Japan’s Digital Comic Association (*1), comprised of 39 prominent Japanesemanga publishers, has launched JManga.com, the DCA’s new manga portalwebsite, in North America. The plan to launch JManga.com was also announcedat a JManga panel and industry release reception held at Comic-ConInternational San Diego on July 22nd 2011.
JManga.com provides online manga for sale by chapter and volume, madepurchasable using a monthly point subscription system, free previewsavailable to be read by all, as well as information regarding mangacurrently published in North America. JManga.com also offers special featurecontent regarding manga culture, such as manga artist interviews, hoping toclose the gap between the manga fans, authors and publishers.
JManga.com launches with a couple hundred titles including such diversetitles as; NARUTO, Kekkaishi, Crayon Shinchan, Devil King, Cigarette Kisses,Dragon Girl, Tujiurauri, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Young-kun, ADEKAN,Manga Science, and many more new to the North American market. JManga plansto update their catalog every Tuesday, increasing to a few thousand titleswithin the next year and onto 10,000 by 2013. The JManga Portal aims to become a hub to unite readers worldwide moredynamically than ever before providing readers and fans a platform to readmanga, interact with one another via forums and other social features bothwithin the site and on staple social networking sites such as Facebook,while at the same time providing a direct link to the artists and publishersthat make manga a reality.
*1: The Digital Comic AssociationThe Digital Comic Association was formed to ensure the robust development ofthe digital comic industry while paving the way for a new generation ofpublishing culture. The Association promotes the digitalization of manga andmanga culture, as a cultural treasure of Japan, aiming to propel thediffusion of digital comics, alongside manga artists, beginning with Japanand on throughout the world.www.digital-comic.jp <http://www.digital-comic.jp>
JManga Co., Ltd. was established on December 22nd 2010 with the support ofthe Digital Comic Association and its comprising 39 prominent Japanesepublishers. JManga Co., Ltd. designs and operates the JManga portal with thegoal of sharing Japan’s manga culture to as many people as possibleworldwide utilizing an official platform that eases the minds of readers andpublishers alike. The primary areas of business for JManga Co., Ltd. aremanga promotion and digital manga retail, with the goal of contributing,alongside publishers worldwide, to the progression of the manga market as awhole. Current investors include digital comic aggregator and retailerBitway Co., Ltd. and social media and internet advertising agencyCyberAgent, Inc. Further capital investments from various companies in thecomic industry are in planning. JManga Co., Ltd. also possesses JManga Inc.,a wholly owned subsidiary based in America.www.jmanga.com <http://www.jmanga.com/>www.facebook.com/jmanga.official <http://www.facebook.com/jmanga.official>
