SQUARE ENIX and Anime-Planet announced a cross-licensing partnership aimed at bringing popular series from the Manga UP! platform to Anime-Planet’s reading portal for free. Chapters from titles such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Black Butler, The Apothecary Diaries, and more, will now be available to read for free on Anime-Planet.
Nobuhiko Muranaka, Director of Square Enix’s Global Publishing Division said: “We hope audiences enjoy the characters and stories our creators have developed and look forward to entertaining them with our works.”
“We’re thrilled to announce this partnership with Square Enix,” said Kim Cameron, Founder of Anime-Planet. “Manga UP! is one of the leading platforms in the Japanese manga industry, and it’s so exciting that our community will now be able to discover and track new content.”
The Manga UP! app was launched globally in 2022. It offers users the possibility to read the newest releases legally, but it does have a paywall system. Users can read limited free chapters per day and can also earn/buy special currencies called UP, Coin, and XP. The type of currency required to read paywalled chapters depends on the content. UP points refresh twice a day, XP can be earned by doing special tasks (participating in events, signing up for newsletters) and you get both of these if you buy Coins, which can be obtained only through purchase.
Anime-Planet is an online anime, manga, light novel, and webtoon tracking database, first launched in 2001. Manga UP! joins Lehzin, J-Novel Club, and MediBang, which also provide chapters/episodes for free.
Source: Press Release
Featured image: The Apothecary Diaries, © Natsu Hyuga, Nekokurage / Square Enix
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.