Let’s just say a question on Twitter led to this wild idea about providing some quick-hit updates on manga titles in digital format. While it hasn’t taken over print as some feared years ago, it’s a space to keep an eye on since it will be important for a good amount of people moving forward.

So let’s start with the Twitter question before moving on to all the digital announcements or titles that are now digital that have happened over the past couple weeks (or month):

My Boy’s digital status

Vertical Marketing Director Tomo Tran confirmed to TheOASG that “there are plans to bring My Boy into digital again.” The aim is to release the rest of the volumes digitally this summer, but there’s no exact date just yet.

The first two My Boy volumes were released digitally, but the two recent volumes were only released in print. Just conjecture on my part, but it’s likely Vertical lost the digital rights once the series moved from Futabasha’s Monthly Action to Kodansha’s Weekly Young Magazine.

“Working on Monogatari Season 2”

You likely know the first season of NISIOISIN’s Monogatari series are now in digital format. Tomo has confirmed Vertical is working on making the rest digital, but no timetable for when it will all be in eBook form at this point.

Yen Press’ 4 digital announcements and the one they didn’t announce

Yen Press has been making a couple of print-only titles available digitally over the past 6-8 months, but this might be the second time (First was Kaoru Mori’s manga) they’ve announced well before its release date they’ll be releasing titles on places like ComiXology and Kobo:

Most of these titles (Takagi-san, Zo Zo Zombie and Oregairu @ comic) already showed up digitally on some places, but A Sister’s All you Need is actually new to me.

What is also new is Yen Press saying nothing regarding them releasing Kingdom Hearts III the manga in any official capacity. I’m almost tempted to believe that Square-Enix might have something to do with that, but that’s just dumb. There’s no way. Even though they might’ve made the mistake of releasing this during Bookcon/Expo week, I’m still surprised Yen forgot about this.

Seven Seas’ digital wave

They’ve been making strides in putting their catalog in digital format, and this past month they released Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, The High School Life of a Fudanshi, Yokai Rental Shop, and Nagata Kabi’s My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness sequel My Solo Exchange Diary as eBooks for places like ComiXology and BookWalker. I can bet they can finally enjoy not being hounded by people wondering why those titles weren’t in digital format already.

VIZ and their digital releases

Think you already know about Banana Fish in digital format, so outside of that, there’s only (at this point) a few digital nuggets of note: Battle Royale: Angels Border is now available digitally. And in over a week and some days, the rest of Kohske’s Gangsta. series, Gangsta: Cursed. can be purchased on most digital platforms.

Media Do Madness

Yeppppp, search for manga on platforms like Amazon and Kobo, you might see something like GOD SIDER SECOND. Or My Sadistic Boyfriend (it has evolved from being a JManga title!). To put it bluntly — geez they’re releasing a lot. I don’t necessary mean new either: they’re going full catch-up on BAKI and Creature!, and steadily releasing more La Magnifique Grande Scene.

They are releasing some new stuff. Well, one is a re-release — ARTE, which was fraught with problems, is now available at the proper price points, and even has volume 2 out in digital storefronts now.

The others? One is something that’s bizarre in release and one got an anime! The title out now is Daichi Aozora’s The Run-away Student NINJA HAYATE, which is definitely the oddest looking thing I’ve seen in a while:

But what’s bizarre is this title, according to Baka Updates, has one volume out in existence in Japan. This series started in 2012 and is supposedly ongoing. So yeah, a very curious release, but it is out of a Futabasha magazine, and based on what Media Do’s been releasing over the past month, it won’t be the last one from them.

The other is King’s Game, which will be out on Tuesday, June 11. You might think it’s an obscure title, but no, this manga (based off a cell phone novel) got an anime not too long ago. If anyone watched the anime and liked it, maybe you’ll enjoy the manga as well.

Lasting Thoughts
  • After going just about every month (I think they skipped January) releasing new titles digitally, Kodansha Advanced Media has gone May and looks like June without specifically releasing a new manga once a week…which might just set up a big July.
  • We know J-Novel Club’s forte is light novels, but they are releasing manga, and their first wave of manga they announced (see Animeta, Infinite Dendrogram, Ascendance of a Bookworm, etc) are starting to appear in digital storefronts…just not all digital storefronts yet.
  • Dark Horse doesn’t always release manga digitally, but look out for Appleseed: Hypernotes and Gou Tanabe’s At the Mountains of Madness being released in eBook format soon.