Most people have a phone or tablet of sorts right? That’s prime grounds to reading some manga in my opinion! I love cozily reading manga in bed or less cozily reading manga in public. More manga that’s more easily accessible is what I want. Let’s jump into sharing some wonderful English Manga Apps!
There are a few apps here that also host Korean, Chinese, and Western comics along with manga, but that’s not the focus here. I will discuss these in more depth, along with the differences they have, at a later date.
Soooo. Let’s check out some of our Offical English Manga Apps! Keep in mind, this is not all of them. I’m covering North American English Manga Apps that are still active. I will not be talking about non-English or unofficial apps. Even then, I do have this broken into a series that discusses publishers and distributors in more specific and granular detail. Stay tuned!
Azuki
Site – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram Apps: iOS – Google Play
Azuki is a digital manga distributor and publisher. It is a service that is made by former Crunchyroll people. The selection here is rather hefty! They have over 200 comics. There’s a ton of manga here, in fact mostly manga, but there are the odd Korean or western comics hiding in there. They have exclusives and fan favorites! There are exclusives like Hikaru in the Light!, romcoms like Turning the Tables on the Seatmate Killer! and manga juggernauts like Attack on Titan and Fire Force.
Azuki has a premium subscription for $4.99/month! Not a bad price at all! Especially since there’s a large selection with a variety of genres. Premium lets you read any chapter you want, as soon as they release, with no ads!
Bookwalker
Site Apps: iOS – Google Play
Bookwalker is Kadokawa’s premiere manga/light novel app/site! I personally use it a ton. You just buy your digital books and read them on the website or app. The app even lets you download your books. It’s even possible and easy to swap to the Japanese version of the store and buy manga and LNs straight from Japan (in Japanese)! This even works with your English account!
Purchasing books is easy with a credit card or PayPal. Bookwalker also has a ‘coin’ reward program where you get coins that you can use to receive discounts on books! The more you buy the more you save, especially if you hop on sales and bonus coins promotions!
Comikey
Site – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram Apps: iOS – Google Play
Comikey has a ton of comics of Korean and Japanese origin. So, if you like both styles of comics then this is a great service. There are over 300 comics available. Comikey even has distribution rights to SQUARE ENIX manga like The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses.
Comikey has a premium system where you pay money to get ‘Keys’. You use these keys to buy chapters. Many series have the first few chapters free, then all future chapters cost around 2 or 3 Keys typically. Keys themselves are bought in packs. The cheapest Key Pack cost $3.99 for 40 Keys. That’s more than 10 chapters, depending on chapter costs. This is technically cheaper than a typical manga volume! The most expensive pack is $34.99 for 400 keys (over 100 chapters) and 40 free keys that expire after 5 days. Don’t worry only the Xtra Keys expire.
comiXology
Site – Twitter – Instagram Apps: iOS – Google Play
ComiXology is a comics service owned by Amazon. Manga isn’t the main draw of the service, as it’s more of a general comics type of deal. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a boatload of manga. Because they DO have a boatload of manga. ComiXology has over 2,400 manga on its service. There are classics like Battle Angel Alita and popular series like Demon Slayer and Vinland Saga. It’s not a manga, but they also have a ton of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. So, that meets my quota of western comics along with the manga selection.
I will say, it took me a bit to understand the service. I thought I could just view certain manga volumes as I wished after purchasing Unlimited. However, due to the Amazon integration, it will take you to purchase pages for digital volumes. Be forewarned that the title you wish to read must have the ‘ComiXology Unlimited’ logo. The image quality of the comics seems good, though I do hear that comics bought via kindle are low resolution, so keep that in mind too.
ComiXology Unlimited is the Premium Subscription on offer. You can read anything on the service for only $5.99/month. It’s a competitive price and offers more than just manga!
From what I can tell, the Kindle Unlimited Subscription is rolled into this subscription as well. I was able to read The Quintessential Quintuplets vol. 1 via the Kindle App for free because of my ComiXology sub.
I do dislike that you HAVE to use the app to read. Whenever I added a book to my library it sent it to my Kindle/ComiXology app. I did manage to find and use a Browser Viewer for it. It’s located on the Amazon page for a book. Just add it to your library for free (its free due to the Unlimited sub) and then you should see a green button. That should let you read the manga on your browser. I think the website navigation, and to a lesser extent the app, are somewhat nightmarish to navigate for a newcomer. They are on the convoluted side.
Crunchyroll Manga
Site – Twitter Apps: iOS – Google Play
Yep! Crunchyroll also deals in manga, not just anime! Their selection isn’t exactly huge, the app and site aren’t pleasing to look at or navigate, and I think it’s pretty hard to keep track of simulpubs and new releases. Currently, as of writing this, the sidebar of the simulpub section does show that a new chapter of Kaina of The Great Snow Sea is coming on March 1, 2023.
As far as Subscriptions go, you do need a Premium Subscription to Crunchyroll to access some chapters. That costs $7.99 at the bare minimum.
