Viz Media Announces New Digital Manga Service
Viz Media has announced they will be launching a new digital manga service bringing even more Simulpub releases to North America as soon as these new manga chapters make their initial debut in Japan! Viz Media has already done a lot to keep North American fans up to date with some of the hottest weekly manga releases in Japan with their digital Shonen Jump library, but soon they will be expanding their offerings with their new Viz Manga service that will bring even more exclusive series to fans outside of Japan as soon as the new chapters make their initial release overseas.
Viz Manga will be a special digital service app that will offer access to more than 10,000+ chapters from across both Shogakukan and Shueisha releases under Viz Media's library. Separate from the current Shonen Jump app, Viz Manga will mark the first time that Shogakukan manga have ever been available to legally read through simulpub releases outside of Japan. This will be the legal source material, and feature 15 distinct titles at launch.
What Is Viz Manga?
Viz Manga will officially launch on May 9th on Android and iOS devices, and will be offering a subscription price of $1.99 a month (much like the Shonen Jump digital service) for interested fans. The simulpub catalog for Viz Media will launch with 15 titles, with the three most recent chapters available to read for free. While all of the titles have yet to be revealed for the Viz Manga service as of this initial announcement, a few select titles have been teased with Rumiko Takahashi's Mao, Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata's Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (which is getting its own anime this Summer), Takashi Shiina's Yashahima: Princess Half-Demon, and Tomohito Oda's Komi Can't Communicate all confirmed so far.
Viz Manga will be offering series from famed creators such as the ones previously mentioned above alongside Junji Ito, Yuu Watase, Inio Asano, Taiyo Matsumoto, Gosho Aoyama, Ai Yazawa, Arina Tanemura, and many more creators and titles planned for the future. Together with the Shonen Jump, Viz Media will now be offering a huge wave of digital anime releases that fans will be able to keep up with as soon as they launch overseas!
Will you be checking out the new releases with Viz Manga? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
