Wow, people are getting stupid in this thread.
I think that companies will only see a slight increase in purchasing of manga as this goes into effect. There will still be the crazies out there, like myself, that find some time (say, an entire day) to head over to Borders/Barnes & Noble/anywhere else to sit and read for a decent amount of time. Do these companies have anything against aisle readers? Nope. I know for a fact that B&N supplies plenty of places for one to actually sit down and read your books. Oh, and while we're at it, they provide food, drink and free wifi as well if you get hungry.
Can the companies be losing money this way? Sure. Will more people resort to this in a few years when new manga come out and the scanlations are scarce? I don't see why not.
But, seriously. What will these big-name companies do? Hire security guards to make sure you don't read something for more than 30 minutes? Doubtful. If anything, the idea is assinine.
But what I don't get is why EVERYONE is whining about the difference of time from Japan's manga to here. Has it ever occurred to some of you thick-skulled people that it takes time to professionally clean up some of these manga, properly translate them, re-spot the artwork, etc? There's a lot more in the manga industry than meets the eye. So we get it a little later than they do. Suck up. None of your whining's gonna change it. Importing is a long winded process, which is why the mangas are, most of the time, behind.
As for the whole 'price whine whine whine' thing...uh, a LOT of books are priced higher, so you know. Look at some of the more popular novel series out there...(as much as they are not good) Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga easily go for $15 paperback. And you're whining about $8? Why don't you go try get a job and help pay for food and insurance and other bills on your own? Yeah, shelling out $400 a month is nothing to purchasing one or two manga a month. Please. If you can't make the money, you're just being far too lazy and unethical to get a small job even walking dogs or babysitting or doing chores around the house. You spoiled brats.
Like I said, the only quip I have is that some manga will never be brought to the US and properly translated, such as Persona 3/4. It's generally the only time I would reach for a scanlation, because I'm not gonna pretend I can read Japanese. I would LOVE to, because some of the stuff that won't be properly translated is really awesome, but it just doesn't form into the stereotypical 'mindless action' that most Americans have taste in.
