Shueisha's manga reader service MANGA Plus recently announced that the entirety of its expansive catalog, which includes Eiichiro Oda's One Piece and Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia, is available to read for free by anyone.
According to Crunchyroll, the First Read Free promotion is to celebrate MANGA Plus's third anniversary and comes with two caveats: each chapter can only be read for free once and the promotion is only available for one year. The chapters will be available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Thai, Russian and Indonesian.
The manga reader service's ever-growing selection features over 100 individual series and thousands of chapters. Beyond One Piece and My Hero Academia, some notable examples include Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen, Yūki Tabata's Black Clover, Boichi's Dr. Stone, Tatsuya Endo's Spy x Family, Akira Amano's Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective, Akari Kajimoto's Even If You Slit My Mouth, Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Super and Takaya Kagami's Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign. Takaki Tsuyoshi's Heart Gear and Kazue Katō's Blue Exorcist will be a part of the First Read Free promotion when they return from hiatus.
Tsuyoshi and Katō aren't the only mangakas who have taken recent breaks in writing. Blue Period creator Tsubasa Yamaguchi is currently on a one-month hiatus in order to recover from COVID-19. She stated on social media that she will be spending her time "sleeping a lot and healing." Similarly, World Trigger's Daisuke Ashihara took a break at the end of last year because of health issues.
Despite the multiple hiatuses, there have been many exciting developments in the manga industry. Beyond MANGA Plus's Free First Read promotion, several popular series earned top spots on the New York Times bestsellers list for graphic novels and manga earlier this year; Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man's eighth volume ranked the highest at eighth place. The New York Times started listing manga and graphic novel bestsellers in October 2019.
Moreover, multiple classic and beloved franchises are celebrating monumental milestones. Shotaro Ishinomori's original Kamen Rider manga is now 50-years old, and its 858-page hardcover omnibus has been re-released by Seven Seas Entertainment and is now available at retailers throughout North America for a suggested price of $32.99 USD. Similarly, a special Jojo's Bizarre Adventure magazine will be released in Japan on March 19 to celebrate the series' 35th anniversary. It will feature new artwork from creator Hirohiko Araki, collectible stickers and a brand new 71-page chapter of the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe spinoff manga.
Shueisha's MANGA Plus is available for iOS and Android smartphones.
Source: Crunchyroll
