How come there are only a few manga on the Kindle Store?

[Top100EbooksRank]

You can buy print manga. But digital manga? No where to be found. Popular titles like One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto, Bleach etc...are not there. Mid-list manga titles too.

Who hold the license to digital manga?
Why don't the Japanese publishers sell it directly? (if they hold the rights)?

Kindle Fire can handle manga pretty well. Kindle on PC etc...

In Japan, manga that are read on mobile phones are a $800 million a year industry (2011 number).

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Top100EbooksRank

Who hold the license to digital manga?
Why don't the Japanese publishers sell it directly? (if they hold the rights)?

Because the CEOs are incompetent, and need to be fired.

[charmian]

I've heard because of the expenses involved in 3G distribution to Kindle. IIRC the publisher eats the cost, and since manga are images, it's expensive for them.

Viz has a shop for iOS, if you're interested in those titles.

[charlesatan]

Because

a) The app of choice for the comics format is usually Comixology. In the case of Viz, which has US licenses to many of the titles you mentioned, they have an App for it on iTunes.

b) Japanese publishers don't sell directly because 1) they sold the license to someone else (ie Viz in the case of North America) and 2) you're assuming they actually have good translations.

c) Kindle Fire handles comics well but not everyone owns a Kindle Fire (ie there are more Kindle 3/4/Touch users than Kindle Fire users). The older devices--and for now, the Kindle App--can't quite handle the Kindle Fire exclusive features, at least when it comes to comics.

d) The comics need to be relaid out if they are to work on the various Kindle devices.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by charlesatan

Because

a) The app of choice for the comics format is usually Comixology. In the case of Viz, which has US licenses to many of the titles you mentioned, they have an App for it on iTunes.

b) Japanese publishers don't sell directly because 1) they sold the license to someone else (ie Viz in the case of North America) and 2) you're assuming they actually have good translations.
c) Kindle Fire handles comics well but not everyone owns a Kindle Fire (ie there are more Kindle 3/4/Touch users than Kindle Fire users). The older devices--and for now, the Kindle App--can't quite handle the Kindle Fire exclusive features, at least when it comes to comics.

d) The comics need to be relaid out if they are to work on the various Kindle devices.

He he, I still have to read a Manga that hasn't been bungled in translation. They tend to be overly correct in meaning but completely misses idioms and socio-linguistic features.