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Making the Digital Jump With Viz Manga


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grooveygirl



Joined: 06 Dec 2009
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:55 pm Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
Banjo wrote:
paper for life for me, I enjoy reading on devices but I enjoy it 100 times more as books Cool

I get the point you're making, really do. But just to play devils advocate and why I keep BEGGING Viz (and Yen Press) to put out a dang Android app.

Weight of my Android tablet = 1.5 lbs
Weight of 1 manga volume = ~0.5 lbs

(to use your 100x more number)
Weight of 100 vols on my tablet = 1.5 lbs
Weight of 100 vols of paper manga = ~50 lbs

When I travel, I could have 50+ vols of "One Piece", 30+ vols of "Rurouni Kenshin" and 10 (or so) vols of "Bakuman" all for reading and reference on my tablet. Even ignoring WEIGHT, I couldn't have even half that with actual books (only for reasons of BULK).

(plus, if you work professionally or even are a university student, you can be a LOT more sneaky about what you're reading with a tablet) Wink

---

In all seriousness tho, when I saw a Nook review for the Viz stuff, I DL'd the Nook app that DAY and registered for B&N only to be horrifically disappointed that it is completely Nook (tablet) specific and I could not BUY this stuff on my current device) Anime hyper


I'm with you on this one, I have inquired with both VIZ and Yen Press as to when an app for Android devices will be available. The only reply I received was from VIZ with a promise of soon. I have also downloaded the Nook app and trust me it sucks for reading manga (downloaded a DMP title to test it out). So even if VIZ titles were not Nook tablet specific I wouldn't use the Nook app to read manga titles.
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SnaphappyFMA



Joined: 14 Jan 2009
Posts: 216
Location: California
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:19 pm Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
SnaphappyFMA wrote:
... So I will likely get a tablet in the near future. The iPad price genuinely irks me ($500?? you can buy 2 Nook tablets for that!), but manga does look pretty on it. It looks pretty good on the Nook too, though. Decisions, decisions. Smile

If there's some combination that supports panel by panel guided view, a 7" tablet becomes a lot more useful as a manga reader, especially since you can flip it to portrait every once in a while for a tall and skinny panel. I find on a 10" screen with full page panel to panel view, there's not even the need for an occasional flip (good thing, too, since that's my netbook).

But in any event, I'd want to see a YouTube clip of how the Nook built-in reader handles reading sections of a page and how convenient it is to read panel by panel without some kind of GuidedView system built in before I'd buy it primarily as a manga reader.

Another option to keep in mind is the Kobo Vox, which is the most open of the three main 7" LCD ebook readers / media tablets (not surprising, since they are very distinctly third place in that list). I got my Nook because the price of the refurbished unit brought it into my price range, but if I was buying at the common $200 MSRP of the NookColor, KindleTab and KoboVox, I'd lean to the Vox.

The only general panel by panel system for Android that I know of is comiXology, and I don't know how shallow their selection of manga is. Panelfly seems to be another system aiming for the ease of use crown, but I think they are not yet rolled out to the broader Android market.

In any event, now that I have my Nook ad have it rooted, if something becomes available in the Android ecosystem that is a better solution to the built in, I'm able to take advantage of it. Of course, for me it's all bonus since I bought it as an ebook reader and streaming anime viewer, and with the Crunchyroll and Crackle apps and the built in ebook reader, I'm happy with it for that.


I know Kobo tablets, like their e-readers, are reasonably priced. I think though that I'd want to go with a tablet from a company that I know will survive, like Apple and B&N/Nook. I recall Kobo having to scramble to distance itself from Borders when Borders collapsed. Lucky for Kobo that they weren't actually owned by Borders like the Nook is owned by B&N. Wink (And I don't want a Kindle Fire. I already have a Kindle Touch and I don't want to give all my money to Amazon.)

I've also heard that rooted Nooks are just like full-fledged Android tablets. But if you root it, then the warranty is voided, right? If it's not one thing, it's another. Smile
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Jrittmayer



Joined: 13 Oct 2009
Posts: 304
Location: New Jersey
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:58 am Reply with quote
White Lightning Alchemist wrote:
What I don't like about Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha:

No Kindle Fire support, the e-reader/tablet of my choice.

All these "Digital Warps" punish the people that were following series legally, I'm not all that interested in reading two weeks after Japan if I'm still years behind. I guess I'm sticking with volumes for Bakuman.

No more Psyren and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, while the latter isn't very good (And I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan), I was loving following the former in the monthly US Shonen Jump and it was just nice to get two new series instead of the ones that've gone on forever.

Reading these on an Internet browser is incredibly unpleasant. It's not nearly as good as other comic readers like Comixology.

The issues expire, while I can see why they do it, I don't really want to pay for something that's just going to disappear in a year.


Wait wait wait....Your issues of Shonen Jump Alpha expire?! So you're saying a year from now this months issue would be gone?

If what you're saying is true I will not be continuing my subscription!
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:23 am Reply with quote
SnaphappyFMA wrote:
I've also heard that rooted Nooks are just like full-fledged Android tablets. But if you root it, then the warranty is voided, right? If it's not one thing, it's another. Smile

Well, a rooted Nook Color would be just like a full-fledged underpowered Android ~ but with more RAM, better build quality and far better touch screen and display than the next step down into the cheap chinese Android tablets.

But, yeah, it'd be recommended to back-up the stock system before nooting it, in case you need warranty repair.

