Anime/manga are pretty strongly intertwined with (web) novels in Japan. Those same novels are fan translated into English (Chinese and Korean too). This has created a kind of fanbase for web novels/self-published novels.
Japanese companies starting to send copyright claims against fan translations probably opened the door for Chinese, Korean, and English web novels like that.
Japanese companies starting to send copyright claims against fan translations probably opened the door for Chinese, Korean, and English web novels like that.