In the latest digital news to come out of New York Comic Con, Kodansha USA Publishing, in conjunction with its distributor Random House Publisher Services, announced plans to release a Kodansha Comics iPad app featuring a selection of the publisher’s manga backlist. The Kodansha Comics iPad app is available October 15 through the iTunes store and features 34 manga titles priced from $2.99 to $4.99.
After years of complaints that Japanese publishers were dragging their feet on digital delivery of licensed Japanese manga, Kodansha now joins Viz Media, Yen Press, DMP in offering a selection of its manga titles in digital editions. The Kodansha Comics iPad app is free to download and will launch with 34 titles from four series: Arisa by Natsumi Ando; Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima; Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei by Koji Kumeta; and Until the Full Moon by Sanami Matoh. More series will be added to the list going forward.
In addition, to mark the appearance of Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima at New York Comic Con, the Kodansha Comics app will feature all 15 volumes of Fairy Tail priced at $2.99 for a limited time. The app was created under the direction Random House Publishers Services, Random House’s distribution unit and the distributor of Kodansha Comics’s manga titles, by Smashing Ideas, an app developer and digital media agency acquired by Random House earlier this year.
Jeff Abraham, President of Random House Publisher Services. “This is a great example of how RHPS can draw on the larger experience of Random House to create compelling services for our clients.”
