Line : “LINE Manga 5th Anniversary” Project Launched to Celebrate 5 Years of LINE Manga

● Users can receive free limited-edition stickers drawn by popular artists and more through this promotional campaign

● 'Five Years of LINE Manga' provides a look back at LINE Manga's achievements since its launch

TOKYO - April 9, 2018 - LINE Manga, the digital comic service released on April 9, 2013 by LINE Corporation, turns five years old today. LINE will be conducting a 'LINE Manga 5th Anniversary' project to commemorate this occasion.

In addition to providing a by-the-numbers look over the past five years since the launch of the service, along with introducing some of the top titles across various categories, five user-focused promotional campaigns will also be held under the LINE Manga 5th Anniversary project.

■ Official website for 'LINE Manga 5th Anniversary': https://manga.line.me/5thanniversary/ (Japanese only)

Since its launch in April 2013, LINE Manga has grown into a digital comic service for smartphones boasting over 250,000 titles available on its digital comic store, made available through its relationships with over 250 publishers and labels. The service has been praised for its rich lineup of works, including its Free Manga platform, with around 280 titles spanning many publishers updated weekly with. The app has achieved a massive user base, achieving over 19 million downloads.

In July 2015, original Free Manga titles overseen by the LINE Manga Editorial Team were launched on the platform. These titles were later published by LINE's original label, LINE Comics, and sold in stores across Japan. LINE Comics is incredibly unique in that it provides perks to manga purchasers, including the ability to read a digital edition of the manga they purchased and allowing them to download LINE stickers for free. Furthermore, 'LINE Manga on LINE' was launched in September 2017 to allow users to enjoy manga titles right in the LINE messaging app. This expanded the number of users with access to the service from just LINE Manga users to all of LINE's 73 million monthly active users in Japan,*1 creating a touchpoint between even more users and the manga titles.

*1: As of December 2017

Thanks to these efforts, LINE Manga has achieved over 20 million user accounts in Japan as of March 2018, and over 1.5 billion total tankobon (manga compilation volumes) downloaded through its core service, the digital comic store. Further, its Free Manga platform, updated weekly with approximately 280 titles across many different publishers, has been incredibly popular among users by making popular titles available for free and adding some fun to their day. Since the launch of Free Manga in September 2014, a total of over 1,800 serialized titles have been downloaded.

　At present, there are 23 LINE Manga original titles being overseen by the LINE Manga Editorial Team. These weekly and biweekly serialized titles have reached a total of over 6.3 million readers. Going forward, the team plans to introduce a constant selection of 30 serialized titles and create a succession of new, hit titles - all the while building even more connections between manga titles and users.

LINE Manga aims to further develop and activate the Japanese manga market as it continues to move forward with various initiatives.

LINE Manga App Description

Supported devices: iPhone and Android

Supported languages: Japanese

Supported region: Japan

Service began: April 9, 2013

Cost: Free (offers in-app purchases)

Developer and operator: LINE Corporation

Copyright: © LINE Corporation

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/line-manga/id597088068 (Japanese only)

Google Play: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.naver.linemanga.android (Japanese only)

Web-based edition: https://manga.line.me/ (Japanese only)

Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/LINEmanga (Japanese only)

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LINEMANGA.official?fref=ts (Japanese only)

Official blog: http://manga-blog.line.me/ja/ (Japanese only)