Let’s be honest though, Crunchyroll Manga is an expired, deflated cherry on the top of their luscious Anime ice cream sundae.
INKR Comics
Site – Twitter – Instagram Apps: iOS – Google Play
INKR has a large selection of Manga, Manhua, Manhwa, and other comics. It is an impressive catalog that even has stuff from TokyoPop and popular series like Fairy Tail and Vinland Saga. There are even series like Domestic Girlfriend. Yaoi/BL and Yuri/GL are also available.
INKR lets you purchase chapters with coins. You can save a percentage by buying chapters in bulk as well. There is also a free currency that expires and deals on coin packs. Also, the free currency can only rent chapters for a limited time. Coin Packs cost $1.99 for 32 coins, all the way up to $99.99 for 1600 coins.
INKR Extra is also a subscription option you can get. It’s $4.99/month or $44.99/year. It removes ads, gets you coin bonuses when purchasing coins, more free currency, and the best part is that you can read new chapters without spending coins within a certain time window (varies).
Manga Plus
Site – Facebook Apps: iOS – Google Play
MANGA Plus is owned by Shueisha and has connections to their Shounen Jump Plus app in Japan. Our “version” of the app however works like a sampler. Most of the content here has the first 3 chapters and 3 most recent chapters. Series like Dragon Ball and Naruto are done this way, with the occasional promotion where they have more chapters. Every chapter of One Piece is on here for free though (with a catch)! Some manga that I’ve read and loved on this service include Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable and Don’t Blush, Sekime-san! There’s also the cult hit Oshi no Ko.
The catch that I discussed in regard to One Piece is that many ‘Free’ chapters have a one-time viewing. For titles such as these, it will redirect you to Shonen Jump or the affiliated service. There is no paid option or premium subscription for MANGA Plus, so you don’t have to worry about paying a dime.
MangaUp!
Site – Twitter Apps: iOS – Google Play
MangaUP! Is SQUARE ENIX’s manga app. Many of their series are uploaded on this app on a chapter-by-chapter basis. There are some great titles like The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses and My Dress-Up Darling. I suppose there’s some smaller stuff like Soul Eater and Fullmetal Alchemist if that floats your boat y’know. I also quite enjoy The Great Jahy Shall Not Be Defeated.
Sadly, you can’t read most of the offerings available on the website. You can read a chapter or two but in order to read a full series it REQUIRES the app. There’s also a coin system to RENT not BUY chapters. There is a free currency as well. Coins cost $0.99 for 160 coins to $169.99 for 26,800 coins. That’s quite a range. Chapters cost around 40-80 coins. So, the $.99 coin pack gets you 2-4 chapters. Also, one of the free currencies (there are two) replaces coins, so if you have 20XP and a chapter costs 40 coins, you’ll spend 20XP and 20 coins. You can stretch out the value this way. Some chapters can’t be purchased with the main free currency of UP Coins. Though most chapters can be bought with them!
Mangamo
Site – Twitter – Instagram Apps: iOS – Google Play
Mangamo is a pretty good manga app (the site doesn’t let you read manga). It has loads of manga and a few western comics like Hellboy. There is a wide variety of manga available. There are romcoms like The Quintessential Quintuplets and A Silent Voice, classics like Battle Angel Alita, and much more!
Mangamo is simple with its subscription. Unlimited access with no ads for $4.99/month. That simple. Nothing gets in your way on the path to enjoying some manga and comics.
Really the only thing I’m confused about is accounts. There doesn’t seem to be an account system. I guess your account is tied to your apple or google account along with your sub? I sure hope it’s not per device! More on that later this month.
VIZ/Shonen Jump
Site – Twitter Apps: Viz(iOS) – Viz(Google Play) – SJ(iOS) – SJ(Google Play)
Let’s be real for a second. If you are a fan of anime or manga, you know Shonen Jump. I assume it’s a ubiquitously known brand worldwide. To be fair, Western Shonen Jump has things the original Japanese magazine doesn’t run like Blue Exorcist and One Punch Man. However, Dragon Ball, Naruto, and My Hero Academia are known worldwide. There’s even series from Japan’s Shonen Jump Plus app in our service like SPY X FAMILY. Viz also has series that aren’t Battle Shonen like Fly Me to the Moon. Viz and Shonen Jump also have the newer, and very popular series Chainsaw Man. You really can’t go wrong with Viz’s selection because they have variety despite a big Shonen push. Oh yeah, they also publish the Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda manga.
The Subscription on offer here costs $2.99/month and lets you access to up to 100 chapters per day out of their “Shonen Jump Vault”. This doesn’t include all of Viz’s manga but it is a huge selection. The subscription is tied to your account and works on both the Viz app and Shonen Jump app. Which is nice, because I feel that using the Viz app is better because you can buy digital volumes of manga that aren’t in the Shonen Jump lineup to read.
English Manga Apps Related Links
I’ll be working tirelessly to provide more and more content for Manga March here on Final Weapon. Here are some other choice manga articles and reviews, conveniently linked here for your viewing pleasure!
