J-Comi

Manga Library Z (マンガ図書館Z, Manga Toshokan Z),^[1] before 2018 known as J-Comi (Jコミ, J Komi), is a Japanese website that distributes out of print manga and doujinshi as DRM-free ebooks, with the permission of the authors and supported by advertising. J-Comi is limited to out of print titles so that quality of the work is assured and so that J-Comi does not compete with publishers. The site was the idea of famed manga artist Ken Akamatsu, officially established on January 25, 2008. But it was not launched until April 12, 2011, after it gained momentum in response to Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths' 2011 passing of Bill 156, which many manga creators opposed.^[2]

Manga Library Z

Owner	J-Comic Terrace Corporation (Ken Akamatsu)
URL	www.mangaz.com
Registration	Free/subscription
Launched	November 26, 2010 (beta), April 12, 2011
Current status	Online

Beta test

The first beta test began on November 26, 2010, and included all 14 volumes of CEO Ken Akamatsu's Love Hina.^[3][4] Over the first two days of the beta, there were more than 1 million downloads.^[5] Publishers Kodansha and Shueisha are collaborating with J-Comi, and Shueisha provided some additional manga titles for a second beta test.^[6]

One of the titles in the beta test, Mayu Shinjo's "After School Wedding", earned 525,000 yen over a month.^[7]

Amnesty program

J-Comi created an amnesty program for unauthorised scans of out of print manga, the "Illegal Out-of-Print Manga File Purification Project,"^[8] whereby users of J-Comi would upload them anonymously to J-Comi, J-Comi would seek permission from the author to publish them, add advertising to the manga and publish them, giving the author the revenues.^[9]

Other developments

Currently in Japanese only, J-Comi worked with Google on a comic viewer which could be expanded to American consumers.^[10]

Readers can add commentary or translations to J-Comi titles.^[11] As of September 2011, J-Comi hosted 103 works. In October 2011, J-Comi added a pay service for erotic manga,^[12] including a title which was banned under the revised Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths.^[13]

References

1. "サービス紹介 | マンガ図書館Z - 無料で漫画が全巻読み放題！". マンガ図書館Z (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-08-16.
2. "Creators Decry Tokyo's Proposed 'Virtual' Child Porn Ban". Anime News Network. 15 March 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
3. Negima's Akamatsu Plans Free Site for Out-of-Print Manga - News - Anime News Network
4. Negima's Akamatsu Wants to Put Dōjinshi on Manga Site (Updated) - News - Anime News Network
5. The World God Only Knows, J-Comi Events to Be Streamed - News - Anime News Network
6. Shueisha, Kodansha Collaborate on J-Comi Manga Site (Updated) - News - Anime News Network
7. Jコミ、絶版の読み切りマンガで52万5000円の広告料を作者へ - 電子書籍情報が満載! eBook USER
8. J-Comi Posted Jubilee Manga by Devil Hunter Yohko's Miyao (Updated) - News - Anime News Network
9. J-Comi: 'Purify' File-Shared Manga with Authorized Ads - News - Anime News Network
10. J-Comi, Google Work on Comic Viewer With Foreign Support - News - Anime News Network
11. J-Comi Hosts Mafia to Lure Manga by Hen Zemi's Tagro - News - Anime News Network
12. Akamatsu's J-Comi Tests Pay Service with Adult Manga, Dōjinshi - Interest - Anime News Network
13. Akamatsu's J-Comi Site Posts Adult Manga Restricted by Tokyo Law - News - Anime News Network

External links

• Official website
• Official blog of Ken Akamatsu, includes many entries on J-Comi