Summary
- Crunchyroll is launching a new standalone manga app for Android and iOS in 2025.
- The app will offer web support post-launch, initially in English for the US and Canada.
- Content details, pricing, or potential subscription are yet to be disclosed.
There is no shortage of manga apps on the Play Store, and yet the commercial options leave a lot to be desired. Ever since Amazon destroyed Comixology, there’s been a severe lack of HD manga out there. VIZ, Shonen Jump, and even Comixology don’t often offer HD versions of the books, plus VIZ and Shonen titles are typically so low-res (even when you’re a subscriber) that you really don’t want to read the books on a high-resolution tablet.
It’s safe to say the current crop of manga apps leaves a lot to be desired. Something Crunchyroll knows a thing or two about, having shuttered its manga app in December 2023. Well, Crunchyroll has announced at CES that it’s working on a new manga app for Android and iOS that’ll launch in 2025.
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Crunchyroll Manga launches on Android and iOS this year
Source: Crunchyroll
The new app is called Crunchyroll Manga, and it was announced during Sony’s CES 2025 press conference. So far, we know the app will be standalone, which sounds like manga won’t be shoved into the existing Crunchyroll anime app; it’ll exist on its own within this new release. We also know there will be web support sometime after launch, though no date has been shared yet. It will launch as an English app for the US and Canada, and further language support is planned for the future.
Crunchyroll has not shared which manga titles it will be carrying or from which publishers, so it’s anyone’s guess which books will be available and at what prices. We don’t even know if this will be a subscription app like Crunchyroll’s anime app or if the books will be listed piecemeal at individual pricing. Perhaps one sub will net you access to the anime and manga app?
It’s also worth keeping in mind that Sony owns Crunchyroll, and Sony recently became the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, a corporation that owns a lot of manga and anime. So, there’s a good chance many of these books could wind up on the new Crunchyroll Manga app.
Here’s hoping the books are in HD
We’ll likely hear more about the upcoming Crunchyroll Manga app and its release as we get closer to the launch, whichever day that may be. For now, some wishful thinking may be in order, as it would be great to see a new manga app offer primarily HD content instead of the pixelated mess that currently makes up so much of the competition’s catalogs.
