Manga Plus is an online manga platform and smartphone app owned by Shueisha that was launched on January 28, 2019. It is available worldwide except in Japan, China, and South Korea which already have their own services, including Shonen Jump+, the original Japanese service. Manga Plus publishes English-translated versions of new chapters from currently serialized manga in Weekly Shōnen Jump, a big portion of manga from the Shōnen Jump+ app/website, and some manga from Jump Square, Weekly Young Jump, and V Jump. The first three chapters and the three most recent chapters of all titles on the platform are available for free, while all titles from Shonen Jump+ have all of their chapters for free, except in the US where some are also limited to first and last three chapters, due to the license of some manga. A Spanish version of the service launched on February 25, 2019.
History
Weekly Shōnen Jump reached a peak weekly circulation of 6.53 million copies in the 1990s, but the decline of print media has since been reducing readership. In response, Shueisha turned towards digital distribution to attempt to reach out to a wider audience. In 2012, Shueisha launched the online Jump Book Store. In 2014, Shueisha launched Shōnen Jump+, an online platform that allows users to buy e-book versions of Jump manga and a digital version of Weekly Shōnen Jump. It also has large samples that can be read free. Shuhei Hosono, the head editor for Shōnen Jump+ and Manga Plus, said that they were aware of the many manga readers overseas, and that they wanted to bring manga to more people around the world. They began talks about a possible global version of Shōnen Jump+ in 2017. Shueisha finally launched Manga Plus on January 28, 2019. The service was made available to every country except China, South Korea, and Japan, with the latter countries being excluded because they each already have their own separate services. At the start, English was the only available language. The Spanish version of the site launched on May 20, 2019, albeit with a different lineup of manga titles. In January 2019, Hosono stated that there were no plans for any other languages, but more could be added in the future if there is enough demand. Up until the launch of Manga Plus, Shueisha's titles had been distributed throughout the world via local publishers or distribution lines. The launch was the first time that Shueisha had expanded direct service globally.
