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Manga approval priorities & how submissions are visible to mods

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Jul 16, 2021 3:06 PM
#1

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Aug 2017
3109
Taking a look at the recently added manga here
https://myanimelist.net/manga.php?o=9&c%5B0%5D=a&c%5B1%5D=d&cv=2&w=1
I wonder if the more recent the manga is, the more likely it is to be approved? Maybe it appears to mods sorted by publication date? Or submission date? It just seems that a huge bulk of what's being approved consists of relatively "new" hentai oneshots, doujins and everything in-between. Not that I have anything against it, but that's just strange/disproportionate - are, say, older works just doomed to be in pending hell forever? Or are they just not submitted as often? Say, Osamu Tezuka's COM magazine is basically non-existent for MAL (one entry, really?), the state of "alternative" manga magazines like Garo and AX is also not very good, plenty of very well-known creators like Shigeru Mizuki, Hajime Yamano or Yoshiharu Tsuge lack works in the DB, some people like Baron Yoshimoto are just empty, some don't exist in the DB at all. I know MAL isn't called "MyMangaList", but still, things can be better. Thousands of manga are pending. It's hardly possible to keep it up to date given the state of the whole thing now. Isn't it possible to, say, replicate the databases of other websites that are filled with more manga? Like anilist or mangaupdates (?). For example, https://shikimori.one/ is already doing it for MAL (it's a similar website but in Russian).

P.S. Regarding the likeliness of approval, I had a very recent manga approved in, like, 2 days, while some others have been pending for months and maybe over a year. I don't get how it works. Just luck? Whatever happens to catch attention gets approved or something.
St0rmbladeJul 16, 2021 3:12 PM
Jul 16, 2021 6:53 PM
#2
Manga Moderator
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Sep 2011
13
I hope I don't sound rude, but next time when you're submitting a manga, try looking for as much info as possible (in japanese official websites of course, even if your knowledge of the language is zero) and you'll realize just how much time and energy it takes.
I'm glad this site isn't like mangaupdates, since mods there approve everything without checking the information submitted, they just see something that kinda looks and sounds like a manga and approve it. Thanks to this, I've spent lots of time changing wrong or missing information, and I'm frequently requesting to change/correct titles. I mean any troll can change the information and put whatever the hell they think is funny in there...

St0rmblade said:

It just seems that a huge bulk of what's being approved consists of relatively "new" hentai oneshots, doujins and everything in-between.


I'm guessing one of the mods is in charge of approving/adding most of the entries for this genre.

I'll give you a tip if you want to increase the chances of your entries getting approved: Fill in as much as (correct) information as possible, and send official resources. If you attach the links, they don't have to spend as much time looking for the information, they just have to confirm it. Of course, this doesn't mean that all your submitions will get approved.

P.S: The link you sent shows manga entries by most recent id number, not most recently approved. So if an old entry gets approved you won't actually see it there, better go here https://myanimelist.net/topmanga.php?type=bypopularity&limit=55700
-MitsukiiJul 16, 2021 7:28 PM
Jul 17, 2021 12:14 AM
#3

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Aug 2017
3109
-Mitsukii said:

I'm guessing one of the mods is in charge of approving/adding most of the entries for this genre.

I'll give you a tip if you want to increase the chances of your entries getting approved: Fill in as much as (correct) information as possible, and send official resources. If you attach the links, they don't have to spend as much time looking for the information, they just have to confirm it. Of course, this doesn't mean that all your submitions will get approved.


So different mods see different submissions if they're "responsible" for a particular genre? Interesting. I'm aware of the guidelines, and obviously try to fill in more since I hope it increases the chance of approval.

I'm glad this site isn't like mangaupdates, since mods there approve everything without checking the information submitted, they just see something that kinda looks and sounds like a manga and approve it. Thanks to this, I've spent lots of time changing wrong or missing information, and I'm frequently requesting to change/correct titles. I mean any troll can change the information and put whatever the hell they think is funny in there...

Hmm, that's quite a different experience, thanks for the perspective. But just to illustrate my point, compare the same mangaka on both sites:
https://myanimelist.net/people/44934/Hajime_Yamano
https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=11613
https://myanimelist.net/people/26041/Baron_Yoshimoto
https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=9865
It's not even close. Even if we grant that there might be a few mistakes or missing information, it's manageable given that you're at least made aware that many of these works exist at all, and judging by the covers it looks like MU people spend quite a lot of time lurking on Japanese websites.
I'm not saying there aren't situations where MAL has something that MU does not (there are!) but they seem pretty scarce.
The thing about approving a person but not his works is the most bizarre thing to me. Not only in the manga section, of course. Say, Baron Yoshimoto from above has been in the DB for at least 1.5 years, judging by comment dates - did he just get approved and forgotten? It's irresponsible.

P.S. Requesting to make changes to existing entries must be a frustrating thing to do given that there're no notifications if your change gets approved, right?

St0rmbladeJul 17, 2021 12:18 AM
Jul 17, 2021 12:27 AM
#4
News Team
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Feb 2018
29217
Idk, i'm not Manga Mod but I've done several manga submissions, And of the many manga that have received approval, I'm trying to add new manga publications and old publications. They approve manga not by genre, type, or publication, and even if you fill out the form correctly. I mean isn't that priority not important, If you want to add something and you want to immediately add the manga to your list, You just have to wait, it takes days, not weeks, not even months.

Approval, It's luck and even if you write the form correctly it doesn't mean the moderators will approve it quickly, So yeah, It's just a matter of time. See how long it takes for my submission to be approved :


。。。。。。。。。。。。
Ikan apa yang terindah?
。。。。。。。。。。。。
Jul 17, 2021 6:35 PM
#5
Manga Moderator
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Sep 2011
13
St0rmblade said:


So different mods see different submissions if they're "responsible" for a particular genre? Interesting. I'm aware of the guidelines, and obviously try to fill in more since I hope it increases the chance of approval.


Ummm I think they see all the requests, but they're free to choose which entries they approve. So of course, if mods have a favorite genre, they'll make this one their priority. Doesn't mean they'll ignore other genres tho...
But hey we're speaking here based on assumptions.

It's not even close. Even if we grant that there might be a few mistakes or missing information, it's manageable given that you're at least made aware that many of these works exist at all, and judging by the covers it looks like MU people spend quite a lot of time lurking on Japanese websites.


Yeah, most of the people who update the entries are either scans groups members or users who do spend time on japanese websites as you mentioned. But there're still users who just open up an entry for a manga that's not in DB and they figure someone will probably fix the entry later... or not, doesn't matter to them as long as they can track the progress. Sometimes is hard to find some mangas because of the wrong title.
But I understand your frustration, of course I wish too that the manga DB here was bigger but there are only like 10 mods? And 6000+ unappoved entries. PLUS the fact that many users don't understand or read the guidelines and constantly submit unpublished webtoons even though there are already like hundreds of request for the same title... I totally get why the queue is so long
-MitsukiiJul 17, 2021 8:56 PM
Jun 5, 2023 3:07 PM
#6

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Jun 2021
3189
St0rmblade said:
Isn't it possible to, say, replicate the databases of other websites that are filled with more manga? Like anilist or mangaupdates (?). For example, https://shikimori.one/ is already doing it for MAL (it's a similar website but in Russian).

MAL could/should also "piggyback" on other manga DBs as suggested by other users before (I can't seem to find where I read the suggestion before). It's probably possible as other DBs are doing that but MAL won't do it anytime soon or ever...

-Mitsukii said:
So of course, if mods have a favorite genre, they'll make this one their priority. Doesn't mean they'll ignore other genres tho...

That shouldn't be the case. There should be no bias or as little bias on approving titles.

---

There should be a way to streamline author submissions, like a way to add authors upon adding one of their works in the DB instead of having to submit an entry for a manga and a separate entry for the author or editing an author's page to add a title. The idea is somewhat similar to the suggestion: Streamlining character submissions.

Maybe they could merge details from duplicate entries instead of retaining the very first id/submission and deleting the duplicate outright. Sometimes the duplicate entries have better info than the one with the older id.

I really wish they'd improve the pages for magazines just like what they did for studios and companies. I hope they'd also add manga publishers.
(ex: Just compare these pages:
Shounen Jump (Weekly)
Sentai Filmworks)

MangaUpdates is alright but yeah some details could still be lacking or incorrect there. Ah, if only AniDB also caters for manga... And if only ANN's manga encyclopedia is somewhat at par with their anime encyclopedia. Obviously, all sites I've mentioned also need improvements same with MAL.

MAL's whitelist should also be updated.

P.S. To check for status of submissions, check DBSentinel, a better version of Unapproved MAL Entries - Manga by the same developer. It has metadata so you can check when an entry is submitted and last updated, etc.
IridescentJauneJun 5, 2023 3:13 PM
Jun 5, 2023 3:54 PM
#7

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Aug 2017
3109
@IridescentJaune

There should be a way to streamline author submissions, like a way to add authors upon adding one of their works in the DB instead of having to submit an entry for a manga and a separate entry for the author 
I just write the author's name together with the manga's name when making a submission. If the author is not in the DB, they will be added. Some mods told me they don't accept just the authors unless there's an entry they can be attached to (this despite the fact that there're "empty" author entries on MAL that need to be filled)
editing an author's page to add a title.
Does it even work? Not a single submission I've made this way has been accepted over the years, and neither those I keep track of. It seems like a totally abandoned mechanism. I routinely add anime credits for people, but manga credits literally never get approved. They're just hanging there forever.
MAL's whitelist should also be updated.
What's that? You mean manga DB guidelines?

Regarding magazines, we should also be able to submit them just like we submit other things. And a manga entry should have an option to list more than one magazine, just like they list more than one studio in the anime section. You can have a manga that was serialized in one magazine for 1/5th of its run and the rest moved to another magazine, yet you will only get one of them listed. Plus not everything is published in magazines.
Jun 6, 2023 3:51 PM
#8

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Jun 2021
3189
St0rmblade said:
@IridescentJaune

There should be a way to streamline author submissions, like a way to add authors upon adding one of their works in the DB instead of having to submit an entry for a manga and a separate entry for the author 
I just write the author's name together with the manga's name when making a submission. If the author is not in the DB, they will be added. Some mods told me they don't accept just the authors unless there's an entry they can be attached to (this despite the fact that there're "empty" author entries on MAL that need to be filled)
editing an author's page to add a title.
Does it even work? Not a single submission I've made this way has been accepted over the years, and neither those I keep track of. It seems like a totally abandoned mechanism. I routinely add anime credits for people, but manga credits literally never get approved. They're just hanging there forever.
MAL's whitelist should also be updated.
What's that? You mean manga DB guidelines?

Regarding magazines, we should also be able to submit them just like we submit other things. And a manga entry should have an option to list more than one magazine, just like they list more than one studio in the anime section. You can have a manga that was serialized in one magazine for 1/5th of its run and the rest moved to another magazine, yet you will only get one of them listed. Plus not everything is published in magazines.


I don't really include the authors in the additional info as they'll just delete that part. And they sometimes add authors when not in the DB, anyways. Yeah, it's recommended to add a work first before trying to submit people.

I just mentioned that part. It sometimes works for other staff positions (but takes a long while), though; maybe not for authors then...

Yeah, the whitelist of digital publishers/platforms.
"Whitelist as of July 2022: Cycomics, GANMA!, KakaoPage, Lezhin Comics Webtoon, Naver Webtoon"
(Source: Database Guidelines: Manga)

Ridibooks, Mr.Blue, Bomtoon, etc. should already be considered for addition.

I agree with the magazines suggestion.
Sep 12, 2023 5:58 AM
#9
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Aug 2023
37
I do wish though that they would notify you when your edit on MAL has been approved or denied.
Sep 7, 2024 11:44 AM

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Jun 2021
3189
Reply to St0rmblade
@IridescentJaune

There should be a way to streamline author submissions, like a way to add authors upon adding one of their works in the DB instead of having to submit an entry for a manga and a separate entry for the author 
I just write the author's name together with the manga's name when making a submission. If the author is not in the DB, they will be added. Some mods told me they don't accept just the authors unless there's an entry they can be attached to (this despite the fact that there're "empty" author entries on MAL that need to be filled)
editing an author's page to add a title.
Does it even work? Not a single submission I've made this way has been accepted over the years, and neither those I keep track of. It seems like a totally abandoned mechanism. I routinely add anime credits for people, but manga credits literally never get approved. They're just hanging there forever.
MAL's whitelist should also be updated.
What's that? You mean manga DB guidelines?

Regarding magazines, we should also be able to submit them just like we submit other things. And a manga entry should have an option to list more than one magazine, just like they list more than one studio in the anime section. You can have a manga that was serialized in one magazine for 1/5th of its run and the rest moved to another magazine, yet you will only get one of them listed. Plus not everything is published in magazines.
St0rmblade said:
Regarding magazines, we should also be able to submit them just like we submit other things. And a manga entry should have an option to list more than one magazine, just like they list more than one studio in the anime section. You can have a manga that was serialized in one magazine for 1/5th of its run and the rest moved to another magazine, yet you will only get one of them listed. Plus not everything is published in magazines.


I was reminded of this after this thread: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2176935

There really should be an 'Add Magazine' form similar to these:
https://myanimelist.net/dbchanges.php?go=addproducer
https://myanimelist.net/dbchanges.php?go=voiceactor&do=addperson

How can we request for certain magazines to be added here https://myanimelist.net/manga/magazine ?
Sep 7, 2024 3:15 PM

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Aug 2017
3109
Reply to IridescentJaune
St0rmblade said:
Regarding magazines, we should also be able to submit them just like we submit other things. And a manga entry should have an option to list more than one magazine, just like they list more than one studio in the anime section. You can have a manga that was serialized in one magazine for 1/5th of its run and the rest moved to another magazine, yet you will only get one of them listed. Plus not everything is published in magazines.


