Shueisha’s Manga Million translation initiative launches successfully amid controversies.

Last Thursday, the manga community was electrified by the launch of a groundbreaking global initiative from Shueisha, the powerhouse behind beloved series like One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Naruto. Manga Million is a new digital platform that offers over one million pages of Shueisha manga in 100 languages. This initiative celebrates the company’s centennial and is accessible worldwide, with the exception of Japan.

Details about this ambitious project were unveiled in a special one-shot chapter of the manga Onwards! The Expendable Expedition by Takeshi Sakurai. This manga, which has never been translated into English before, debuted on Manga Plus, Shueisha’s digital reading app for international audiences. In the one-shot, the author joins a group of Shueisha editors to discuss the Manga Million initiative.

The project has been in the works for five years, aiming to introduce Shueisha’s manga to a global audience, including regions that have never had official translations. Manga Million launched with 400 series, with plans for more to be added in the future. The sheer volume of material required extensive effort to bring to fruition; as one editor notes in the one-shot, what began as “an extremely extravagant plan” evolved into “an endlessly boring data management project.”

However, the launch of Manga Million was not without controversy. On social media, some users highlighted that Flitto Japan, one of the seven translation companies involved, markets itself as “a leader in AI translation solutions.” While Flitto also promotes human translations, the extent of AI involvement remains unclear. Some fans have pointed out inconsistencies in translation credits for certain series, though this may not necessarily relate to AI. In the Onwards! one-shot, the editors assert that no AI translations were utilized and that the entire process underwent “a meticulous check system.”

Despite the controversies, the most exciting aspect of the announcement is that many series are receiving their first-ever English translations through Manga Million, including TochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops, the third-longest running manga in history. Fans outside the U.S. can finally access titles that were previously missing from Manga Plus and only available through the Shonen Jump Plus app, such as Kingdom.

It’s important to note that not all volumes of each series are available. Availability varies: One Piece has its first 12 volumes translated into 102 languages, while series like Haikyu!! and Oshi no Kogot have their first five volumes translated into 20 languages. Additionally, while Manga Million is entirely free, the project is set to run until the end of 2027. It’s uncertain whether the platform will cease to exist after that or transition to a subscription model.

Manga Million is providing fans around the globe the opportunity to read their favorite manga in their native languages for the first time, even bringing long-popular series outside Japan that have never seen English translations. Here’s hoping Shueisha addresses the questions surrounding AI soon and that the platform continues to receive regular updates to expand its library of chapters and volumes.