Shueisha Launches Manga Million Digital Reading Project

Last Thursday, the world of manga was shaken by the launch of a new global initiative from Shueisha. The publisher behind popular series such as One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Naruto released Manga Million. This digital repository makes over one million pages of Shueisha manga available in 100 languages. Launched to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary, Manga Million is available worldwide except in Japan.

Details about the project were revealed in a special one-shot chapter of the manga Onwards! The Expendable Expedition by Takeshi Sakurai. The manga had never been translated into English before making its first appearance on Manga Plus, Shueisha’s digital reading app for international readers. In the one-shot, the author appears alongside a group of Shueisha editors to explain the Manga Million initiative.

The project has been in development for five years. It aims to make Shueisha’s manga known all over the world, including countries that never received official translations into their languages. Manga Million launched with 400 series, with more to be added in the future. The huge volume of material required a significant amount of hard work. As one of the editors says in the one-shot, what started as an extremely extravagant plan turned out to be an endlessly boring data management project.

Immediately after its launch, Manga Million faced controversy. On social media, some accounts pointed out that Flitto Japan, one of the seven translation companies used for the project, describes itself as a leader in AI translation solutions. However, Flitto also advertises professional translations made by humans, so claims about AI use remain unsubstantiated. Other fans noted discrepancies in translation credits for certain series, though these could be unrelated to AI. In the Onwards! one-shot, the editors stated that no AI translations were used for the project and that the entire process was subject to a meticulous check system.

Many series are receiving their first-ever English translation through Manga Million, including TochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops, the third-longest running manga in history. Fans outside the United States can now read manga that are missing from Manga Plus and were previously available only through the Shonen Jump Plus app, such as Kingdom.

Not all volumes of every series are available. Availability varies by manga. One Piece has its first 12 volumes available, translated into 102 languages. Series like Haikyu!! and Oshi no Ko have their first five volumes translated into 20 languages. Manga Million is completely free, but the project is scheduled to last until the end of 2027. It remains unclear whether the platform will disappear after that or require a subscription.

Manga Million gives fans worldwide a chance to read their favorite manga in their native language for the first time. It also brings long-running series that lacked English translations outside of Japan to a broader audience. Readers hope Shueisha will address questions about AI soon and that the platform will receive frequent updates to make more chapters and volumes available.

Source: Polygon