I was reminded of this after this thread: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2176935

There really should be an 'Add Magazine' form similar to these:
https://myanimelist.net/dbchanges.php?go=addproducer
https://myanimelist.net/dbchanges.php?go=voiceactor&do=addperson

How can we request for certain magazines to be added here https://myanimelist.net/manga/magazine ?
IridescentJaune said:
How can we request for certain magazines to be added here https://myanimelist.net/manga/magazine ?

My guess is that you need to submit a manga from that magazine and write the magazine name in the "more info" or something like that. Then hope for a mod to accept and create it
Jan 26, 10:50 AM

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Jun 2021
3189
Reply to St0rmblade
IridescentJaune said:
How can we request for certain magazines to be added here https://myanimelist.net/manga/magazine ?

My guess is that you need to submit a manga from that magazine and write the magazine name in the "more info" or something like that. Then hope for a mod to accept and create it
@St0rmblade Oh. So that's what I should do then. Thanks for the tip.

I really hope they would make a form similar to Add Anime Company for Manga Magazines and a similar page to Companies for Manga Magazines/Publishers.
Apr 30, 10:19 AM

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Dec 2020
1126
It’s honestly a mystery how they decide which submissions to work on. Chronological order makes the most sense to me. At least that way, nothing gets stuck in pending hell, but that clearly isn’t always the case.

For example, the oldest unapproved (in Hentai, at least) is Toukou Harem (98023), which was submitted way back in 2022 or earlier, sitting in the queue for about three years. Meanwhile, Datte Ishu Damon (181495), a tankoubon released on April 28, 2025, was added to the database by April 30, 2025.

I don’t know if it’s bias based on genre, magazine, or even who submitted it but that’s a pretty quick turnaround compared to my current average of around 50 days.

VIEW IN LIGHT MODE
SUBMITTED MANGA ❤︎ F! ENG CHAPTER TITLES
May 8, 4:10 PM

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Jun 2021
3189
Reply to jaeo_k
It’s honestly a mystery how they decide which submissions to work on. Chronological order makes the most sense to me. At least that way, nothing gets stuck in pending hell, but that clearly isn’t always the case.

For example, the oldest unapproved (in Hentai, at least) is Toukou Harem (98023), which was submitted way back in 2022 or earlier, sitting in the queue for about three years. Meanwhile, Datte Ishu Damon (181495), a tankoubon released on April 28, 2025, was added to the database by April 30, 2025.

I don’t know if it’s bias based on genre, magazine, or even who submitted it but that’s a pretty quick turnaround compared to my current average of around 50 days.
@jaeo_k Yeah, I agree that chronological order (oldest to newest or newest to oldest) makes the most sense. So they better check the older IDs first. However, some of the newer IDs might have more detailed forms.

Maybe they can just use a randomizer to avoid biases. Haha.
May 28, 12:55 AM

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3109
Reply to IridescentJaune
@jaeo_k Yeah, I agree that chronological order (oldest to newest or newest to oldest) makes the most sense. So they better check the older IDs first. However, some of the newer IDs might have more detailed forms.

Maybe they can just use a randomizer to avoid biases. Haha.
IridescentJaune said:
Maybe they can just use a randomizer to avoid biases. Haha.


The recent call for new mods might provide a clue

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2216272

Interested in cataloging a wide variety of manga titles, with a focus on newly-licensed series or just-started publishing.

So this may be one of the ways the manga submissions are prioritized

Note also how only "news" and "community"mods are "high" priority.
May 28, 5:25 AM

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Jun 2021
3189
Reply to St0rmblade
IridescentJaune said:
Maybe they can just use a randomizer to avoid biases. Haha.


The recent call for new mods might provide a clue

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2216272

Interested in cataloging a wide variety of manga titles, with a focus on newly-licensed series or just-started publishing.

So this may be one of the ways the manga submissions are prioritized

Note also how only "news" and "community"mods are "high" priority.
@St0rmblade Thanks for sharing the thread. I've just read it; I've seen it on the homepage earlier but I just wasn't interested in reading then. Of course, they need moderators for places which could help them garner some revenue (news and SNS posts) but they should put more resources towards the anime and manga databases. Perhaps HIRE some mods for the news and SNS for more professional, polished and well-written content and then gather and train more volunteers for the database. They can't and shouldn't always rely on volunteers for each kind of moderation. They would/should need/have to hire people for other parts of the site.

Bummer. Honestly, they should really prioritize what are already in the queue for ages (those with older IDs).

P.S. They should just use a randomizer then...

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