Manga on Your Mobile

Once upon a time, a group of dedicated Japanese artisans created a new form of communication. Pencil and pen traced fantastic stories on crisp white paper, their dazzling tales of love and adventure inspiring thousands of readers. Known as manga, this art form would eventually unite disparate cultures, crossing borders to engage and inspire millions around the globe.

A few decades later, a group of dedicated NTT engineers discovered a new means of communication. From pencil and stylus emerged amazing new devices that helped millions of users to grasp the potential of mobility, broaden their horizons and embrace new lifestyles.

The artisan and the engineer have now pooled their talents to author a new chapter in the history of communication, bringing content to life through NTT DOCOMO's robust i-mode™ Internet platform.

Mobile manga is now the third largest market in Japan for mobile entertainment content, following music and games. More than 100 companies compete for a share of the revenue stream, which was valued at US 320 million in 2007 − up a massive 258% on the previous year. Given that this industry has yet to mature, growth potential remains enormous.


Let's consider the advantages of mobile manga relative to traditional printed manga:

Benefits to Users
•Purchase and read manga anytime, anywhere with a single mobile phone
•Store thousands of manga in one portable private library
•Enjoy easy-to-read frames cropped and adjusted to fit handset screens
•Experience special effects unique to mobile phones: vibration, scroll and dissolve
Benefits to Providers
•Virtually unlimited space, unlike brick and mortar bookstores
•Benefits of the Long Tail without the risk of excess stock
•Coverage of wide-ranging genres to serve a broader customer base
•Rich content provided by high-speed networks and flat-rate packet billing plans
NTT Solmare, a member of the NTT Group, launched its mobile manga operation in 2004, expanding access to old classics and opening new doors for niche artists. Offering 16,000 titles and 220,000 episodes from 130 content owners, market leader NTT Solmare set a new milestone in April 2009 by recording its 500 millionth download.

NTT Solmare is also providing a Global Manga Agency Service (GMAS) for overseas fans who want to enjoy translated manga on their mobile handsets. For more details, please visit:
http://www.nttsolmare.com/english/gmas.html

Meanwhile, on June 10, 2009, DOCOMO's European subsidiary DOCOMO Netherlands B.V. launched a mobile manga service in France. MANGA MODE™ is the name and it is available to customers of French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom S.A.
More information can be found here:
http://www.nttdocomo.com/pr/2009/001443.html