Martial Peak

If the Donghua adaptation does not get cancelled and meets all the required guidelines , then the Novel will become eligible to be added in the database.
Novels are by far the least priority of MAL tho , so even if you submit it , it will take a lot of time to be accepted.

The Manhua is still not eligible.
Since the creation of this thread , the rules were updated for Manhwas , and can now be added if they are published on certain sites. But still not Manhuas.

I have a question regarding this, as I noticed the discussion dates back almost two years. However, I see that the animated series for the manhua (the Donghua) is currently available on the site, still releasing episodes, and has 48 chapters as of the time I’m writing this.

So, I’m trying to understand—why hasn’t the manhua been added as a source for the animated series? Or, at the very least, the novel? I understand the goal of keeping the site organized and not cluttered with random content, but there seems to be some inconsistency here.

For instance, there are quite a few doujinshi listed, some of which seem questionable in terms of their availability or relevance. It feels like the rules and requirements aren’t being applied equally across all series.

I’m just asking because I’m genuinely confused about this and would like some clarity—please don’t take my words too personally!

@AzaBesher I mean, Alexioos literally answers these questions in the thread.


As of right now, the webtoon has been denied all the ca. 30 times it has been submitted to the DB, and the novel was submitted (as an LN) and denied once, back in 2022. Currently there is no pending submission for the novel, i.e. nobody has bothered adding it in the time since the adaptation has started airing. Once the webtoon gets a physical release in its country of origin, it will likely be added, but as long as it's only published online, it's not eligible (barring the whitelisting of the platform).

Doujinshi are eligible on MAL under certain conditions, i.e. when they are self-published works of professional creators, using their own or non-copyrighted characters. So Hiroyuki's Tsukihime and Fate doujins are not here, but Ume Aoki's Madoka-related doujin as well as her original doujins are listed.

It's not about availability or relevance, it's simply about what is allowed under the current guidelines.

The Manga DB guidelines are quite clear on what is allowed in my opinion, so do give them (particularly sections 0 and I) a thorough read.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=141104

@Darkonius Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is treating you well so far.

Thanks for taking the time to explain, but I still feel there’s some inconsistency in how these rules are applied. I understand these guidelines exist to keep the database organized and prevent overuse, which is completely reasonable.

However, given how much the industry has evolved, I think it’s worth reconsidering some of these restrictions—especially for popular manhwa and manhua.

In 2025, a lot of major series are released exclusively in digital formats because of how convenient and accessible it is for readers worldwide. It feels outdated to exclude certain works based on the lack of a physical release when digital is becoming the norm.

For example, light novels are listed on MAL even though many of them are nearly impossible to find in physical form. If digital availability is acceptable for light novels, why not apply the same flexibility to popular and/or high-quality manhwa and manhua?

Again, I’m not trying to be mean or overly critical; I’m just confused and concerned about the inconsistency here. Given the popularity of these mediums and their impact on the anime and manga community, I think adapting the rules slightly—especially for prominent series that even have animated adaptations—would better reflect the modern landscape of this industry.

@AzaBesher It's clear that MAL has recognized that online publishing is legitimate because they already accept online releases by print publishers, and have established a whitelist of professional online-only publishers for manwha and manhua, they're just slow to expand this whitelist. With how incomplete the existing database is as is, even without these works being eligible, it's no surprise they're taking their time.

MAL is also restricting online publication to keep consistency. They generally want professional works, not hobby stuff. This is reflected in only a handful of doujin animations making it into the anime database, when at least one creator is an anime industry professional or award-winning in Japan. The same has to apply to the manga DB. A lot of what is published online is effectively self-published, and MAL can't just accept every random webtoon, of course. And in lieu of having to do case-by-case decisions on what webtoons are "popular" or otherwise noteworthy, it's easier to put a general restriction on online publishing, with a whitelist of legitimate publishers (which is currently incomplete), and exceptions for works with adaptations (in case of Martial Peak, that would be the novel, not its webtoon adaptation, no matter how popular it is).
Having a one-and-done rule for this is also much easier on the forum side of things, because if you have to give a detailed justification for why X is in the database but Y isn't based on perceived relevance, popularity, whatever, you're just dragging yourself into endless, fruitless discussions. See also every time a Western "anime" gets announced, and people will flame MAL for including or not including it, irrespective of whether it actually fits the rules in the guidelines (which are a bit murkier than what we have for manwha and manhua).


On Light Novels, I'd note that they have to be published in print to be eligible as Light Novels, and ebooks have to be published by print publishers; there are a good number of web novels that were only added to MAL after they were picked up by a print publisher. This is consistent with how Webtoons are treated, except for the additional whitelist allowances afforded to the latter.