One of the world’s largest manga piracy networks has been shut down, and its owner is expected to face criminal charges following a joint international investigation. The suspect is accused of operating a pirate manga site Bato.to, alongside a network of around 60 related piracy sites. He has since been released on bail but has admitted to running the sites and is expected to be formally indicted. Article continues after adBased on estimated values per manga view, the organization placed the economic impact at around 770 billion yen, roughly $5.1 billion USD. While the sites briefly remained online for evidence preservation, CODA confirmed that all 60 linked domains were fully shut down by January 19, 2026.