diff --git a/app/models/swf_asset.rb b/app/models/swf_asset.rb
index 858303b3..dcde8273 100644
--- a/app/models/swf_asset.rb
+++ b/app/models/swf_asset.rb
@@ -52,7 +52,34 @@ class SwfAsset < ApplicationRecord
 
   def manifest
     raise "manifest_url is blank" if manifest_url.blank?
-    @manifest ||= NeopetsMediaArchive.load_json(manifest_url)
+    @manifest ||= load_manifest
+  end
+
+  def load_manifest
+    begin
+      NeopetsMediaArchive.load_file(manifest_url) => {content:, source:}
+    rescue NeopetsMediaArchive::ResponseNotOK => error
+      Rails.logger.warn "Failed to load manifest for asset #{id}: " +
+        error.message
+      self.manifest_loaded_at = DateTime.now
+      self.manifest_status_code = error.status
+      save!
+      return nil
+    end
+
+    if source == "network" || manifest_loaded_at.blank?
+      self.manifest_loaded_at = DateTime.now
+      self.manifest_status_code = 200
+      save!
+    end
+
+    begin
+      JSON.parse(content)
+    rescue JSON::ParserError => error
+      Rails.logger.warn "Failed to parse manifest for asset #{id}: " +
+        error.message
+      return nil
+    end
   end
 
   def preload_manifest
diff --git a/app/services/neopets_media_archive.rb b/app/services/neopets_media_archive.rb
index 1b3ff17d..b84e2b48 100644
--- a/app/services/neopets_media_archive.rb
+++ b/app/services/neopets_media_archive.rb
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@ module NeopetsMediaArchive
 
   ROOT_PATH = Pathname.new(Rails.configuration.neopets_media_archive_root)
 
-  # Load the file from the given `images.neopets.com` URI, as JSON.
-  def self.load_json(uri)
-    JSON.parse(load_file(uri))
-  end
-
   # Load the file from the given `images.neopets.com` URI.
   def self.load_file(uri, return_content: true)
     local_path = local_file_path(uri)
@@ -31,7 +26,7 @@ module NeopetsMediaArchive
       begin
         content = File.read(local_path)
         debug "Loaded source file from filesystem: #{local_path}"
-        return content
+        return {content: content, source: "filesystem"}
       rescue Errno::ENOENT
         # If it doesn't exist, that's fine: just move on and download it.
       end
@@ -53,7 +48,7 @@ module NeopetsMediaArchive
     File.write(local_path, content)
     info "Wrote source file to filesystem: #{local_path}"
     
-    return_content ? content : nil
+    {content: return_content ? content : nil, source: "network"}
   end
 
   # Load the file from the given `images.neopets.com` URI, but don't return its
@@ -78,10 +73,9 @@ module NeopetsMediaArchive
     # requests in parallel!
     Sync do
       response = INTERNET.get(uri)
-      if response.status == 404
-        raise NotFound, "origin server returned 404: #{uri}"
-      elsif response.status != 200
-        raise "expected status 200 but got #{response.status} (#{uri})"
+      if response.status != 200
+        raise ResponseNotOK.new(response.status),
+          "expected status 200 but got #{response.status} (#{uri})"
       end
       response.body.read
     end
@@ -106,7 +100,13 @@ module NeopetsMediaArchive
     ROOT_PATH + path_within_archive(uri)
   end
 
-  class NotFound < StandardError; end
+  class ResponseNotOK < StandardError
+    attr_reader :status
+    def initialize(status)
+      super
+      @status = status
+    end
+  end
 
   private
 
diff --git a/db/migrate/20240225231346_add_manifest_loaded_at_and_manifest_status_code_to_swf_assets.rb b/db/migrate/20240225231346_add_manifest_loaded_at_and_manifest_status_code_to_swf_assets.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..728834fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20240225231346_add_manifest_loaded_at_and_manifest_status_code_to_swf_assets.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class AddManifestLoadedAtAndManifestStatusCodeToSwfAssets < ActiveRecord::Migration[7.1]
+  def change
+    add_column :swf_assets, :manifest_loaded_at, :datetime
+    add_column :swf_assets, :manifest_status_code, :integer
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 5f7ba0d8..cab8166e 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[7.1].define(version: 2024_02_21_005949) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[7.1].define(version: 2024_02_25_231346) do
   create_table "alt_styles", charset: "utf8mb4", collation: "utf8mb4_unicode_ci", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.integer "species_id", null: false
     t.integer "color_id", null: false
@@ -245,6 +245,8 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema[7.1].define(version: 2024_02_21_005949) do
     t.timestamp "manifest_cached_at"
     t.string "known_glitches", limit: 128, default: ""
     t.string "manifest_url"
+    t.datetime "manifest_loaded_at"
+    t.integer "manifest_status_code"
     t.index ["body_id"], name: "swf_assets_body_id_and_object_id"
     t.index ["type", "remote_id"], name: "swf_assets_type_and_id"
     t.index ["zone_id"], name: "idx_swf_assets_zone_id"
diff --git a/lib/tasks/swf_assets.rake b/lib/tasks/swf_assets.rake
index a5bb4b66..d44166a1 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/swf_assets.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/swf_assets.rake
@@ -56,7 +56,11 @@ namespace :swf_assets do
 			Sync do
 				saved_count = 0
 				swf_assets.find_in_batches(batch_size: 1000) do |swf_assets|
-					SwfAsset.preload_manifests(swf_assets)
+					# NOTE: Loading the manifests can both write to the filesystem *and*
+					# to the database, because we track timestamp and status in the db!
+					SwfAsset.transaction do
+						SwfAsset.preload_manifests(swf_assets)
+					end
 					saved_count += swf_assets.size
 					puts "Loaded #{saved_count} of #{total_count} manifests"
 				end