News
Shogakukan Releases 'Novelous' Light Novel/Manga App Using AI Translation in U.S., Canada
posted on by Alex Mateo
Publisher Shogakukan announced that it is releasing "Novelous," its new iOS and Android app for light novel series and manga in the United States and Canada, on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. EST. The Nikkei newspaper reported last July that Novelous uses AI translation for English releases. Shogakukan streamed a trailer:
Novelous features over 80 titles at launch, including Witch and Hound, Too Many Losing Heroines!, and Kengan Ashura. Users can unlock long-term access to new chapters with in-app paid coins, or short-term access via free coins.
The app features vertical scrolling for reading, and allows users to comment with their impressions on the works. The releases also include word balloons with icons of the characters to display characters' lines, as Shogakukan had told Nikkei it has received feedback that "Japanese names are hard to remember."
Shogakukan plans to include original light novels written in the West in the future. There will be an upcoming competition for participants to submit their own English light novels for a chance to be featured in the Novelous app.
Nikkei previously reported that the app will allegedly cut translation costs in half while also increasing the output of light novels in English. The app will utilize Mantra's AI-assisted translation system. Mantra is the service that is providing AI translation for the simultaneous English releases of Kore Yamazaki's The Ancient Magus Bride and Ghost and Witch manga. Shogakukan invested in Mantra last June.
Shogakukan's aim with the app is to release 400 works within two years (it is unclear if this means 400 different works or 400 novel volumes), including a Frieren: Beyond Journey's End spinoff novel and Kazami Sawatari and illustrator Aitiki's Shiotaiō no Satō-san ga Ore ni Dake Amai novel series. Shogakukan aims to have 1 million users of the app by the end of the fiscal year in 2027, with sales in several billions of yen (1 billion yen is approximately US$6.41 million). Shogakukan stated it will also release other publishers' works if publishers request it.
Several other Japanese companies have recently started translating manga into English using AI or machine translation.
TO Books launched an English version of its Corona EX manga website last April as a paid subscription service, featuring both previous translations of its works from various English publishers (such as Seven Seas Entertainment or J-Novel Club), as well as works machine-translated through Google Translate, which the site admits may possibly contain errors. The service has a US$4.50 monthly subscription cost.
The AI localization company Orange Inc. released an e-bookstore service titled "emaqi" in the United States on September 3. The service features works translated using Orange Inc.'s technology, and also includes "recommendations, curations by manga influencers, and manga trailers." emaqi is both a website and an app, with the former launching first.
Source: Press release
