Today, Kodansha Ltd. launches the K MANGA app – its first manga distribution service outside of Japan – for the U.S. market. The browser version is scheduled to launch within days. The ‘K’ in K MANGA was derived from the first letter of Kodansha.
At the time of the launch, approximately 400 manga titles* are available, and of those, approximately 60 will see their most recent chapters published simultaneously in Japan and the U.S. A free discount campaign will apply to all chapters of “Attack on Titan,” “Tokyo Revengers” and “FAIRY TAIL.” **
To commemorate the app’s launch, Kodansha prepared a special video:
“We are a publisher that serves as a link between manga artists and readers. We will continue to strengthen our efforts to protect manga artists from piracy and other forms of copyright infringement, including traceability of translations.” said project leader Yuta Hiraoka at the launch of KMANGA. He also stated, “We are starting with US-only for now. However, we know that there are Kodansha manga readers all over the world who want to try K MANGA and read the latest simulpub chapters. We hear you and we are doing our best to make K Manga available in your countries as soon as we can.”
■How to Enjoy K MANGA
Readers can always access the first few chapters of the approximately 400 available titles for free. They can read beyond the ‘always free’ chapters by unlocking them for three days at a time using one of two types of “Tickets.”
With Tickets
● Normal Tickets are issued once a day for each title and can be used only for that title.
● Premium Tickets can be used for all chapters of all titles for which Tickets are eligible. Users can receive three to four tickets per day with login bonuses or by viewing advertisements.
● Through Utilizing Both Normal and Premium Tickets, users can read four to five chapters of their favorite titles every day free of charge.***
With Points
● Readers can also access chapters by purchasing “Points.” One dollar is equivalent to 100 Points that can unlock manga chapters, which vary in cost depending on their length. The Points required also vary depending on whether the chapter is older or more recent. For example, a serialized manga released in 20-page installments requires 69 points for older chapters, and 99 points for the latest chapter.**** Once a Reader has traded Points to unlock a chapter, they can access it indefinitely through their account.
■K MANGA Online Launch Party
Kodansha will hold a premiere party on Thursday, June 22. The party’s theme is “The Stories Behind the Stories,” featuring appearances by famous manga artists and various behind-the-scenes stories of manga production from Kodansha’s editorial department — including Live Drawings! — which will be streamed live online, with exclusive giveaways for viewers.
App Store:
● https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1637040002
● https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kodansha.kmanga
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KMANGA_KODANSHA
Launch Party HP: https://party.kmanga.kodansha.com/
About Kodansha
KODANSHA Ltd. is Japan’s leading publishing house based in Tokyo, having delivered stories into ready hands across the globe with a wide variety of content from manga to novels, fashion magazines, news journals, and picture books for children, as well as TV anime, movies, series, and video games since 1909 in the spirit of “Inspire Impossible Stories.” KODANSHA is globally recognized as the licensor of some of the world’s most loved manga IPs, such as AKIRA, Attack on Titan, and Ghost in the Shell. Their digital book platform, MAGAPOKE was launched in July 2015 and to date has been downloaded nearly 20 million times. For more information, visit: www.kodansha.com/
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