December
And so another year has come to a close - as always, thank you for your continued support over the years. 2025 was a challenging year - from beloved reading sites closing down, slower releases on my end, to Google significantly impacting Kenmei's distribution, not to mention the growing competition.
This has probably been one of the toughest years since Kenmei started. But we've weathered the storm, and I still see a clear path forward to new heights in 2026 and beyond. Now onto the update
Check out the Changelog for the full list of changes →
📋ChangelogDesktop Grid Chapters v3
Announced back in September, I've continued working on Chapters v3, this time redesigning the Dashboard Grid.
SeptemberBuilding on the mobile version's foundation, the new grid lets you see how many chapters you're behind, navigate through them easily, and jump directly to your next unread chapter. This makes it much easier to keep track of series you haven't caught up with as well as pick up right where you left off.
The new UI is also more compact and easier on the eye, thanks to the glassmorphic design and symmetrical layout. I'm still gathering feedback on other potential improvements, which I'll address before shifting focus to the Dashboard List version in March 2026.
Personal Recommendations Filtering
If you've read my announcement on Discord, one of the themes for 2026 is expanding and enhancing our Premium features based on your feedback. One request that's come up repeatedly is having more control over Personal Recommendations.
I still believe it's best not to use filters, as by restricting the database our AI engine analyzes, you risk missing hidden gems that match your tastes. That said, I recognize there are legitimate use cases. Perhaps there's a tag you strongly dislike, or you'd prefer to exclude manhua entirely regardless of how well-matched it might be. Moreover, sometimes you might be in the mood for some specific genre and you want us to help you find something cool to read.
With that in mind, we've added filtering to Personal Recommendations. You can adjust your filters anytime, and your recommendations will continuously regenerate with your preferences in mind. Resetting is just as easy if you want to return to unfiltered suggestions.
Performance Improvements
One other big theme was performance improvements - Chapter v3 brought additional data to the Dashboard, which slowed loading times, especially for users far from Europe, like those in Asia and the Americas.
I've made significant progress on the Dashboard page through smarter data fetching and response compression. In my testing from Japan and Australia, we've cut loading times from 2-3 seconds down to under a second.
The Series Details page (including Similar Series) saw similar treatment with improved caching and additional optimizations. It now loads almost instantly under optimal conditions, and the goal is to achieve that speed consistently worldwide.
Progress Overview
The last two months have been productive, though feature-wise I've been largely focused on Chapters v3's Grid redesign, as it took a lot of time and effort to get just right.
Looking at 2026, I'm committing to a faster release cadence: monthly updates are returning starting in Q2. To kick things off, I'm focusing on Statistics and expanding Premium features, specifically enhancing Smart Suggestions based on your feedback to make them even more useful.
Of course, we're still in the middle of migrating away from Comick. I'll be adding new sources, migrating the remaining missing series, and eventually discontinuing Comick entirely. Given how much the scanlator scene has evolved, I've reopened Site Suggestions, so please do drop your suggestions.
Here is the updated list of priorities:
Smart Suggestions improvements
Statistics
New Supported Sites
Chapters v3 (List View)
Mobile UX improvements
Adding other highly requested features
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