Mangajikan, a major manga piracy website that became extraordinarily popular, has suddenly disappeared. This follows legal actions in U.S. courts by manga publishers that include Kodansha, Kadokawa, Shogakukan, and Shueisha.
Manga’s Unprecedented Growth
Mangajikan experienced explosive growth in early 2025, jumping from a few million visits in January to over 104 million in March, then reaching 185 million visitors in May alone. This made it more popular in Japan than established platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and ChatGPT, ranking as the 17th most visited site in the entire country.
Publishers Fight Manga Piracy
Japanese manga publisher Shueisha filed a DMCA subpoena in U.S. court targeting Cloudflare, seeking data on approximately 25 pirate domains including Mangajikan. The action focuses on sites allegedly infringing rights to the popular ONE PIECE manga series. This represents part of a broader campaign by Japanese publishers against global piracy operations.
Mangajikan’s Sudden Disappearance
Despite its massive popularity, Mangajikan abruptly shut down, displaying only a brief “Website Closed” message on its homepage. However, the closure appears strategic rather than permanent, as traffic data suggests visitors were redirected to other domains with similar branding or operations.
Piracy Sites and Traffic Migration Patterns
Analysis reveals that when major pirate sites close, their traffic typically flows to replacement domains. Several Vietnam-focused sites saw dramatic increases, with one growing from zero to 77.2 million visits between March and May. Some redirected traffic ended up on malicious domains flagged by security services.
Anti-Piracy Challenges
The case illustrates the challenges facing anti-piracy efforts globally. Pirates operate networks of domains that can quickly shift traffic when one site faces legal pressure, making enforcement difficult. The organized nature of these operations suggests coordinated efforts to maintain service continuity despite publisher actions.
This cycle of closure and migration represents the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between content creators and piracy operations in the digital manga market.