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NEWS: Kodansha's New 'K Manga' App Reveals Tickets, Points System for Accessing Manga Chapters


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God of Jurai



Joined: 28 May 2019
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 9:08 am Reply with quote
I was personally hoping for more of a VIZ/Shonen Jump type of service.
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 4026
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 9:31 am Reply with quote
I really hope this lasts.
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Kiwi93



Joined: 08 Dec 2022
Posts: 399
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 9:32 am Reply with quote
God of Jurai wrote:
I was personally hoping for more of a VIZ/Shonen Jump type of service.


Yea same don’t why they can’t do something similar this reminds me a little bit of MangaUP
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Saskatoonshred



Joined: 28 Jan 2021
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:11 am Reply with quote
It is absolutely mind-blowing that they are using such a restrictive system that's designed to milk readers of money. I'd love to hear from Kodansha why they think this is the right model to use instead of a flat rate subscription service.
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infanf



Joined: 21 Oct 2022
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:12 am Reply with quote
TsukasaElkKite wrote:
I really hope this lasts.


I really hope it fails quickly and they relaunch it as a subscription based service (ideally also outside the US).
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pikabot



Joined: 19 Nov 2014
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:16 am Reply with quote
Yeugh. No thanks. Couldn't pay me to interact with a monetization scheme that obviously scuzzy.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2686
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:20 am Reply with quote
Saskatoonshred wrote:
It is absolutely mind-blowing that they are using such a restrictive system that's designed to milk readers of money. I'd love to hear from Kodansha why they think this is the right model to use instead of a flat rate subscription service.


As some people have pointed out online, K Manga is using the exact same service that's used in Japan, so that's why Kodansha thinks it's the right model: Because it works in Japan.

This is just another example of a Japanese company simply deciding "Well, if it works in Japan then it should work everywhere else!", and not bothering to actually do the research & see how things differ outside of Japan. All that's missing is for Kodansha to hold a panel at an anime con & show a slide that reads "Kodansha Comics & K Manga: We Know Everything About MANGA FAN WANTS!".

As silly as it may be for the Shonen Jump & Viz Media subscription services to be completely separate from each other, they at least show that Shueisha & Shogakukan understand that the US & Canada are not Japan, and need a separate way of doing things. We can only hope that Kodansha won't dig their heels in and go "NO!! Our way is right!" when it comes to K Manga, because the amount of titles already offered (including numerous manga being given their first ever official English releases, like Capeta) is really cool, and it'd be a shame if it was screwed over by a poor way of offering them.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3572
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:26 am Reply with quote
Lord Geo wrote:
As some people have pointed out online, K Manga is using the exact same service that's used in Japan, so that's why Kodansha thinks it's the right model: Because it works in Japan.

This is just another example of a Japanese company simply deciding "Well, if it works in Japan then it should work everywhere else!", and not bothering to actually do the research & see how things differ outside of Japan. All that's missing is for Kodansha to hold a panel at an anime con & show a slide that reads "Kodansha Comics & K Manga: We Know Everything About MANGA FAN WANTS!".

As you pointed out, I have doubts this will work in US. People in Europe might be a bit more forgiving giving this a chance ...Except it won't be available there, only US&Canada so.. /shrug
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ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 982
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:42 am Reply with quote
The fact that they added Capeta but locked it behind this horrible pricing model is just the worst. Screw these greedy idiots.

Oh, and that launch party? It's not gonna be a party for any of us. I hope it's a live stream so I can immediately give them hell in chat.


Last edited by ZeetherKID77 on Wed May 10, 2023 10:57 am; edited 1 time in total
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09jcg



Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 537
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:47 am Reply with quote
Another Manga service with meme worthy censorship. Hard pass.
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blahmoomoo



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
Posts: 506
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:56 am Reply with quote
The really annoying thing is that they are being inconsistent with what you can read for free.

Manga UP! allows you to read everything with free currency (4 "chapters" per half day) except for the latest three chapters for everything that is currently publishing (completed titles usually unlock one "chapter" per week, which is annoying for long series that will be fully unlocked in 2025), though they also don't necessarily have the newest chapters available.

With K MANGA, it depends on the title. Some let you read all but a few newest chapters with free currency (paced out, like 1-2 chapters per day after you get past the initial free chapters), but others only let you read about half of the series before requiring coins (which you can get for free, but maybe at a rate of one chapter's worth per few or several days [the price per chapter varies]). Yuck.

What really annoys me is that Grand Blue Dreaming is one of the titles where half of the chapters are coin only, when it used to be a free simulpub when bundled with another service like Crunchyroll Manga.

Maybe I'll read some series that have all but the few newest chapters unlocked, but anything that is half-coin only is DOA; I have no reason to start reading those series unless I just want to check it out before getting it from the library or something.
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ErikaD.D



Joined: 09 Jun 2019
Posts: 660
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 11:12 am Reply with quote
Based on reviews of KManga on Twitter and Reddit -- it's quite negative. Overall, KManga is a completely fiasco.

Quote:
Kodansha Ltd. stated it will host a digital launch party for its K MANGA service on June 22


Welp. This will age like milk.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5595
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 11:44 am Reply with quote
Overpriced and the tickets are just short rentals. what a joke
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MagicPolly



Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1627
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 11:55 am Reply with quote
Viz really ruined them by launching an objectively better service one day beforehand. I've seen some comparisons that buying digital volumes from Amazon ends up cheaper than paying for the same number of K manga chapters.
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xxmsxx



Joined: 06 Sep 2017
Posts: 601
PostPosted: Wed May 10, 2023 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Lord Geo wrote:
This is just another example of a Japanese company simply deciding "Well, if it works in Japan then it should work everywhere else!", and not bothering to actually do the research & see how things differ outside of Japan.


Very bold of you to think that companies want to put money towards market research and such. To them, fans should be on their knees thanking them for providing a service in the first place. Who cares about consumer habits?
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