Kodansha to Publish Simultaneous Digital Editions of All Its Manga Magazines

Company plans to create digital editions of all 22 magazines by June 2015

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Japanese publisher Kodansha decided on plans to publish all its manga magazines digitally on the same day that the magazines ship in print. Kodansha plans to have digital editions all of its 22 manga magazines by June. The company is starting the initiative with three magazines: Young Magazine(print circulation 670,000), Monthly Shonen Magazine (print circulation 660,000), and Weekly Shōnen Magazine (print circulation 1.32 million).

The sixth 2015 issue of Young Magazine — which ships on January 5 — will have a simultaneous digital release. Additionally, the February issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine(which ships on January 6) and the sixth 2015 issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine (which ships on January 7, pictured at right) will also have simultaneous digital releases.

Kodansha started publishing its Morning magazine digitally simultaneously in May 2013.

The head of Kodansha's digital business noted that "our rivals are not just other publishers, but also videos and games. I want to come up with a way to get [audiences] to choose [our content] from among all the ordinary content."

Kodansha opened the http://567.kodansha.co.jp/ website last week with a countdown featuring characters from manga serialized in different Kodansha publications. The countdown will end on January 5 in Japan. The "567" title on the website shows Meiko Shiraki from Akira Hiramoto'sPrison School (published in Young Magazine), Tsukumo Mutsu from Masatoshi Kawahara's Shura no Mon (published in Monthly Shonen Magazine), and Natsu from Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail(published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine).