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JManga was an American website and international online community focused on the promotion, distribution, and monetization of digital comics as well as the development of other manga related services. Founded in December 2010 and backed by the 36 publishers of the Japanese Digital Comics Association, JManga was intended to serve as a legal alternative to scanlation sites and online piracy. The site was closed in June 2013.
As originally conceived, local distributors would have a number of choices in how to use the JManga platform, with options ranging from simply using the viewer or app to licensing the entire Crunchyroll online publishing and management suite and rebranding it with their logos and graphics.
And where Crunchyroll worked as the technology partner to build the online tools for this venture, Bitway would act as liaison for the publishers of the Japanese Digital Comics Association and local publishers/distributors to help make previously unlicensed content available for those who desired more than their original content. Using its relationships with many of Japan's key publishers, Bitway would assist licensees of the Crunchyroll manga app in negotiating the rights to a digital license for desired titles - with an emphasis on publishers in the U.S. who had rights to the printed material, as manga licenses are unbundled and additional negotiations for the digital rights would be required for the same material.
At the time, the business model was simply to grow the digital manga industry, allowing existing businesses - and hopefuls with enough capital - to start up a digital manga distribution company, with the partnership taking a cut of the revenues for enabling easier and faster-paced development.
The site became available in North America on August 17, 2011, receiving rather mixed reviews. Though it did launch with an interesting selection of titles that were unlikely to be licensed in English otherwise, with free access to selected works as well as an online store offering for-pay titles, and bonus content, such as interviews with manga creators, some found the available content (48 full-length works) disappointing when high prices were considered, along with seeming to fall short of plans to have 10000 titles available by 2013. As well, the site's region-locking and lack of support for mobile devices was noted by many critics, with these changes from the original vision not well received.
Notably, however, the site has been responsive to criticism and suggestions posed via Twitter feed and Facebook pages, reassuring users that plans for mobile apps and global release were still on track, as well as lowering prices across the site from $8.99 to $4.99 in October 2011 in responde to user complaints - a change made permanent in November.
JManga became accessible worldwide on February 28, 2012, following a social media campaign from users to remove regionlocking and make the contents of the site available to users around the world.
Changes to the payment model were rolled out on June 22, 2012, with JManga adding a "pay as you go" plan and removing the distinction between JManga members and free members, allowing anyone to buy and use their points without a monthly subscription.
Further, on July 13, at their panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012, native iOS and Android applications were announced for release in October 2012, with the company also unveiling the "Manga Translation Battle", a contest open to amateur and professional alike, organized in collaboration with - and sponsored by - the Japanese Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
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