unfairly pinned at the top of every popular anime's staff page because he's a producer at Funimation).

May 26, 10:08 AM

#79

Offline

Jul 2015

253

Reply to modaren

awful and unnecessary change. I shouldn't have to press a button(more related entries) to see sequels and related anime. Please revert the change or give us options to change how we want it to be like.

@modaren

90% of entries don't need a drop down unless you are looking at One Piece or Gundam which have 30+ OVAs each.

If they removed the expand thing (like they should have) all of you would stop bitching and writing silly scripts to force it go back to the convoluted mess it used to be.

May 26, 11:28 AM

#80

karrotStick

Offline

Dec 2017

742

Kineta said:
Along with this modification, the type of the related entry is now included.

okay ngl this is genuinely the best fucking update this site has put out since I created an account here.

❝Kabo-chan is ran by the MAL staff team and does not respond to individual comments made on her profile.❞

I was immensely devastated.

May 26, 12:34 PM

#81

FiliCZ

Offline

Mar 2018

33

Clicking "Show more" makes sence, but it should be for at least 10+ relations or even more. It really doesn't take up that much space and it's annoying to click it for anime with just 5 relations.

May 26, 5:35 PM

#82

MiaAyende

Offline

Nov 2018

218

I hate this change and would very much like to swap back. I don't want to have to click "Show more" on stuff, and it's way more difficult to find the thing I'm actually looking for now. Most of the time I'm wanting to see the Prequel, and it was always in an easy-to-spot location previously, but now not only does the section visually look the same as the characters & staff sections so I can't scan the page and find it as easily, the actual thing I'm looking for is in a random location; it could be on the right, on the left, or under the fold. Horrible usability.
I would be happy if the thumbnail section were gone and I didn't need to click Show More; just list everything like normal. Putting stuff on individual lines is a nice change, but having the thumbnail section at the top sucks.

MiaAyendeMay 26, 5:46 PM

May 26, 8:26 PM

#83

Sleepteiner

Offline

Jun 2017

37

This seems to improve readability in many cases, so I think this is a good change overall, however I agree with a lot of people here in that it is bad design to need an extra click to see things that were visible without that click before. A solution to this could be to add an "always show all related entries" option in the site settings so that people, like me, who want to see all the related entries without needing an extra click can set it up to do so and people who want a shorter webpage can keep the setting off. The Visual Novel Database and Rate Your Music both have settings to auto expand the full list of releases for an entry. Since those settings are similar to what I'm referring to here, they could be used as a model for the "always show all related entries" option.

Also, thank you so much for putting the episode videos section lower on the page. People are going to be spoiled on shows less now.

Kineta said:
For now, Manga <-> Novel relations will be still be listed under Alternative Version (without a thumbnail). In the future, we'll be making it possible for these relations to also appear rightfully as Adaptations, and will migrate the existing data.

We also recognize that although many anime are adapted from light novels, the manga versions or "comicalizations" of these titles are often still more widely read. Thus, we plan to make it easier to move between Anime <-> Manga entries of Light Novel sources in the future, as well.

I'm probably being overly optimistic, but I really really hope that these two paragraphs are hinting that the site is going to finally separate novels from manga so that there is a novel list and dedicated novel rankings instead of the medium of novels being erroneously conflated with the medium of manga on the site. If that is coming soon, that would be a dream come true for me.

SleepteinerMay 27, 4:26 PM

May 27, 4:25 AM

#84

Vaturna

Online

Feb 2023

268

I have very mixed feelings about the new Related Entries design. I love the addition of thumbnails for related entries, but the rest feels a bit like a downgrade:

The fact that prequels, sequels, and adaptations are listed in 2 columns but everything below is single column feels awkward. When reading through the related entries, I always catch myself jumping from the first Prequels/Sequels/Adaptations column directly to the other related entries, skipping over the second column. There is almost no gap between Prequels/Sequels/Adaptations and the rest, so my eyes just automatically keep reading top to bottom. My head just doesn't know in which order I should read it.
I have no idea what's the best way to fix this. Having the whole list be single column would be great (although it would take more space), but it could also help to just visually seperate Prequels/Sequels/Adaptations from the other relations.

It's not visible enough that there are hidden entries if the anime/manga has more than 4 relations. With the current design I sometimes just assume that there are only 4 relations, because there is nothing that reminds me to press the "More related entries" button. The button is too far on the right while everything else is aligned left, I have to actively look for the button or I just forget that it's there. It might be helpful to have something like a "..." or a fade out to indicate that there are more entries than we already see.
I know that it's the same design as for OP/EDs, but there the button is much closer to the information I'm looking for because it's directly below the list for the EDs.

Please increase the limit of relations before they're collapsed. I understand that it's important to limit how much space they take up if it's One Piece with 70+ relations, but relations are very important information and I don't always want to click a button to see them. Please increase the number to at least 10.

