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First off, what is IRC? You can read a detailed explanation here, but for now, I'm just going to explain the basics.
It is a method of communication consisting of many servers, and inside each of these servers are a large amount of channels which you may join. An IRC channel is denoted by a # symbol as a prefix. For example, the Lurk IRC channel address is #lurk.
First of all, we need a method of accessing the IRC network. For the purposes of this guide, I will be using mIRC, which is the most popular and effective of IRC clients. It is free and safe to download and install.
Now, once you've installed it, I'm sure it'll all look a bit confusing. That's common. Now, we're going to alter some basic settings.
First of all, tools -> options.
Connecting to a channel is a simple matter. Find out the name of the channel you want to join, then type "/join CHANNEL" into your mIRC window. For example, to join the #lurk channel, type "/join #lurk". Remember, all channel's are prefixed with #. When you join IRCHighway with your username, you will have to log in. To do this, simply type "/identify PASSWORD".
Next, we're going to actually download files from IRC. A little bit about that, first. The system of downloading files from IRC is called XDCC. In any given channel that offers downloads, there will be bots. I'm sure most of you know what bots are, but for those who don't, they're dummy users; computer programs posing as actual users, programmed to respond to certain actions in certain ways. In this case, they're set to respond to certain messages by sending you certain files. Each file you request from one of these bots will have a pack number, which, when sent to the bot, will cause them to send you the corresponding file.
Generally, the message you send a bot will be in the format "/msg BOTNAME xdcc send #PACKNUMBER".
For information on where to find pack-lists and recent releases, scroll down. Now, a step-by-step tutorial.
The file we're going to download will be Bleach chapter 408. I'm going to go to the channel of the group that scanlates this series, as it's quite recent and unlikely to be available on any archiving sites, such as Lurk.
For those of you that don't know, Bleach is scanlated by Binktopia, whose IRC channel (as I discovered by googling "binktopia irc") is #binktopia.
So, here we go.
Resources
• mIRC: The best IRC client available
• CDisplay: Very effective manga/comic/image viewing software. You can directly open .zip/.rar files and view the images within. It has a multitude of settings, allowing you to view images in a variety of modes, such as double-page mode, fixed-height, fit-to-width and. fit-to-height. In addition, you can select the background colour and customize the actions performed through the use of your mouse buttons
• MangaUpdates: Provides a frequently updated list of recently scanlated manga chapters, along with the name of the group that released them. By clicking on a group's name, you will be shown their website, their IRC channel, their frequency of release and other miscellaneous information
• Manga Traders: Provides a host of useful information and download links.
• Lurk: The most popular manga archive on the internet. Very simple to use, but suffers from frequent down time due to lack of donations (Narutomania syndrome)
• Raw Distro: Very expansive site for finding raw manga.
Popular Scanlation Channels
#Lurk Lurk (All-purpose manga archive)
#Binktopia Binktopia (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Bakuman)
#ieatsoul I Eat Manga (Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn!, Fairy Tail)
#Illuminati-manga Illuminati-manga (Holyland, Jackals, Full Metal Panic! Sigma)
#Keishou Keishou Scans (Beelzebub, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi)
#E-A Endless Abyss (Hajime no Ippo)
#A-Team A-Team (Kekkaishi)
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