#kodansha manga app

[manimeconquest]

Everything You Need to Know to Use Kodansha's K Manga App

The world of subscription services has rapidly become the norm over the last few years, ensuring a dedicated space, and ease of access, for specific products. There have been a few noteworthy manga apps around, but last year Kodansha dazzled the U.S. market by launching a version of their epic manga catalog called K Manga. Kodansha’s catalog on K Manga has their heavy hitters Attack on Titan,…

[akkivee]

hypmic jumpscare

[arkus-rhapsode]

Manga Publishers: Shueisha and Shonen Jump-What's the deal? (Quick Post)

Hello all, Arkus Rhapsode here again this time with a much smaller post. Recently I've been getting asked by people what a "Shueisha" even is? "Isn't it all just Jump?" Which reminded me how, at least in the west, manga fans really don't understand the difference between publishers and how something like Weekly Shonen Jump is an imprint part of a larger publishing company known as Shueisha.

Shueisha itself has numerous other magazines underneath is such as V Jump (monthly Shonen magazine aimed at middle schoolers), Weekly Young Jump (A weekly seinin series), Jump+ (An online service that allows multiple manga with more range and broad genres), Ribon (A monthly shojo magazine), etc. With the ones containing the word "Jump" being part of the Jump Line of comics which are usually Shonen and Seinin series.

The amount of magazines may vary from company to company so it may be too much to ask of everyone to know all of them. In fact with digital platforms they kinda just blend together. And as someone in North America, I can see the SJ stamp placed on non shonen jump series by viz because they don't use categories like "Jump Comics" at viz.

Now this is information I really don't expect the average western manga fan to know because back in the day, we all had to use stuff like Manga Panda or Manga Stream which would post chapters from One Piece and Naruto alongside stuff like Fairy Tail and the Seven Deadly Sins. So for a lot of people the distinction of what is even inside "shonen jump" can change. Even with modern convinces this makes it hard for some as they think Spy x Family or Kaiju no 8 are shonen jump because they're updated on the SJ app.

This did get me thinking about how much publishers in Japan don't really make the company the "brand." In America, Marvel and DC slap their names on all their comics. This is the "Marvel Universe" or the "DC Universe." Now part of this is because they are a connected universe so they need a single unifying brand so you know what's what in a world with things from super science to mutants to magic. As well as the fact most of their characters are owned by the company. But you see this with things like animation too, its easy for networks to remind you that this is a Cartoon Network show or this is a Nickelodeon show even though they may have wildly different tones or genres or artstyles.

But in Japan, its interesting to see how much Shueisha as a publishing company isn't really concerned with tying its identity with the brand of their magazines. Part of me wonders that if its due to the fact that the publishers of these companies don't actually permanently hold the rights of the series that run in them. There's actually a lot stronger creators rights in Japan and a creator can simply choose to walk away from a publisher, famously Hiroyuki Takei would leave shueisha and take all of the Shaman King franchise to rival publisher Kodansha. Then Tsukasa Hojo and Tetsuo Hara both famous for their work on City Hunter and Fist of the North Star respectively, would create their own publishing company called Coamix and take the rights to their series to bolster the value. And none bigger than Makoto Raiku, a creator heavily critical of his former employer Shogakukan and creators rights enthusiast, would end up taking Zatch Bell with him and having its sequel independently published.

While in the case of Marvel many creators made characters on a work for hire contract which would stimulate that anything they made would become the property of the company.

Now that's not to say Shueisha don't invest in their brand. "Jump Comics" is a brand that possibly gets more promotion than another. As mentioned previously, you only really see Weekly Shonen Jump making manga the focus of their magazine cover. Heck some of the best covers are when you see all the characters inside the magazine hanging out. And my personal favorite is the Shueisha puts on Jump Festa, a convention specifically for jump related announcements and advertising which are almost always host to a massive mural each year of series running under the "Jump" label. I wish more companies honestly did this, particularly Kodansha and Shogakukan, but it Nintendo Direct vs Sony State of Play has taught me anything, its that not every company has that fanbase that'll make a big deal out of everything to sustain such a venture.

[juiceboxscans]

Where to buy raws and manga

Updated: With the anime coming (MON) October 7, 2024 and Volume 8 being released in English September 2024, and Volume 9 coming April 2025, we are reaching the end of canon content. Please support the mangaka if you are able by purchasing physicals and voicing your support for the work where you can.

How do I support something when I can't even get it?

It can take a little work. Ask your local bookstore to stock Yakuza Fiance: Raise Wa Tanin Ga Ii, special order the manga where possible (bookstores pay attention to enthusiastic fans who place special orders), put in requests on websites, reach out to your local manga publishing companies.

Hi fellow Raise fans! Thank you for the follows and reblogs. Can't say enough how much we appreciate knowing our work, however imperfect, is appreciated. We will keep doing our best!

While you wait for the next update, and if you can afford to do so, we hope you'll consider purchasing the raws or physicals of the manga. It's so good that it's worth owning, we think, and if you can afford it you won't regret it!

With that in mind, we have some resources for you.

Please note: These are not affiliate links and clicking on them does not benefit us in anyway. This is for you in case you are inclined or are able to buy this fantastic manga!

Physicals

Please note:

Volumes 1-8 are now available for purchase

Volume 9 April 2025

Earlier volumes are often discounted up to 25%. Click bolded text to be taken directly to RWTGI book pages or other helpful information as noted.

Barnes & Noble Amazon Seven Seas Publishing (the license owner) Penguin Random House Pika Edition (French)

Note: We know RWTGI is also licensed in Spanish and Korean among other languages but we do not know the publishing houses. If you do, please comment and if not please be patient while we update.

Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookseller with locations in 12 countries (includes the UK, southeast Asia, Australia, and the US). They carry Japanese and licensed English volumes. Pre-orders can sometimes come with a premium like an art sketch. Click for locations worldwide. They ship!

Secondhand volumes are available on Walmart's site, Thriftbooks, and Alibris. They are also available from various eBay sellers.

While you're at it, consider getting a copy of Konishi's first work, Haru no Noroi (or Haru's Curse) It's a great story and a heartstring-tugging read.

Digital

For Japanese: Click on the bold underlined text links and enable your browser to translate. If you are using Chrome there is a free translation extension in the Microsoft store.

For a monthly manga subscription: Kodansha Afternoon has a really nice monthly magazine which includes Raise and other manga.

For single chapters: Kodansha has the COMIC DAYS site. New members get 100 coins to start-- each chapter is between 60 and 80 coins. Chapter 1 is free and more recent chapters are free for a short time a few months after their release.

For ENG (US only):

For single chapters: Kodansha's app K MANGA. One of our friends on the RWTGI fandom Discord tested it and you can get the first 9 chapters for free, another 3 for free around 13-14, and every month or so they unlock another chapter. For $1 you get 99 tickets to 'rent' a chapter (like you own it but you can only read it on the app, isn't Digital Rights Management fun?), you can also 'earn' tickets each time you log in, and currently they have a promotion going.

Unfortunately this is only available to US residents as of this writing. If you have Twitter, give Kodansha a shout and let them know what complete bollocks/bullshit this is: KMANGA_KODANSHA

Here's where we cover our asses!

Don't repost our work, don't retranslate it, don't make us another casualty of copyright law. Kakao and other publishers are currently cracking down on 'M' scanlator sites and doxing site admins.

So please: Be chill so we can just enjoy this thing together. Thanks!

Happy shopping and thanks for your support! 💞

[yurimother]

Deaf Character Featured in Newly Licensed Yuri Manga 'The Moon on a Rainy Night'

On Sunday at Anime NYC, Kodansha USA announced that it will publish Kuzushiro's romance manga The Moon on a Rainy Night (Amayo no Tsuki) in English. The manga is notable for featuring a deaf character, Kanon, in its central Yuri storyline.