It's a really nice update for anime/manga with 2 or less relations. Having thumbnails feels great, it's more readable (especially since all the names for the other entries are still romaji and not English)
Thanks for the update, but please consider making some adjustments to the design.

edit 2024-06-22: I originally really liked the idea of thumbnails, but the more I use the new design the less I like it. The thumbnails look cool, but Prequels/Sequels/Adaptations being treated as one single category and being listed as two columns destorys readability. At least the new design for Alternative Versions etc would be a nice improvement, but the fact that everything after 4 relations is automatically collapsed completely ruins it too.

VaturnaJun 22, 4:03 AM

May 27, 6:24 AM

#85

Ecchienj0yer

Offline

Apr 2018

1

I want to be able to revert to the old system. Mainly so the related entries have the little "Completed" or "Currently watching" next to the name of the anime so I know if i've seen it or not. I cannot remember all the japanese names.

Ecchienj0yerMay 27, 6:33 AM

May 27, 10:50 AM

#86

nyomdalee

meowmori

Offline

Apr 2017

134

Great improvement for readability in the compact list and it saves you click throughs by showing the entry type up front, although collapsing for more than 4 entries is a bit overzealous.
And then there's the travesty up top, with a grid instead of a list like the rest, which hinders skimming, haphazard ordering and thumbnails so small they are completely pointless.

A good idea ruined by bad execution; par for the course for MAL sadly. Hopefully it gets fixed but I'm not holding my breath.

May 27, 12:12 PM

#87

Antw0n

Offline

Oct 2010

1

I dislike this change immensely. It has only made my experience using this website worse.
Please consider reverting it or offering an option to use the old way.
It was so clean and perfect, and now its ugly and clunky, and with a completely unnecessary dropdown menu.

May 27, 12:59 PM

#88

BatoKusanagi

Laughing Man

Offline

Jun 2012

6731

MAL finally fixed the relations section to the standards of userscripts. Showing the type is also a good change. However, the thumbnails are just clutter and unnecessary.

@RobbiRobb thanks for the script, man. You're a hero.

I'm level

on MAL-Badges. View my badges.

May 28, 8:01 AM

#89

Jalis

Offline

Aug 2016

3

I don't like this change at all. For many series with a lot of entries, you can't see everything related to the anime now.

Just take Gundam, Natsume or MHA. It's really annoying.

May 28, 9:24 AM

#90

clumsy_gamer_19

Offline

Apr 2019

2

My eyes appreciate your efforts @RobbiRobb
Thanks

May 29, 2:33 PM

#91

RED-clover12

Offline

Jan 2020

42

I don't read

May 29, 3:41 PM

#92

gray_-_wolf

Offline

Jul 2016

6

Not a fan, seems harder to read. Would be great to have a setting to undo this changes...

May 30, 10:41 AM

#93

Areku21

Offline

Dec 2020

3

Excellent change, very comfortable, but there would be an option missing that I think many people would like, a new update to have catalogs of years of manga, in the anime section it has its catalog spring 2023.. etc. But in manga it is necessary, even if it is not seasonal, for example if I want to search for manga from an exact year, 2007, it is not possible, it would be nice to go to that link for 2007 and Seeing all the mangas corresponding to that exact year would be a good option for adventurers like me who want to look for more mangas.

May 30, 11:17 AM

#94

MysticalMagic

Offline

Apr 2019

8

@RobbiRobb It doesn't work for https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=51215 links so I've just changed the first match to https://myanimelist.net/anime* for now.
EDIT: Actually should probably add another match for https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=* instead incase it breaks anything :/
If you're wondering how I got those links, they are the ones given when navigating from MAL watch history.

MysticalMagicMay 30, 11:21 AM

May 30, 2:16 PM

#95

Offline

Apr 2017

140

Reply to MysticalMagic

@RobbiRobb It doesn't work for https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=51215 links so I've just changed the first match to https://myanimelist.net/anime* for now.
EDIT: Actually should probably add another match for https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=* instead incase it breaks anything :/
If you're wondering how I got those links, they are the ones given when navigating from MAL watch history.

@MysticalMagic Hm yeah, it seems like it's not working there. I pushed the small fix for those cases, so in theory tampermonkey should realize that there is an update and automatically notifiy and update the script for everyone who uses at least version 0.2. Thanks for letting me know ^^

May 30, 3:01 PM

#96

MysticalMagic

Offline

Apr 2019

8

Reply to RobbiRobb

@MysticalMagic Hm yeah, it seems like it's not working there. I pushed the small fix for those cases, so in theory tampermonkey should realize that there is an update and automatically notifiy and update the script for everyone who uses at least version 0.2. Thanks for letting me know ^^

@RobbiRobb It doesn't because you didn't set the // @downloadURL

May 30, 5:13 PM

#97