Viz Media has unveiled a new manga reading app that aims to bring English translations of Japanese comics to readers the same day the originals are released in Japan with the intent of curbing online piracy of manga.
As Polygon reports, along with Viz's existing Shonen Jump subscription service, the new Viz Manga subscription contains over 25,000 chapters of popular manga, with plans to expand further.
"We hope that people will gravitate towards a platform where the latest content is free and an affordable subscription allows access to a vast library of chapters," said Andy Nakatani, senior director of online manga and subscription manga, and Carl Hayes, senior director of consumer acquisition and retention in a joint statement.
"All the more so, because users can trust an official platform where they know that the mangaka will get proper recognition for their work. This is really just a first step and we plan to expand in the future on to make even more manga available to more people."
The Viz Manga app aims to make English language translations of Japanese manga available in the US much earlier, to avoid situations where Japanese physical media becomes scarce in the US, or translations aren't easily available, leading to digital piracy of Japanese manga.
"The VIZ Manga service was only made possible because we had an incredible amount of cooperation and support from the mangaka and their publishers in Japan," state Nakatani and Hayes. "And of course the driving force of this project comes from the passion and dedication that so many people at VIZ as well as those who work with VIZ have for manga."
