Viz has just brought its entire graphic novel collection to Apple iBooks and users will now be able to access over 1,600 titles. Over 130 different series will be available and readers will be able to purchase seminal favorites such as; NARUTO, BLEACH, BAKUMAN and ONE PIECE. Each one will run you around $6.00, which is quite respectable, considering most graphic novels by Marvel cost more than double.
“The availability of this deep library of manga titles on the iBooks Store brings some of the genre’s most popular and acclaimed series to legions of new and existing fans across North America with the reliability and convenience Apple’s platform is renowned for,” says Gagan Singh, EVP and CTO, VIZ Media. “With one of the largest and most diverse English language manga catalogs available anywhere, VIZ Media remains fully committed to the proliferation of high quality digital manga content, and we look forward to nurturing and continually expanding this robust catalog.”
Apple has expanded the footprint of iBooks by including it into the latest build of the MAC OS. This will allow Manga users to read them on the iPad, iPhone, and a myriad of other devices.
About a week ago, Viz created waves in the Manga community by announcing via a letter (which has since disappeared) on its Vizmanga site that it is raising the price of a volume of manga from $4.99 to $6.99 as of October 1. Some volumes, such as omnibuses and mature titles, are priced higher and their prices will go up commensurately. We spoke to the VP of Viz about it, so check it out.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.