There are some big things happening in the manga world for American fans. The well-known magazine Shonen Jump will no longer be produced as physical books.

Viz has decided to move headlong into the digital age, replacing the monthly Shonen Jump magazine with the digital weekly release Shonen Jump Alpha. Some of the major changes will include:

1. New One Piece or Naruto chapters will be released just two weeks after the Japanese release.

2. Manga content can be accessible on iPads, iPods, androids, etc.

Viz Senior Vice President Alvin Lu recently talked with Crunchyroll, giving some insight and his opinions on this new development.

Crunchyroll: The news stand is a great tool for reaching certain kinds of readers, particularly those kids who are in Wal-Mart or in the supermarket, and we’re not gonna reach them on newsstand

Lu: That was something we definitely had to take into account when we made this move. We are jumping into something that’s a lot less clear-cut and at the same time, it’s rapidly evolving At this point, it’s probably too early to say how kids are gonna interact with handheld devices, where we think a lot of this business will take place.

Okay, this is going to be different. I would much rather own the physical copy of any manga or magazine I buy… but I guess this will be a good thing for the environment, and it will save space on our bookshelves.

Are manga fans happy about this change?

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