The publisher describes the manga:

One day, while rushing to a piano lesson, a girl named Saki collides with someone on the street. As Saki collects herself, the stranger picks up the sheet music Saki dropped, hands it to Saki together with a band-aid, and continues on her way-all without saying a word. Saki is left wondering about the identity of the tall, lovely stranger, only to discover the next day that she is one of her classmates at her new high school. The girl's name is Kanon, and though she is hearing impaired, she refuses any kind of support or "special treatment" from her teachers or classmates. Over the course of the year, Saki slowly grows closer to Kanon and begins to chip away at her cold exterior.

The Moon on a Rainy Night has received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. Erica Friedman of Okazu gave the first volume an 8/10 score, praising Kuzushiro's signature artwork and the way the manga "neither fetishizes nor romanticizes deafness." However, she criticized some elements of the story, like the early chapters pacing and the bully characters. The first Japanese volume holds a perfect five-star rating on Amazon with 348 reviews.

The manga began serialization in June 2021 on Comic Days, with new chapters releasing every other week. It is one of several LGBTQ+ works serialized on the platform, alongside Keito Gaku's Boys Run the Riot, Asuka Miyazaki's X-Gender, and Koyubi Sugawara's My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! Kodansha publishes three volumes of the manga in Japanese.

Kuzushiro is a Japanese mangaka known for her Yuri series, including Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, Love Death., and Living With My Brother's Wife, which is published in English on Square Enix's Manga Up! app.

The first volume of The Moon on a Rainy Night will be released in English in the Fall of 2023.

[demonlordclayman]

Clayman's REVENGE - Chapter 27: Elemental is out!

[insomaniacat]

HOW IS OMORI NOT TRENDING TODAY THE MANGA IS LITERALLY OUT THIS IS CRIMINAL

(You can read the first chapter free on K manga here: https://kmanga.kodansha.com/title/10607/episode/352385)

[untilyouremember]

Where can I read and request manga?

My mission with my tumblr is to help you find official resources to consume manga; doing it these ways will help the mangaka who work to bring you content and it encourages English publishers to bring over more series.

Check under the cut for legal websites, apps and retailers with detailed information. At the bottom you'll find surveys and ways to contact publishers with requests.

You can use regular retailers to buy digital and print: Amazon/Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Bookwalker, Google Play, Apple Books, Nook

There are apps available for buying volumes, chapters, using ticket systems to access free content, or with subscriptions.

Mangamo - $4.99/mo for 200+ titles; titles available for purchases with in-app library

Viz manga - $1.99/mo; titles available to purchase with in-app library (carries titles from Viz, but not their SJ series)

Shonen Jump - $2.99/mo; titles available to purchase with in-app library (carries specifically SJ titles, which are often popular shounen)

Comikey - uses a key system; ability to read for free with ads and patience

Kmanga - app maintained by Kodansha; chapters are often available to read for free through a ticket system and able to purchase

Kodansha - a website where you can create a free reading account. They offer 3 free chapters on all their manga, occasionally feature several free volumes, and run sales on their content somewhat regularly.

MangaPlus - $1.99 or $4.99 for a subscription; will allow a free read of their simulpub series.

MangaPlaza - 7 day free trial; $6.99/mo; [info incoming, seems to have more mature licenses]

INKR - 3 ways to access content; free, coins & 'Extra Membership'. Extra can cost $4.99/mo or $44.99/year and gives you access to content, extra savings and "free ink" that can be traded for their coin system. (Used to be Manga Rock and that was a fun read from them)

MangaPlanet - $1.99/week -> $47.99/year depending on which tier you pay for.

MangaUP - 1 month free trial, $4.99/mo; you can browse their 'vault' to see if things you like are included

Renta! - point system; 1 point = 1 cent; regular bonus points for higher purchases

Mangacat - [currently researching; seems to allow people to independently upload and set prices for viewing; people can also do translations for work. Acts as somewhat of a 'by fans for fans' site. Coin system where 20 coins=1$ with no discounts for larger purchases]

Irodori Comics - hosts 18+, specializes in doujinshi, more info incoming

ComiXology - $4.99/month; a service through amazon that allows you access to comics, manga and graphic novels. Specifically boasts {2400} manga titles.

