It’s their birthday, but we’re getting the presents!

Shueisha is the publisher behind many of manga’s top titles, from One Piece and Naruto to Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer. It’s also celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year, and planned something very big for the occasion called Manga Million, which starts today!

The concept of Manga Million was to translate one million pages of manga into 100 languages. When we asked a PR firm representative for the project about how the translations were done, we were told “We have confirmed that no AI was used in the translation.”

Editor’s note: Following the publishing of this article, it has come to light that Flitto, a Japan-based company that bills itself as an “AI-powered translation service,” was contracted for Manga Million’s translation of One Piece into several dozen languages.

About 400 titles spanning shonen, seinen, shojo, and other genres will become available free of charge for a limited time in a vast array of languages. About 300 of these titles will be seeing their first-ever translations, so there’s sure to be something for just about every manga fan in existence here.

▼ Hopefully, East-Coast Canadian English is included, so I can read Kenshiro say, “Yer done fer, b’y. Just don’t know ‘er yet, eh?”

According to my new favorite President and CEO, Shueisha’s Hideaki Hayashi: “One of a publisher’s most important responsibilities is to connect creative talent with the public.” He adds that he hopes Manga Million “will create new connections with readers worldwide, provide opportunities to experience the richness and diversity of manga culture, and inspire future generations of manga creators.”

This was no small feat, even for a major publisher like Shueisha. In addition to coordinating with so many internal and outside parties, there’s also the hurdle of dealing with the vast international publishing deals that have been made over the years to allow this content to be provided for free everywhere.

And as a result, there is literally no catch to taking advantage of this hugely generous offering of manga. You can access it from any country around the world and don’t even need to register. The only condition is that you enjoy yourself, and I’m afraid that is non-negotiable.

I mean, I kind of wish there were some strings attached, because I’d have more to write about here, but it’s really just that simple. All you have to do is go to the Manga Million website and have fun. Maybe you can wish Shueisha a happy 100th birthday while you’re at it.

Reference: Manga Million One Piece translation credits
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