Shueisha — Japan's largest publishing company and the force behind Weekly Shonen Jump — has launched a new manga portal website dedicated to josei and shoujo series called Rimacom+. The new site includes 94 series, including big-name favorites like Blue Spring Ride and Honey Lemon Soda, from eight different magazines owned by Shueisha.
According to Japanese news agency PR Times, Rimacom+ aims to become “a comprehensive distribution website for manga works for girls and women publishing the latest series and readings of eight magazines Ribon, Margaret , Bessatsu Margaret, Deluxe Margaret, Cocohana, Cookie, Kimikoi and Manga Mee.” Rimacom+ is a free platform with both new and ongoing series, including Blue Spring Ride, Honey Lemon Soda and the beloved Pink & Habanero, among many others.
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Japan targets more female and female manga readers with new Rimacom+
Rimacom+ will be a free site with tiered memberships. Anyone can read the series completely free of charge without logging in, while those who create a free membership with a login will be able to access new chapters of each series every 24 hours. Finally, for those who don't want to wait, manga chapters can be purchased and read immediately.
The name “Rimacomi” comes from the “ri” in Ribon and “ma” in Margaret, two of Shueisha's most famous shojo magazines, which serialized works such as Rose of Versailles, Boys Over Flowers, Little Witch Academia and Full Moon o Sagashite. The “+” in the name symbolizes new series and engagement coming to the site every day, similar to Shueisha's long-standing Manga Plus and Shonen Jump+ websites and apps. Shojo and josei series are aimed at girls and women, while Shonen and seinen series are generally aimed at boys and men (although it's worth noting that Shonen series tend to be popular among most demographic groups, not just their primary target group). Shojo and josei series can span many genres, including isekai, romance, magical girl, science fiction, horror/thriller, and historical, but typically, they focus more on interpersonal and romantic/sexual relationships (such as the yuri and yaoi subgenres) than many seinen and shounen series do.
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Rimacom+ may soon become the Shojo version of Shonen Jump+ and Manga Plus
This marks an important step in the overall distribution of manga aimed at women. Larger platforms like Shonen Jump+ and Manga Plus offer new and completed series from multiple magazines, like Weekly Shonen Jump and V Jump, on a single platform, allowing audiences the opportunity to read series they already love while being exposed to new works that are original to the platform. Rimacom+ could also mean the creation of new shojo and josei series alongside classics on a single platform.
Shueisha has yet to announce an English release of Rimacom+ but may do so given the success of Shonen Jump+ and Manga Plus, as well as similar manhwa platforms Tapas and Webtoon.
Source: PR Times