SnaphappyFMA wrote:
I know Kobo tablets, like their e-readers, are reasonably priced. I think though that I'd want to go with a tablet from a company that I know will survive, like Apple and B&N/Nook. ...

Well, they are originally a spin off from Indigo, and even though Canada is a smaller market, it doesn't seem to me like Indigo is going anywhere anytime soon.

The thing with the Kobo though is that they have the most open system of the three, so as long as some Android Market somewhere is open, it will be possible to get apps to run on it ... and since they rely on Adobe Digital Editions DRM, even if Canada's Indigo goes under and drags the Kobo ebook store down with it, as you suggest ... it ought to still be convenient to buy books for the Kobo from other ebook stores that use Adobe DRM.


Last edited by agila61 on Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:27 am Reply with quote
I have an original MyWifi first generation Nook eReader that uses eInk, and I disagree with the assessment in the article. Reading manga with eInk technology is pretty much like reading from paper to me, and as an autism patient I actually have trouble with some backlit displays. While I can actually read Nook color manga on it, with some formatting errors, it seems that these recent Viz releases aren't actually available for the Nook at all and mine refuses to download the one that I bought, so I switched to buying from Viz Media's digital distribution website. I'm rather disappointed, to be honest.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:35 am Reply with quote
Jrittmayer wrote:
Wait wait wait....Your issues of Shonen Jump Alpha expire?! So you're saying a year from now this months issue would be gone? ...

Of course. Its like a Japanese serial, except 120pp instead of 200pp and it costs $1 for a month access to a an issue instead of $2.50~$3. A year's subscription costs $0.50/issue.

Though they ought to have a 3mth option for $9.95. which would be $0.75/issue.

People in Japan will often just toss a serial away when they are done with it, like when people are done reading a newspaper. If they want to have a series to keep, they buy the tankobon.

How do you expect them to sell you permanent access rights for $0.50 per 120pp. issue? At that price they'd be paying the digital tankobon royalties out of their own pocket.
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Bussani



Joined: 27 Nov 2008
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:46 pm Reply with quote
When I heard about this I went to sign up for it immediately. For someone like me who previously had to import a printed copy, this sounded like a great idea. But then I saw these dreaded words on their site:

"North America and Canada only."

What the hell, man? Why doesn't Viz want my money? Now my only choice if I want to read a chapter before the graphic novel comes out is to be a dirty pirate. Thanks, Viz.
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vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:52 am Reply with quote
I like the idea of a digital magazine that expires in that respect, as opposed to simply throwing out a print comic or recycling it. It seems far less wasteful, since no physical material was ever really created or destroyed, and it means that the reader doesn't have to store it anywhere per say, since it doesn't actually exist. I'm seriously considering a Shonen Jump Alpha subscription myself.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:17 am Reply with quote
vashna wrote:
I like the idea of a digital magazine that expires in that respect, as opposed to simply throwing out a print comic or recycling it. It seems far less wasteful, since no physical material was ever really created or destroyed, and it means that the reader doesn't have to store it anywhere per say, since it doesn't actually exist. I'm seriously considering a Shonen Jump Alpha subscription myself.

My only problem is the player. If they had a mode with locked zoom and corner to corner transitions, I'd likely buy a year's subscription ~ at $0.50 per issue per week, j, but since their player is unreadable to me on my personal media-consuming netbook and even work on my nook's browser, it doesn't make any sense.
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vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:32 pm Reply with quote
I could see that. From my point of view, I've been talking about using a large flat screen monitor from a desktop computer, so we're in quite different worlds. I wish I could use my Nook for it, but as I've said before I'm reading on the original eInk Nook and not a color version. Desktop reading works fine though.
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Ichigo77



Joined: 10 Dec 2006
Posts: 389
Location: California
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Does any one know if it takes apple a while to approve shonen jump alpha for the ipad? I bought a subscription early this morning like at 1 am and now I can read the current issue of alpha on viz manga.com but it is not showing up on the viz app under my manga.
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:38 pm Reply with quote
the recycle arguement is stupid
no one throws away comics - no one.

but you are paying for access is fine.
just like having a crunchyroll subscription, shows you watch now might not be available next year.
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jsieczkar



Joined: 11 Jul 2008
Posts: 139
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:56 pm Reply with quote
potatochobit wrote:
the recycle arguement is stupid
no one throws away comics - no one.

but you are paying for access is fine.
just like having a crunchyroll subscription, shows you watch now might not be available next year.

I toss out comics all the time. People i know will buy an issue of a series that they normally don't read if they don't like it they normally throw it out.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:11 pm Reply with quote
potatochobit wrote:
the recycle arguement is stupid
no one throws away comics - no one.

If nobody threw away comics, then they wouldn't be collectibles, because they wouldn't be scarce.

As far as manga ~ the US has not had the equivalent to the 200pp weekly serials for $2.50 / $3 an issue, so we don't have the same culture of tossing it in the trash unless someone else wants it.
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InitialT



Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:27 pm Reply with quote
First: Thanks to Carlo for updating the article with accurate information.

Regarding the Nook support for manga - it's currently only for Nook Tablet and Nook Color. Prior to making a purchase from the B&N site, they tell you exactly which devices currently support that content.

That doesn't mean it will never be supported on any other devices. The same thing happened last year when they first introduced magazines. At first, it was only on Nook Color. Then within a few months, it was on the free Nook apps for all Android and iOS devices.

Cross your fingers and hope the same happens here for manga.
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