There’s little doubt that sites like Netflix and Crunchyroll became revolutionary for video watching. For one set fee, users could watch as much as they wanted and can cancel anytime. In the case of Crunchyroll and other video sites, you don’t even need to pay money; you just watch ads. And for many people, streaming has become their primary form of video and TV watching. Anime fans who once had to search the Internet for new episodes now have legal, reasonable-priced ways to watch almost every new series as well as a bevy of previous seasons’ releases.
For manga fans, however, the subscription offerings are much more narrow. Crunchyroll has some series included as part of their Premium package (although they are removing much of the old Kodansha volumes soon), VIZ Media has their Shonen Jump magazines, and some manga are included in Amazon‘s Kindle Unlimited and ComiXology Unlimited programs. Otherwise, manga fans need to pay $.99 a chapter to $19.99 a volume for most works. Manga doesn’t have lot of free or low-priced options like for anime, and that is one of the reasons people turn to illegal scanlations.
So, is it possible for there to be a Crunchyroll-like system for manga?
The Battle for Digital Readers
I’ve often complained about the price of some companies’ digital offerings. To me, a file shouldn’t cost the same as a hard copy, no matter if it’s a manga, other book, movie, or game. Some people point to these prices as reasons fans turn to piracy. The publishers, on the other hand, say that readers turning to scanlations is a reason why they can’t or won’t license certain titles or, in the case of the Japanese publishers, why a series is being axed early. The Japan Cartoonists Association worry that artists are being pushed out of the industry because of these sites. Companies have been fighting to take down certain scanlation mega-sites where manga readers can find an enormous amount of titles to read, but more always pop up.
But not all manga authors agree with this approach. Takashi Yoshida, for instance, recently talked about how shutting down scanlation sites is an ineffective approach. He also believes the industry isn’t revolutionizing itself enough, that companies need to do better to reach fans who are interested enough in a series to read it online and get them to become buyers of the official versions. He’s far from the first author to believe publishers are fighting a losing battle. Ken Akamatsu of Love Hina and Negima! launched J-Comi, an attempt to create a legal all-you-can-read alternative.
Comic Days
Well, Kodansha Japan seems to be trying a new approach. In March, they will officially launch Comic Days. With a subscription for ¥720 (about $7 US), users can read manga from six seinen and josei magazines:
- Afternoon
- Be Love
- Evening
- Kiss
- Morning
- Young Magazine
The service will reportedly include current issues, full volumes, new works, and older series. While Comic Days is missing many manga aimed at young readers, several popular works are being serialized in these magazines including Chihayafuru, Vinland Saga, and What Did You Eat Yesterday?. According to Anime News Network, eight new series will be exclusives. I think $7 for six magazines a month is quite a bargain.
Surprisingly, right now, all that’s needed to sign up for a basic membership is an email address. Upon signing up, I was given 100 points (P). Signing up for Premium gives you an additional 200 points per month. It did take my U.S. credit card information, which surprised me, so I guess Comic Days isn’t region locked at all. But since Premium service is free right now, there’s no charge and no bonus points. Points can be bought in different packages at the rate of 1 P = ¥1, so I guess they’re just doing that for marketing purposes. You’d think though if you are willing to give them almost $100, you should get more than $100 in points as a way to encourage larger purchases. You know, $100 for $110 worth of points or something.
Since the app versions are currently unavailable, I played around with their online reader. It’s a pretty standard viewer with three size options (small, large, and fullscreen). You can jump to any chapter in the magazine and then any page in the chapter. There doesn’t seem to be a zoom-in option though, so that is a disappointment.
Now, the points. Individual chapters are either free or paid. I’m going to use Natsumi Ando’s latest work, Watashi-tachi wa Douka shiteru as an example. All prices are in yen, even though you technically pay with points. As a reminder, a rough estimate is ¥100 = $1.00 US.
Chapters 1-5: free
Chapter 6: ¥110
Chapter 7: ¥100
Chapter 8: ¥120
Chapters 9-11: ¥100
Chapter 12: ¥90
Chapter 13: ¥100
Chapter 14: ¥110
Chapter 15: ¥100
Chapters 16-17: ¥90
Chapters 18-20: ¥85
Short story: ¥30
I don’t know if the cost is based on the number of pages, but still, that is quite a range. Did one manga really have that big of a swing in page count from month-to-month, and even if there are variances, why not just set a flat rate? What makes Chapter 8 more expensive?
To me, it’s bizarre, but this seems to be fairly common for chapters.
The Right Approach?
So, will Comic Days succeed, and will other publishers — in Japan and across the Pacific — follow suit?
Comic Days is a mixed of yet another ebook outlet and a digital magazine subscription. The digital magazine side appears to be a solid deal. Normal digital versions of magazines are about $4 US, so all six for $7 seems like a no-brainer… if you’re only going to read them once. It doesn’t look like you can read back issues, but this could change once the full site is launched. Considering, though, that manga magazines are designed to be recycled after reading, this probably isn’t an issue for a number of readers.
Perhaps if Comic Days is successful, a Junior version could be launched with Weekly Shounen Magazine (The Seven Deadly Sins), Dessert (Waiting for Spring), and other shounen and shoujo titles could be launched.
But, is this the way to make legal sites more alluring? If people are going to spend money per chapter anyway, they probably already have their preferred ecosystem. Premium members may be able to buy a couple of chapters a month to fill in the holes in their digital collection, but it still doesn’t take on the unbeatable price of all chapters free on some scanlation sites. Perhaps they should allow Premium members to buy points and/or chapters at a discounted rate to encourage people to keep their memberships active.
So, could an English version be feasible?
Well, Yen Press’ Yen+ magazine has been discontinued, but VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump marches on. However, both included only one magazine and no full volumes. Of course, J-Novel Club is relatively new and keeps adding new light novels, and FAKKU does well with multiple magazines for $12.95 a month.
Even though a legal site will still not be able to match the amount on illegal scanlation sites who host manga from every publisher, a quality site is working well for Crunchyroll versus its pirate competitors. However, I also know Manga Box has been in slow decline even though it is offered for free. And if manga fans aren’t supporting such a cheap, legal outlet, can we be counted on in a paid subscription situation? And how much shounen/seinen versus shoujo/josei? The male demographic works are outselling female demographic works by a large margin in the U.S., so would it even be worth it to include a Be Love or Kiss-type magazine in English?
Final Thoughts
I do like the idea of multiple magazines in one location. It’s a nice mix-and-match for the price of two digital versions. I hope Comic Days doesn’t blacklist international subscribers, as many people outside of Japan would like to read Afternoon and other magazines. I could see them being concerned about people ripping the pages and using them as a basis for scanlations, but this is also a chance for people to put money where their mouth is. If the reason people turn to piracy for some of these series is because there is no legal alternative, then manga readers can at least subscribe to Comic Days to give manga authors some money while reading scanlated versions.