Shopping Guide
YouTube's got some big and surprising news for manga fans! One of the world's most popular series in the history of comics, Dragon Ball, is now available for free, and in full color on YouTube!
You must be asking yourself, "Am I dreaming? How is this possible?" Well, the titles are being made available on a special YouTube manga channel set up by Japan's largest advertising firm, Dentsu. Manga is one of Japan's biggest pop culture exports. The goal with this new service is to help bring manga to YouTube's 800 million users around the world. They hope that it will be both a resource for current fans and a way to introduce manga to others as well.
Parts 1 through 4 of Dragon Ball, from “The Training of Son Goku” to “Saiyan,” are now available and are being updated each week. Unlike a comic book, you do not read them by flipping through the pages. Instead, there is a video slideshow that displays enlarged sections of each page and even includes some background music. It's a new way to enjoy comics that is only possible through the Internet.
In this way, Mangapolo aims to utilize YouTube's unique characteristics in order to develop and expand manga's potential. There are plans to draw connections between fans and established authors, as well as showcase new talented artists.
Other popular titles include Kodansha's Crayon Shin-chan, Attack on Titan, Sankarea: Undying Love, and Kahe Tantei Bu, a webcomic that has drawn a lot of attention among Japanese internet users. Mangapolo is helping to bring a variety of Japanese comics to the world.
With the use of smart phones and other mobile devices, the way in which we enjoy comics is steadily changing. Through services like Mangapolo, we can expect that the future of comics will only continue to change and evolve.
