Crunchyroll Launches 'Crunchyroll Manga' Digital Comic Platform

Crunchyroll, Inc., the leading anime and Asian drama streaming video service, announces the official launch of its digital comic service. The Crunchyroll Manga service is accessible online at http://www.crunchyroll.com/manga, with iOS and Android applications to be released today.

Starting today, both free and premium members can enjoy an exclusive selection of the latest and most popular manga on Crunchyroll at the same time it is released to newsstands in Japan, beginning with 12 titles licensed from Kodansha, the largest publisher in Japan.

The manga available at launch include hits such as ATTACK ON TITAN, FAIRY TAIL, MYSTERIOUS GIRLFRIEND X, SPACE BROTHERS, UQ HOLDER!, A TOWN WHERE YOU LIVE, YAMADA-KUN AND THE SEVEN WITCHES, MY WIFE IS WAGATSUMA-SAN, and COPPELION.

Kodansha's Executive Director of International Business, Osamu Yoshiba, says of the launch of Crunchyroll Manga, "We are very excited for readers worldwide to have access to our manga faster and more conveniently than ever before."

Crunchyroll Manga will simultaneously publish ("simulpub") the latest issues at the same time as these issues are released in Japan, meaning that readers will be able to follow their favorite stories with no time delay. All simulpub chapters will be available to both free and premium users in approximately 170 countries localized in English initially. The service offers a selection of catalog volumes at launch with more to be added weekly after launch.

The latest simulpub chapters of each manga title will be available for free with limited advertisements at the same time as Japan release. Additionally, the Crunchyroll All-Access membership ($11.95 USD/month), which includes premium access to anime, drama, and discounts on merchandise, will also be able to access all Crunchyroll Manga content, including supplemental catalog, no ads and additional premium features. A manga-only premium membership is also available ($4.95 USD/month) with access to all Crunchyroll Manga content including supplemental catalog, no ads, and additional premium features.

Crunchyroll's CEO, Kun Gao, says of the launch of Crunchyroll Manga, "We are truly excited to bring manga to all Crunchyroll viewers. We hope to give our users the fastest access to some of the most popular manga properties in Japan across a wide range of platforms. With a large variety of content from different genres, we hope that fans who currently enjoy Crunchyroll's anime and Asian drama content will also find new manga titles to enjoy. We look forward to working with more publishers to bring all of Japan's manga titles to the worldwide audience as soon as they hit newsstands in Japan."

More information about Crunchyroll's membership plans can be found at: http://www.crunchyroll.com/freetrial.

About Crunchyroll, Inc.

Crunchyroll is a leading global destination and platform for Japanese anime and Asian content. Through applications like Crunchyroll for iPhone, iPad, Android, Xbox LIVE, Apple TV, Internet-enabled TVs, set-top boxes, affiliate websites and its own streaming website, Crunchyroll delivers over 25,000 episodes and 15,000 hours of officially-licensed content from leading Asian media producers direct to viewers translated professionally in multiple languages within minutes of TV broadcast.

Crunchyroll has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, and is a member of the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) and Licensing International Merchandisers' Association (LIMA). Officially launched in 2009, Crunchyroll is funded by leading venture capital firm, Venrock, Japanese entertainment giant TV TOKYO, and a group of angel investors representing some of the brightest and most successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. More information can be found at http://www.crunchyroll.com.

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