For most of us, the thought of being able to read manga online legally is more like a pipedream.

Sure, some websites and apps allow you to read manga online legally. But the problem with these websites and apps is that they’re only available in some countries.

Take the Viz Manga app for example. Yes, it’s not a free app. But with only $2 a month, you can gain access to any manga that Viz Media has published so far.

While the thought of having to pay $2 a month can still feel like a stretch to some of us, $2 a month can be considered a steal for most of us.

But guess what? The Viz Manga app is only available in certain countries, though.

Tough luck if you don’t live in any of those countries. It’s no wonder that many of us are resorting to using scanlation sites to read manga online.

The good news is there’s a website that allows you to read manga online legally.

Not only that you can recommend the website in the open like I always do. But you can read the manga in many different languages too, not just in English.

And the best part of all? It’s free and it’s available worldwide, no VPN or downloading APK is required.

The website that made it possible to read manga online legally

If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, then I’m sure that you’re already familiar with MANGA Plus by now.

With MANGA Plus, not only you can read Weekly Shonen Jump manga for free. But you can read the latest chapter of your favorite Shonen Jump manga as soon as it comes out too.

Of course, the Weekly Shonen Jump manga isn’t the only manga that you can read on MANGA Plus. You can read Jump Plus manga in MANGA Plus as well.

For those who aren’t familiar with Jump Plus, it’s similar to your usual Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The only difference is that it’s an online publication.

Since Jump Plus is strictly an online magazine, it doesn’t have the same rule as the ones published in the Weekly Shonen Jump.

If you’ve been reading plenty of Weekly Shonen Jump manga, then I’m sure that you’re already familiar with this rule where the manga will be getting the boot if it doesn’t do well in the reader survey.

Those rules don’t apply in Jump Plus manga, though. You get to read the Jump Plus manga till it’s over despite what people think about the manga.

As much as I enjoy reading Shonen Jump manga, I have to say that most of the manga that I recommend on my blog tend to be Jump Plus manga, for the most part.

Manga such as Dandadan, The Vertical World, Jigokuraku, Summer Time Rendering, and SPY x FAMILY. Those are the Jump Plus manga series, in case you’re wondering.

It’s all thanks to MANGA Plus that I get to read these manga series for free.

I don’t think that I would even discover those manga series on my own if it were not because of MANGA Plus.

How is that even possible?

How is it possible for MANGA Plus to publish the Shonen Jump and Jump Plus manga without getting flagged by the copyright police, Remove Your Media?

Well, the reason for that is simple – Shueisha is the one who owns MANGA Plus.

For those of you who have no idea who in the world Shueisha is, it’s a Japanese publisher that owns the copyright for all the Shonen Jump and Jump Plus manga in Japanese.

While many of the English rights for the Jump Plus manga belong to Shueisha, the English rights for Shonen Jump manga belong to Viz Media, though.

Despite that, you can still read the Shonen Jump manga on MANGA Plus since their licensing agreement also includes distributing the manga through MANGA Plus.

Of course, this is only speculation on my side, though.

If my understanding of how the licensing works is correct, then that can be the reason why we get to read Shonen Jump manga on MANGA Plus despite Shueisha doesn’t own the English rights to those manga series.

There must be a catch, right?

Yes, you’re right about that. There’s a catch when you read the manga on MANGA Plus.

For one, the chapters in between aren’t viewable in the app and also on the website. The only chapters that you can read are the first three and the last three chapters.

While the rule applies to Shonen Jump manga that ends prematurely, it’s also applicable to the completed Shonen Jump manga that is currently and has been published on MANGA Plus before.

Case in point: Naruto and Assassination Classroom. The only chapters you can read are the first and the final three chapters. You can’t read the chapters in between.

The same goes for Astra Lost in Space. Yes, the manga is a completed manga that is currently being republished on MANGA Plus as I write this.

But the chapters in between aren’t viewable due to the licensing agreement.

So, what manga can you read in full on MANGA Plus then?

Well, the manga that you can read on MANGA Plus in full is the ongoing Shonen Jump manga and Jump Plus manga.

Even with that, you can only read the chapter once, though. Once you already read the chapter, you can no longer go back and read the chapter again unless it’s a new chapter.

That goes for Jump Plus manga as well. But the restriction is only applicable to Jump Plus manga that gets licensed by Viz Media for print distribution.

The manga that doesn’t get licensed for print distribution by Viz Media doesn’t have the same restriction in place.

You can read the manga as many times as you want.

That’s just pointless!

Some of you will argue that it’s pointless to read the manga on MANGA Plus when you can’t even read the chapters in between for the old manga.

Yes, I won’t deny that’s a big no-no for some people.

But remember that you get to read all the new and ongoing Shonen Jump and Jump Plus manga for free.

So, it makes sense that there’ll be some restrictions.

Another thing to note is that MANGA Plus will share the ad revenues with the mangaka every time you read the manga on MANGA Plus. The more people read the manga, the more ad revenue it will generate for the mangaka.

It’s because of this reason that many people who have read the manga on the scanlation sites will still come and read the same manga on MANGA Plus.

They know that it’s through the ad revenue that the mangaka will get paid every time you read the manga there.

To be honest, I’m a little skeptical about the ad revenues considering that the payouts are rather a pittance.

But considering how large the audience MANGA Plus has, I’m guessing that the mangaka can make a decent amount of money from the ad revenue.

If supporting the mangaka matters to you, then I highly recommend that you read any of the Shonen Jump and Jump Plus manga on MANGA Plus.

Another way to read manga online legally for free

While it’s not technically a website that has the same vein as MANGA Plus, it’s worth mentioning here that Bookwalker does have a free manga promotion once in a while.

As you already expect, not all manga will be eligible for the promotion. And let’s not forget that the promotion is available for a limited time only.

If you’re looking for a new manga to read, then I highly recommend that you have a look at Bookwalker.

Just to let you know that some of the manga and light novels that I recommended on my blog are the ones that I got from Bookwalker.

You can read this post right here on why you should get the manga and light novels from Bookwalker too.

This is how you show your support

As far as I can tell, Shueisha is the only manga publisher that I know that does this kind of thing.

If this kind of pursuit can combat manga piracy and can increase sales at the same time, then I’m sure that many publishers will follow suit as well.

Of course, your support matters too in this regard.

If you want more websites like MANGA Plus to exist, then you should consider supporting the legal sites even if they come with a caveat.

As long as it’s something that we all can do within our means, I don’t see anything wrong with supporting a website like MANGA Plus and Shueisha’s effort in making their manga to be more widely accessible to a larger audience.

P.S. Another way to support your favorite mangaka and authors is to buy from them directly whenever possible.

The reason for that is simple. They get paid a lot more when you buy directly from them.

As you can see here, I don’t just blog about my favorite books and muse about anime and video games. I’m also an author and I publish my own books.

If you’re curious about my writing and interested in supporting me, you can take a look at my Payhip store right here:

Sekina Mayu Payhip Store

Found something that caught your fancy? Don’t forget to use the coupon code SEKINAMAYUBLOG to get 25% off on your purchase.