VIZ Media announced at its New York Comic Con 2011 panel that the company will be launching a new weekly digital manga anthology called Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha on January 30, 2012. Each issue of the anthology will have installments of Bakuman., Bleach, Naruto, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, One Piece, and Toriko. The digital anthologies will be released two weeks after their print debut in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

The anthology will be available on VizManga.com and the VIZ Manga app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices. There will be an annual membership that costs US$25.99 for 48 weekly issues; Weekly Shonen Jump takes a few weeks off during the year in Japan. Single issues will cost US$0.99 for a four week rental. Any issue on one device can be read on another device with the same user account via VizManga.com or the VIZ Manga app.

After Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha launches, VIZ Media plans to stop publishing the print edition of its Shonen Jump magazine in March 2012 with the “farewell April 2012 issue.”

In addition, VIZ will also be offering Shonen Jump Digital Warp, which is an accelerated digital release of select manga titles to bridge the gap between the latest English graphic novels in print and the latest Japanese installments in print.

Source: ANN

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