Shueisha’s MANGA MILLION project is tackling one of the company’s most ambitious manga localization efforts yet, translating approximately one million pages into more than 100 languages. The limited-time digital initiative was created as part of Shueisha’s 100th-anniversary celebrations and features around 400 manga titles, including major franchises such as One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, SPY×FAMILY, Chainsaw Man, Nana, and Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You.
Nearly 300 of the titles are receiving translations for the first time, making the project particularly significant for readers in markets that have historically had limited access to officially localized manga. In an exclusive written interview with OtakuKart, Shuhei Hosono, Editor-in-Chief of MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA and the project’s initiator, explained how the company is managing the enormous translation workload.
How Shueisha Is Translating One Million Manga Pages
Hosono explained that Shueisha is not relying on a single translation provider for MANGA MILLION. Instead, the publisher has commissioned multiple translation agencies to produce new translations covering one million pages, while also incorporating existing localized material supplied by its licensing partners.
“We have commissioned multiple translation agencies, through which we are conducting new translations of one million pages,”
Hosono told OtakuKart.
“Furthermore, we are utilizing existing translations in various languages provided by our licensing partners.”
This combined approach allows Shueisha to expand the project’s language coverage while making use of translations that already exist through international licensing arrangements. MANGA MILLION currently supports more than 100 languages, including English, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, French, Turkish, Tagalog, Korean and Polish.
For Hosono, the enormous translation effort is ultimately about reducing one of manga’s biggest barriers to international readership: language. The project is also intended to reveal whether lesser-known Shueisha manga can find unexpected audiences in markets where those works have never previously been officially available.
Rather than measuring MANGA MILLION solely through the popularity of established franchises, Hosono said he is particularly interested in discovering
“new readers and markets.”
He hopes the project can reveal unexpected connections between individual manga series and readers around the world.
MANGA MILLION is currently available worldwide for a limited time through Shueisha’s official platform.
