VIZ Media has launched a brand new service that may make English variations of the most recent chapters of choose manga titles out there to subscribers as quickly as they’re launched in Japan. The service, known as VIZ Manga, options manga printed by Shogakugan and Shueisha and prices $2 a month. Its present “simulpub” or simultaneous publication catalogue has 15 titles that embody Inuyasha sequel Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon and Mao by Rumiko Takahashi. Followers may even learn their three most up-to-date chapters free of charge. The subscription service additionally offers followers entry to a library with over 10,000 chapters, together with Junji Ito’s GYO and Uzumaki, Yuu Watase’s Fushigi Yuugi, Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2 and Ai Yazawa’s Nana.
“As a result of explosive success of the Shonen Leap digital service, this new improvement will exponentially broaden VIZ Media’s digital providing,” the corporate stated in its announcement. The Shonen Leap subscription service got here out in 2018 and provided followers the prospect to learn its newest releases as quickly as they arrive out in Japan. VIZ Media stated that is the primary time English-speaking followers can get titles from the publishers — legally, that’s — on the identical time Japan does. The hope is more likely to steer followers away from unauthorized translations, which might come out as quickly as a number of hours after a chapter is printed in Japan, and to finally tackle the trade’s piracy downside.
In accordance with the Tokyo-based Content material Abroad Distribution Affiliation, the Japanese manga trade misplaced 395.2 billion (US$2.9 billion) to 831.1 billion Yen (US$6.2 billion) in 2021 as a consequence of on-line piracy. Korean webtoons have additionally been steadily rising in recognition over the previous few years whereas the Japanese manga trade has been shrinking. Webtoons are digital comics optimized for smartphones, and their publishing format makes them a lot simpler to eat nowadays. Manga has at all times been a print-first trade, however publishers have been searching for methods to broaden their digital presence.
In the meanwhile, VIZ Manga is barely out there within the US and Canada, accessible by way of the corporate’s Android or iOS app and its web site. (Subscriptions, nevertheless, can solely be bought by way of the app.) VIZ Media plans to broaden the service’s availability to different areas, although, so followers outdoors these two international locations could wish to hold a watch out for future bulletins.
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