Viz will be increasing the cost of paperback manga. For the past 15 years, they have usually charged $9.99 per volume, but in early 2024 they are changing the price to $11.99 per new series and new volumes. These figures are in US dollars, so that you will pay more for manga on Amazon or Barnes and Noble bookstores.
According to ICV2, they saw new volumes of Shonen Jump titles and other series that would typically be priced at $9.99 are listed at $11.99 after January 1. That’s the case with My Hero Academia, for instance, with Vol. 36 listed at $9.99 in December 2023 and Vol. 37 at $11.99 in March 2024. The price holds for new series and new volumes of existing series. However, despite the price increase, Viz is still selling manga cheaper than its competition. The standard manga volume costs $12.99 for Kodansha Comics titles, $13.00 for Yen Press, and $12.99 to $14.99 for titles from Seven Seas Entertainment.
This has not been the first time that Viz has increased costs for manga. Viz announced that beginning in January 2023, the Shonen Jump monthly subscription service’s price would increase from $1.99 to $2.99. They said the new price would continue bringing its members “the best manga straight from Japan.”
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.