Animeplanet - has a library of completely free comics and anime through partnerships; seems to host less manga styled comics but free is free.

Manta, Comicle, Webtoon, Tappytoon, Tapas, WebComics, Bilibili will be looked into but they host mostly webtoon style comics

Seven seas has a (mostly) monthly survey that is linked on their homepage at all times. {They will pull from any publisher, including digital only simulpubs}

If you have a bookwalker account, I found a Google doc that you fill out requests and they send them to publishers.

To send suggestions to Viz, use this survey that is listed through their Contact Us page (you select the "Series Suggestion" and will be redirected) {they mostly pull from shogakukan and shueisha titles}

To send suggestions to Kodansha, go to their contact us page and there are 2 useful drop downs; suggest reprints and suggest series, suggest series is also useful to request a print of anything they've licensed digital only. {They pull almost exclusively from Kodansha Japan}

TokyoPop has a discord server where they look at your suggestions in the channel #licensesuggestion

If you are able, in any way, support official English releases. It shows it is a lucrative business decision to continue the manga. Nothing is worse than starting something and being unable to finish it because it stopped getting translated and published.

I will update this post as needed, enjoy your manga! ♡

[innerchorus]

If you’re in the US, Kodansha’s new K Manga app has now launched and the Arslan Senki manga will now be released there as a simulpub. I can’t access it so I can’t tell you for certain whether the most recent chapter is already there or not, but it’s great news and hopefully in the near future they will make the app available for people in other regions, as they have said they intend to do.

[drifting-dragons-world]

Little Announcement thing:

Because kodansha removed all their simulpubs to make their own manga app that uses a point system, I had to go hunting for websites that could possibly have drifting dragons available to read.

Not much luck until I finally found a website (all in Japanese and also using a point system, so I couldn't fully read the manga). However, as of right now, chapter 81 is free to read and chapter 82 is gonna be free next month.

And on the thumbnails of chapter 84:

The baby dragon Takita found? All grown up?? Maybe even some of Takita's backstory???

The english translation of volume 15 is coming out December 12th, it might not have this chapter in it but it will definitely have Gibbs' backstory.

That is all *vanishes back into the void*

[skeleton-richard]

Bookwalker has a sale on Kodansha series! Take this as a sign to start reading Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki ;)

Thanks to @archangelmacaron for alerting me!

[animenostalgia]

News - Kodansha has launched it’s own branded manga app called K MANGA in the United States. K Manga will run on a points system, similar to many webtoon and manga websites overseas. Basically, most manga will allow you to read the first chapter or two for free. But if you want to read any more, you’ll need to use either “tickets” or “points”. “Tickets” will be given to users for things like log-in bonuses and special campaigns. “Points” can be earned by reading featured manga, watching advertisements, or buying them outright. They’ve released a video on Youtube to explain the system that you can watch here. They’ve stated they will eventually have a web version of the app as well, and they’ll also be hosting a digital launch party for the app on June 22, 2023.

Currently, K Manga doesn’t have a lot of older manga titles (and seems more focused on newer ones), but from what I’ve seen, they do have some older manga, including:

Battle Angel Alita

Love Hina

BLAME!

Parasyte

Ghost in the Shell

Peach Girl

Manga app/service Azuki still as of this writing carries many Kodansha titles, you can browse their catalog here.

[saanix]

"ahh shit a few manga I follow are being dropped by their tl teams because Kodansha is gonna simulpub in english... well that sucks but I guess I can just get their app"

the fucking app, only available in the United States

I am going to kill Kodansha executives.

[obstinaterixatrix]

Kodansha’s having a sale on bookwalker where a bunch of first volumes are free. Ends tonight, though

[demonlordclayman]

Chapter 26: Sentiments is live!

[thyandrawrites]

episode nagi #12 comes with the Shoujo tag added. thought it was plenty extra (and gay) on main manga but the added spice takes it to another level...

?? Where? On the kodansha site/app? I can't access it from my country so I have to wait to read the chapter. I'm so curious tho. All I've seen is that the mangaka put a warning that not all readers might enjoy this one... I wonder what that's about