Additional manga content from VIZ Media Europe, a subsidiary of the leading Japanese based manga publishers Shūeisha and Shōgakukan, and its network of European licensors, will also become available on the comiXology platform as the partnership grows.
“Through our partnership with Kazé and its parent company VIZ Media Europe, we are honored to expand the reach and enjoyment of these French language manga titles to European readers on comiXology,” said David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of comiXology. “It has always been our mission to bring comics – in all forms, including manga – to everyone everywhere, and this agreement with such a great partner is a significant move towards that goal.”
“We are really excited to join comiXology’s platform,” said Hyoe Narita, VIZ Media Europe’s CEO. “Our joint philosophies around expanding the market for manga content worldwide, while honoring the integrity of the content on digital platforms is quite complementary. As a publisher, we want to be able to share our passion for manga with everyone, everywhere and give the opportunity to help readers discover, read and enjoy our titles digitally. ComiXology is one perfect partner to help us achieve this mission globally.”
This digital distribution agreement between comiXology and Kazé will see French language manga content from many top Japanese publishers including Shūeisha, Shōgakukan, Hakusensha, Kadokawa Shoten, Gentosha, Akita Shōten, Square Enix and Ichijinsha become available for purchase across comiXology’s multi-platform mobile apps and websites including on Apple iOS, Google Android, Amazon Kindle Fire and the Web with a dedicated right-to-left full-page manga reading experience.
To celebrate, the following titles are available across French-speaking European countries today, including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Monaco:
Vampire Hunter D, by Saiko Takaki and Hideyuki Kikuchi
Gate 7, by CLAMP
K-On!, by Kakifly
La Traversée du Temps, by Ranmaru Kotoku & Yasutaka Tsutsui
Le Fleuve Shinano, by Kazuo Kamimura & Hideo Okazaki
Summer Wars, by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Tensai Family Company, by Ninomiya Tomoko
Drug & Drop, by CLAMP
Les Mystérieuses Cités d’Or, by Thomas Bouveret
Flander’s Company, by Tod
Other popular titles including Blue Exorcist, Ikigami, Toriko, Beelzebub, Black Lagoon and Dengeki Daisy, will become available through the comiXology platform this fall.