Important detail before getting carried away: this application will only be available in the United States for the moment, and with no apparent prospect of expansion to other regions.
Manga More For some time it has been a reference application in terms of reading manga internationally, especially when it comes to turning manga into a legal consumer product without the need to go to third-party pirate pages . However, the weak point of this is that there is LOTS of manga that may not be available in certain regions… and there piracy becomes inevitable. That is why things like the recently announced K Manga are KEY.
EVERYTHING you need to know about K Manga, Kodansha’s manga reading app
But, what is K Manga and where does this future manga reader application come from? So I leave you first with the promotional image of the platform, and later with the main details that have been disclosed to the service (via Manga Mogura):
- To start I will leave you with the carafe of cold water: the application of K Manga IT WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATES. Yes, we are in the middle of 2023 and we have yet to find ourselves with absurd geoblocks that already make it impossible to enjoy content equally for everyone.
- Leaving that aside, the truth is that K Manga will be very well stocked with Kodansha IP at launch: there will be a total of over 400 sleeves available including great historical hits such as Shingeki no Kyojin or Ghost in the Shell.
- Initially, it is planned to launch the K Manga application in May 2023, for the moment without precise date.
- In addition to historical manga, K Manga will also have active manga such as Blue Lock, Edens Zero, Nagatoro and more.
- The K Manga app will have a simulpub that will work with the new chapters that will be released on the same day, at the representative time of midnight in Japan. There are no plans to post “adult” manga on the app.
I’m going to point this out because I think it’s important: IT’S RIDICULOUS that the app is only launched in the USA. Again, I think there is a stark disconnect between how Japan often handles international brands… with international audiences. Countries like France are of absolute importance to the well-being of manga in the West, and yet the United States still enjoys advantages that end up arriving before most regions. K Manga is a great idea, but the execution to begin with is lousy.