Japanese Digital Comic Association Creates JManga.com For American Market

The Japanese Digital Comic Association is reaching out to its North American fans by launching JManga.com, which will serve as a digital distribution portal for the organization.

Robert Newman, the business manager of JManga.com, previewed the service at Comic-Con last month, explaining:

[W]e’re going to be releasing content many of you have not heard of. We’re trying to bring readers, authors and publishers closer together and you’ll find services and commentary and content on Jmanga that the scanlation sites can’t provide.

The site is a welcome effort to distribute manga via a legitimate online channel. The industry has been plagued by piracy as many fans seek out their favorite manga wherever they can find it – legal or not. Publishers have been slow to offer legitimate digital distribution that can serve content quicker than scanlations, even though demand is high among an enthusiastic fan base.

JManga Store

Single title view

So far the public reaction on on the JManga Facebook page is mixed, with many just happy that the service is online, while others are disappointed that prices are too high or that the geo-restriction filter is mistakenly not letting them access the site.

But JManga is a move in the right direction, even if selection is somewhat limited to start with just a few hundred titles. According to its announcement, the service will update every Tuesday, and the hope is to have 10,000 titles by 2013. JManga hopes to get on iOS as well, with Android and Amazon’s Kindle to follow.

You can check out the promo video for JManga below. Fans in North American can try out the new service at JManga.com. Unfortunately manga-lovers elsewhere will have to wait, because it’s currently for North America only.