JManga Shuts Down

by Naruleach
Mar 14, 2013 12:45 AM | 51 Comments

According to their website, JManga has concluded its retail and viewing services. All existing accounts and private information will be deleted without further notification.

A service termination schedule was posted:

a.) JManga Point Distribution and Sales Termination: March 13th 2013 at 11:59pm (US Pacific Time)
b.) Digital Manga Purchasing Service Termination: March 26th at 11:59pm (US Pacific Time)
c.) Manga Viewing Service Termination: May 30th at 11:59pm (US Pacific Time)

JManga Inc., was established on December 27th 2010 to support the 39 prominent publishers that make up the Digital Comic Association. JManga.com was formed with the goal of making Japan's manga as accessible as possible to readers worldwide in a legal environment beneficial to both the readers and the publishers. With digital comic retail, manga promotion, and development of other manga related services as our main business areas, JManga, together with manga publishers around the world, strives for the growth, progression, and expansion of the worldwide manga market.

Source: JManga.com

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20 of 51 Comments Recent Comments

it's really a shame to see so many american anime/manga companies go.
it just shows that america isnt ready for anime/manga and though there seems to be a lot of us, in reality we make up a very, very, small percentage of the population.

Mar 16, 2013 9:59 PM by Kurogashi

Never heard of this until now >_>

Mar 16, 2013 7:42 PM by ShojoSamurai

Well i never actually use it but i'm pretty disapointed of how short it was

Mar 15, 2013 9:44 AM by Mr_Gutts

Now I must go and pray for somebody to license Peacemaker Kurogane once again... :( I was so excited that someone finally published it, and now it's gone :(
And they were just about to reach vol5 :(
Is this series cursed, or what?

Mar 15, 2013 12:45 AM by Fyndra

Well, damn.

Mar 14, 2013 7:58 PM by Stark700

I thought buying digital manga was a silly concept anyway. I'd rather buy hard copies and I could download manga for free if I wanted to.

Mar 14, 2013 7:30 PM by taydev

its not worth buying digital manga online. :< Rather buy it in book format or read it free online.

i never used JManga, so i won't miss it. lol.

Mar 14, 2013 7:26 PM by Maora

BlueDropED said:
Screenshot time.

LOL
Also I hadn't heard of them though its too bad they didn't last.

Mar 14, 2013 6:51 PM by Fallenkingzero

Screenshot time.

Mar 14, 2013 6:00 PM by BlueDropED

That was fast.

Maybe they should have changed the business model. Or else illegal manga sites which everyone visits is killing it.

I still would buy hard copies but never digital copies because I can get the digital ones for free, although illegally. Even if I wanted to get digital copies, I would want to own an offline version. Otherwise, you have this situation where your digital collection just goes "poof" when the company shuts down.

Mar 14, 2013 4:49 PM by wakka9ca

Already? Wasn't this site pretty new? I like the idea of an official online outlet for manga, but I think I remember preferring a service like crunchyroll (pay monthly fee to access all the content).

Mar 14, 2013 4:43 PM by saxophone15

wow. that was quick.

i never liked the idea of "buying" digital manga. i'd rather buy printed copies.

i feel sorry for those who availed their services.

Mar 14, 2013 4:20 PM by eris04

Wow i totally forgot all about this site when it first was announced that i haven't even gone to the site once since other things outside the internet eventually it slipped my mind....oh well theres other more better sites to read anyways.

Mar 14, 2013 4:02 PM by xDoN904

I figured they wouldn't last long.

Mar 14, 2013 3:55 PM by soulless4now

What killed them was the inability to download manga. I don't know about others, but I never read online, so despite paying for the premium access, I barely ever read anything on there. The price per volume was admittedly a bit steep, but it's based on monthly payments, so it doesn't really feel like you're spending that much. Viz have been doing better by offering ebooks for the nook reader etc., so hopefully they'll stick to it and it works out for them. It's a real shame for JManga.

Mar 14, 2013 3:11 PM by georgi

Feel bad for never once hearing about it during it's lifespan lol

Mar 14, 2013 2:25 PM by necrojesta

Too bad that it got shut down, It was obvious the way they were licensing manga that they wouldn't last long... they had a great idea though, previews and purchasing some of the bigger titles. Their reader was really well made too, hopefully someone comes and brings manga just like JManga did...except with a better business model.. I never did end up buying any manga with my account....just read the previews which were 1/2 of 1 chapter.... :/

Mar 14, 2013 2:05 PM by rpn101

Seeing their limited manga that had been on the site, I'm not surprised.

Mar 14, 2013 12:04 PM by ihateeveryone

I used it once... when it was announced to open.
LOL

Mar 14, 2013 11:21 AM by Cashdax

Perhaps the worst thing about this news is that it will likely stop anyone else trying anything similar. Not just by reducing the willingness of other companies to try to create a similar site to this, but also by reducing the willingness of those who want something like this to actually put their money into it.

Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

Mar 14, 2013 10:52 AM by kuuderes_shadow

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