The manga market begins to grow with same day releases for the US market in one week.

A lot of online publishers have been trying to crack the online market with the opening of various stores from major publishers to smaller independents. One of the more popular being Comixology. It was considered a huge leap when comics were starting to be offered with same day releases, but they were still asking for full print prices for a digital product that they don't actually own. The rationale behind it is still silly when there is no printing cost for them. I know the reason. I just don't see that as a valid excuse.

The US publisher of various manga series VIZ Media has been making inroads in broadening the base of manga readers. The first step was when a few years ago they increased their publishing of major titles such as NARUTO, ONE PIECE, and BLEACH. All these these titles are now only a few months behind the Japanese editions.

A year ago, VIZ started the online edition of Japan's WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP magazine. It was called WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA. For a subscription fee, users would get to read some of the latest chapters of some of the biggest series, but with a two week delay. These editions would also eventually expire and no longer be readable.

After a year of testing, this is about to change in one week. Starting on January 21, 2013. The VIZ will be releasing WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP online with full translations with no more delay. It's going to be same day releases with Japan. This is a huge leap in broadening the audience of these manga series. Another improvement in their service is that these magazines will no longer expire. You own it.

I paid a subscription fee of $25.99 USD, and I will get an entire year of this weekly magazine. Every Monday, I will be able to read almost 200 pages of the latest manga chapters on my computer or download to my Kindle Fire (also believable on IOS devices). That is a huge bargain. In Japan, Eiichiro Oda's ONE PIECE sells tens of millions of units ever year (over 23 million in 2012). It's an understatement to say it's breaking sales records. Now, that weekly audience will only be growing.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt