MangaNovel Service to Shut Down in February

In a message to users dated last Friday, the Toshiba-owned MangaNovel user-generated translation service has announced that it will shut down the translation service effective February 27, 2009 with new user registration, MangaNovel point sales, and new translation uploads by current users being taken offline.

MangaNovel users with points left in their accounts will be sent an instructional email in January detailing redemption of remaining points, while also being able to enjoy access to the free manga listings until the shutdown date.

MangaNovel debuted to considerable fanfare in 2007 thanks to its reliance on user-generated translations for selected Japanese manga titles on top of staff translators, with 25 authors and 117 titles translated in English and Spanish as well as being available in the original Japanese language.