As traditional manga releases outside of Japan is rife with issues that make access to them difficult, Viz Media is seeking to break the norm by offering a subscription that will give its customers timely access to manga launches on the same day as Japan.
From the onset of the service, Viz Media will be providing its consumers access to more than 10,000 chapters of manga of varied genres, including titles published by Shueisha and Shogakukan. However, subscribers can anticipate “further expansion in the works.”
Of those series being offered, fifteen will have their timely releases to the global audience on the same day of rollout in Japan.
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As the company takes a groundbreaking approach to the service, Viz Media execs are hopeful that it will somehow slightly cut down on manga piracy within the English-speaking world.
Amid growing interest in manga, which saw an influx during the pandemic, fans were having difficulties getting access to certain series outside of Japan. Particularly, in a language that is not Japanese.
In the US, specifically, which has a substantial market in the manga business, consumers have to wait years to gain access to official translations. And even if they do come stateside, they are sold by volume, not by chapters, unlike in Japan.
Making matters worse, some physical releases are at times being treated as sort of a rarity or a collectible that they fetch a high price to acquire—too costly, for the most part, for the average manga reader.