Viz Media has released a New app and subscription service that will greatly expand access to the manga for fans of English reading, and you can download it now.
At its inception, the Viz Manga service contained digital releases for more than 10,000 manga chapters of various genres, including titles from popular Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha. Fifteen of those series will be published simultaneously — English readers can access the same release date in Japan. Together, Subscribe to Shonen Jump and a new Viz Manga subscription that contains more than 25,000 manga chapters, with “further expansion in the works.”
Viz Media executives are hoping that all that expanded access will help prevent comic piracy in the English language world.
“We hope that people will be attracted to a platform where the latest content is available,” said Andy Nakatani, senior director of online and subscription manga, and Carl Hayes, senior director of manga. is free and an affordable subscription gives access to a huge library of chapters. attract and retain consumers, in a joint statement with Polygon. “Moreover, because users can trust an official platform where they know that the mangaka will get the recognition they deserve for their work. This is really just the first step and we plan to expand in the future to make more manga available to even more people.”
Manga and anime have long played a central role in defining the tastes of American popular culture. However, interest in manga has skyrocketed during the pandemic, when series like My Hero Academy And chainsaw man hit the bestseller lists and took over social media platforms like TikTok. In 2021, one representative from Viz Media told Polygon that the company saw “explosive growth” in interest in manga in 2020, and reported that manga grew 43% in the same year. Viz Media’s latest newsletter asserts that global demand for manga remains at an “all-time high” and advertises that the Shonen Jump app now has more than “35 million average monthly reads”. The content revolves around the manga and its anime relationships continue to play a central role in the main social media trends on TikTok.
Despite that interest, there have historically been barriers that have made it difficult for fans to access certain series outside of Japan — or in a language other than Japanese. For starters, fans may have to wait years for an official translation. Even if a translation arrives in the United States in a timely manner, US readers may need to wait and read the story volume by volume rather than chapter by chapter as in Japan. On top of that, the series that were only officially released in bulk can now be collectibles – too expensive for the casual reader to buy.
For these reasons, “scanlation” – a compound word for “translation” and “scanning” – has played a central role in the American comic fan community as readers take on the task of bringing their beloved series to life. like to reach British readers. To this day, sites like MangaDex, which hosts a number of high-quality fan manga translations, serve as an invaluable resource for those looking to stay up to date on certain series.
With Viz’s new app, fans will be able to access thousands of manga chapters immediately after signing up, and it is hoped that the simultaneous publication of the manga in English with the magazines in Japan will help. reduce the number of readers searching for pirated material. But an attempt like this doesn’t happen overnight.
“The VIZ Manga service is only made possible by our incredible cooperation and support from the manga artists and their publishers in Japan. And of course, the driving force behind this project comes from the passion and dedication that so many at VIZ and those who work with VIZ have for manga,” said Nakatani and Hayes.
Fans of Shonen, a genre of manga for boys that tend to emphasize stories with elements of action, Shonen Jump app has been serving popular simulated published manga series since 2018. Now, Viz Media aims to meet the needs of a broader community of readers — the new app’s library will contain titles books from genres like shojo, fantasy, action, horror, slice. life, LGBTQ stories, etc. There are too many additions to count, but read on for a selection of titles that will come with a Viz Manga subscription.
The Viz Manga subscription is available now for $1.99/month and the app can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices.
Here is the full list of sets that will be published simulations:
- Rumiko Takahashi: crown
- Haro Aso: ZOM 100: List of dead people
- Takashi Shiina: Yashahime: Half Demon Princess
- Tomohito Oda: Komi can’t communicate
- Kotoyama: Call of the night
- The Story of Kanehito Yamada, The Art of Tsukasa Abe: Frieden: Beyond Journey’s End
- Ojiro Makoto: School of Insomnia AXer
- Kenjirou Hata: Take me to the moon
- Rei Toma: The King’s Monster
- Hisato Murasaki (based on the video game by Atlus): character 5
- Kagiji Kumanomata: Sleeping princess in the demon castle
- Gosho Aoyama: Closed case
- Tamifull: How Are We Relating?
- Kyousuke Motomi: Queen quality
- Rei Hiroe: black dress
Other library headers confirmed to be available on the new app include:
- Rumiko Takahashi: Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, mermaid storyand others
- Junji Ito: GYO, Uzumakiand others
- Yuu Watase: Fushigi Yugi, absolute boyfriendand others
- Inio Asano: Good night, What a wonderful Worldand others
- Taiyo Matsumoto: Sunny, Tekkonkinkreet, Ping pongand others
- Gosho Aoyama: Closed case
- Yazawa Ai: nana
- Arina Tanemura: Full moon, Gentlemen’s Unionand others
