How to read and enjoy Danmei

 In the era when very few books of danmei got licensed, it was a struggle to read without feeling that you were doing something illegal. Thankfully, that era has passed when the publishing of danmei has gone and skyrockets.. so much that there will be a reprint of Heaven's Official Blessing in hardcover. And yes, that novel is eight volumes long.  

For non-experienced users, the first and most ideal way to consume danmei is to go the most official route and purchase Volume One. Most of the series already out are either in paperback or ebook. As discussed previously, these stories tend to be longer, so you should consider what is best for you and your budget. Either way, today, we will cover most of the ways you can enjoy danmei.

The easiest way is to go to your local library, purchase the first volume of a series that catches your eye, and start from there. If you like the author's writing, you can search for more of their works. Although only some of their works can be guaranteed to be licensed, a good example would be Priest books (yes, the author's name is Priest), where Guardian has been licensed for print, but Faraway Wanderers has yet to. 

Although the best way to read danmei is to get the licensed version of the novel and support the author, more often than not, it is a big commitment if you were to start with an 8-volume novel to decide then that you don't like it as much in volume three.

So, if you like a specific novel but cannot find or buy it, there is a way to read it. Your best friend for finding fan-translated novels is NovelUpdates, which has an extensive catalogue of books, danmei or otherwise. Refrain from being alarmed if you find a story with many more chapters than you thought; web novels are published weekly, which is usually what the translators do, too. There will be many links, which is okay. As the translators break a chapter into pieces for more convenient translation, it makes them easier to read and less overwhelming. It is a plus when you read a chapter during your work break and don't have to scroll down whenever you want to keep reading.

The translator group can occasionally change after a few chapters, which is more common than you think. The change can mainly be because their audience wasn't a fan of the book itself or the language in the books was more problematic to translate than they initially thought; sometimes, it is because they don't have as many translators and need to drop a project or so. Generally, NovelUpdates will have the next chapter with the new translator group in case the first translator dropped the novel in haste. So, I recommend having the original tab open in NovelUpdates for smooth reading. Do not be discouraged; once you start reading on the translator's blog/website, the next chapter/part will be linked, making the reader's experience more accessible.

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Most scanlations are done by fans for fans. Still, sometimes, some translators offer the option to subscribe to their patron to get three or so chapters ahead of the current free translation if you are interested. They sometimes have Ko-fi if you want to support them by buying them a coffee. As always, donations are appreciated but not required.  

Once you start getting familiarized with the genre or find it tedious to have the windows always open, you can find scanlation groups, where they have the entire translation of novels on their website. Be aware that once the licensed translations come out, most scanlations groups will take their translations down, and only the chapters that are available for free on the original website (JJWXC) will not be taken down

Not every translation on the internet has been made ethically. Sometimes, other websites copy and paste the fans' translations and do not remove the stolen translations when the book is licensed.

On a lighter note, many of these series have been around for a while, so other adaptation formats exist. There are live-action adaptations, Manhuas (Chinese comics) and Donghuas (Chinese animation). Be aware that each adaptation has different levels of censorship, so there will be differences between the characters' relationships. Most of them replace a romance with bromance (close relationship but non-sexual). and while most live adaptations cannot follow through the canon novel ending (canon being "What is true within the context of a work of fiction"), they still give people a good view of their favourite book characters.

Most of these live-action adaptations can be seen on apps like WeTv and Viki. The manhuas can be read on Webtoon, Tapas, WebComics, and Lezhin Comics. However, not all of their series are free, as they have a different purchase system (you need to buy coins to unlock chapters for premium series).