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 membership. Anyone can read the series completely for free without logging in, while those who create a free membership with a login will be able to access a new chapter of each series every 24 hours . Finally, for those who don't want to wait, you can buy the manga chapters and read them immediately.
The name “Rimacomi” comes from the “ri” in Ribon and the “ma” in Margaret, two of Shueisha’s most popular shojo magazines, which have serialized works such as Rose of Versailles, Boys Over Flowers, Little Witch Academia, and Full Moon o Sagashite. The “+” in the name represents new series and interactions coming to the site every day, similar to Shueisha’s long-running Manga Plus and Shonen Jump+ sites and apps. Shojo and josei series are aimed at girls and women, while Shonen and seinen series are typically aimed at boys and men (although it’s worth noting that Shonen series tend to be popular across all demographics, not just their primary target audience). Shojo and josei series can span a variety of genres, including isekai, romance, magical girl, science fiction, horror/thriller, and historical, but typically, they focus more on interpersonal relationships and romance/sexuality (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 marked an important step in the general distribution of manga aimed at women. Larger platforms such as Shonen Jump+ and Manga Plus offer new and completed series from multiple magazines, such as Weekly Shonen Jump and V Jump, on a single platform, allowing audiences the opportunity to read series they have come to love while being exposed to new original works on the platform. Rimacom+ could also mean creating new shojo and josei series alongside the 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