Manga Plus

Manga Plus (stylized as MANGA Plus) is an online manga platform and smartphone app owned by Shueisha that was launched on January 28, 2019. It is available worldwide except in Japan, China, and South Korea which already have their own services, including Shonen Jump+, the original Japanese service. Manga Plus publishes English-translated versions of new chapters from currently serialized manga in Weekly Shōnen Jump, a big portion of manga from the Shōnen Jump+ app/website, and some manga from Jump Square, Weekly Young Jump, and V Jump. The first three chapters and the three most recent chapters of all titles on the platform are available for free, while all titles from Shonen Jump+ have all of their chapters for free, except in the US where some are also limited to first and last three chapters, due to the license of some manga.[1] A Spanish version of the service launched on February 25, 2019.[2]

Manga Plus
Type of site
Digital Manga
Available inEnglish, Spanish, Thai, Indonesian
OwnerShueisha
EditorShuhei Hosono
URLmangaplus.shueisha.co.jp
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedJanuary 28, 2019
Current statusActive

History

Weekly Shōnen Jump reached a peak weekly circulation of 6.53 million copies in the 1990s, but the decline of print media has since been reducing readership. In response, Shueisha turned towards digital distribution to attempt to reach out to a wider audience.[3] In 2012, Shueisha launched the online Jump Book Store. In 2014, Shueisha launched Shōnen Jump+, an online platform that allows users to buy e-book versions of Jump manga and a digital version of Weekly Shōnen Jump. It also has large samples that can be read for free.

Shuhei Hosono, the head editor for Shōnen Jump+ and Manga Plus, said that they were aware of the many manga readers overseas, and that they wanted to bring manga to more people around the world. They began talks about a possible global version of Shōnen Jump+ in 2017. Shueisha finally launched Manga Plus on January 28, 2019. The service was made available to every country except China, South Korea, and Japan, with the latter countries being excluded because they each already have their own separate services.[3]

At the start, English was the only available language. The Spanish version of the site launched on May 20, 2019, albeit with a different lineup of manga titles. The Thai version of the site launched on December 2019, only available in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.[4] In February 2021, some titles are available in Indonesian.

Up until the launch of Manga Plus, Shueisha's titles had been distributed throughout the world via local publishers or distribution lines. The launch was the first time that Shueisha had expanded direct service globally.[3]

In October 2020, MANGA Plus has started its own official Discord server.[5]

In February 2021, a redesigned web-app verion of MANGA Plus launched to commemorate its second anniversary.

Titles
Weekly Shōnen Jump series
Shōnen Jump+ series
Jump Square series
V Jump series
Weekly Young Jump series
Saikyō Jump series

References
  1. Rafael Antonio Pineda (January 27, 2019). "Shueisha Launches Free Global MANGA Plus Service". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  2. Karen Ressler (February 26, 2019). "Manga Plus Service Launches in Spanish, Offers Reborn!, Captain Tsubasa Manga". Anime News Netowrk. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  3. Kim Morrissy (January 27, 2019). "Everything You Need to Know about MANGA Plus by Shueisha". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  4. "Shueisha Launches Manga Plus App in Thai". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  5. https://discord.com/invite/qAkpHxH
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