Mobile Manga Subscription Service Mangamo Launched

by ImperfectBlue
Apr 14, 2020 6:23 PM | 14 Comments

A new manga subscription service, Mangamo, launched globally on April 15 (JST) on the App Store for iOS devices. The service seeks to help readers legally circumvent the high cost of purchasing individual manga.

For US$4.99 per month, subscribers will have unlimited, ad-free access to the Mangamo library of manga translated into English. Titles currently available on Mangamo include Shingeki no Kyojin, Enen no Shouboutai, Somali to Mori no Kamisama, Arte, and titles without previous English releases, including Jashin-chan Dropkick and Reset Game. The service will update chapters daily and plans to release over 300 titles (comprising over 1000 volumes) of manga over the next three months. A limited-time offer of two free months is also available from launch.

Mangamo is based in Shibuya, Tokyo, and was founded by leaders and executives from major companies including Viz, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix. It is currently partnered with 11 publishers including Kodansha and North Star Pictures, with plans to connect with additional publishers in the future.

Official site: https://www.mangamo.com/
Official Twitter: @mangamoapp

Source: Press Release

Companies

14 Comments Recent Comments

Pretty interested to see the content that they offer. I may have to wait until Android gets supported though.

Apr 16, 2020 1:30 PM by CrawlingDolphin

Rarity said:
The app isn't appearing in the app store? Trying to download it directly from their website tells me that it isn't currently available in my country (Australia)...

I'm in AUS too and its not available. Think it's only available on the app store in USA and Japan so far.

Apr 15, 2020 7:20 AM by OnxEyedKxng

LegitPancake said:
Ok so it says Attack on Titan and Fire Force are available on the app and they’re not...
Also this app is garbage. Can’t search by title, can’t organize by alphabetical order, clicking on a series sends you back to the top when you go back to the title list... It really needs work.
Also having the platform on computer and android as well would be nice. I do like the 60 day free trial, though I’m not sure I’ll be interested in paying $5 a month after that. I love the Shonen Jump subscription for $2 a month and over 10,000 chapters to read; this app has like 3 titles I even recognize since AoT and Fire Force are not available as asvertised.

I found Attack on Titan under the fantasy tag, but only first 4 chapters available.

Apr 15, 2020 6:40 AM by Salamander2170

Of course they give no information on how the money is actually distributed to the original creator/s of the manga itself. I'll assume the mangaka themselves will see jack shit in terms of money from this trash, at best they'll see a few cents.

Founded by executives of Viz, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix, all companies that I actively boycott and they're all companies that I generally have zero trust in.

Not available on Android and PC, what are they thinking exactly?

I'll just stick to importing my favorite manga, brand new from Japan, the end. I couldn't care less if people waste their money on this, the majority of people out there couldn't care less about financially supporting their favorite manga and mangaka, it is what it is.

Apr 15, 2020 4:03 AM by alpha_shadow

Ok so it says Attack on Titan and Fire Force are available on the app and they’re not...
Also this app is garbage. Can’t search by title, can’t organize by alphabetical order, clicking on a series sends you back to the top when you go back to the title list... It really needs work.
Also having the platform on computer and android as well would be nice. I do like the 60 day free trial, though I’m not sure I’ll be interested in paying $5 a month after that. I love the Shonen Jump subscription for $2 a month and over 10,000 chapters to read; this app has like 3 titles I even recognize since AoT and Fire Force are not available as asvertised.

Apr 14, 2020 11:23 PM by LegitPancake

IMO it won't work, people are starting to get tired of the endless amount of subscription based services that they must subscribe to get entertainment.

I think, that the best business model would be to make the service free, and let the monetization come from a "awards" based system, similar to Reddit. You could even share a part of this monetization with 'independent translators', AKA scans who translate the mangas. The quality of the translation and editing is the same, if not superior, anyway.

Apr 14, 2020 10:28 PM by Baio-kun

Definitely a cool idea! Looking forward to seeing how this'll fare.

Apr 14, 2020 9:34 PM by _MushiRock11_

eh, 300 titles doesn't really sound too appealing especially considering most are gonna be the more popular ones like battle shounen's and whatnot, so as someone who exclusively reads romance I guess this won't be my thing

but I am glad we're starting to move to a more Netflix style wide catalogue for legal manga, rather than resorting to specific publishers. All that's needed is just the bigger catalogue (which is probably easier said than done)

Apr 14, 2020 9:25 PM by Short_Circut

AtmosphericEntry said:
These services ought to offer a raw/translation-free subscription. I'd actually sign up, even stick around if I liked the selection.

A lot of the titles are on Ganma https://ganma.jp/

Apr 14, 2020 9:07 PM by kpossibles

Lost me at not including Android

Apr 14, 2020 8:27 PM by Jus1294

Only IOS devices? WTF

Android has more users than IOS.

Apr 14, 2020 8:23 PM by Hoppy

The app isn't appearing in the app store? Trying to download it directly from their website tells me that it isn't currently available in my country (Australia)...

Apr 14, 2020 7:39 PM by Rarity

These services ought to offer a raw/translation-free subscription. I'd actually sign up, even stick around if I liked the selection.

Apr 14, 2020 6:57 PM by Ochimusha

This would be terrific if they actually offered manga I am already reading or intend to read

Apr 14, 2020 6:49 PM by Chronowarp