We are pleased to welcome Manga Planet and futekiya to Anime Expo Lite! Join Charmain Hyoe Narita, Editor-in-Chief Emma Hanashiro, and Producer Gladys Angala as they discuss digital manga and budding subscription services!

Event Details:

About Hyoe Narita

Hyoe Narita started in 1988 at Shogakukan, one of the biggest publishers in Japan. After moving to San Francisco, California, he served as Executive Vice President at VIZ Communications, Inc. from 1996 to 2011. There, in 2002, he also became the Editor in Chief of US SHONEN JUMP. From 2011 to 2017, he relocated to Paris, France to manage VIZ Media Europe as President. In 2018, he came back to Japan and joined Fantasista. Through such a career, he has serendipitously become an expert of the worldwide Manga business. He believes this subscription model will change the world’s Manga map in the near future.

About Emma Hanashiro

Emma Hanashiro joined Fantasista in 2017 after several years researching and working in and around manga and anime industries. Her specialty is in the Boys’ Love (BL) genre, particularly its history and the various subcultures surrounding its publication. Before her professional involvement in manga, she attended the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama, where she focused my research on contemporary BL sub-genres. When not working on improving futekiya, she spends my free time delving into the international omegaverse phenomenon.

About Gladys Angala

Gladys Angala was born and raised in the Philippines before moving to Japan in 2010 to take her master’s degree at The University of Tokyo. After graduating, she worked for a Japanese NGO for almost 7 years. On the side, she worked as a Liaisons Officer for Cosplay Mania, the largest J-pop culture-centered convention in the Philippines for 6 years. She also worked as a freelance interpreter for several anime events and a freelance writer for an anisong news website. An anime and manga fan myself, she joined Fantasista in 2019 to bring more Japanese pop culture contents to fans overseas.

About Manga Planet

In 2012, Manga Planet started as a joint project between Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. and FANTASISTA, INC. to research and explore the ways manga is read throughout the world. Aiming to bring new manga to fans from all over the world and support artists and the industry, Manga Planet pushes for affordability and access to manga through a subscription-based service.

Readers who subscribe to Manga Planet and pay a flat monthly fee of $6.99 will have access to their expanding library of English-language manga. To subscribe, please go to read.mangaplanet.com and create an account.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube

About futekiya

In 2018, futekiya began as a Boys’ Love manga news and culture website operated by FANTASISTA, INC., a CG/VR production studio based in Tokyo, Japan. futekiya transformed into a budding global distributor of officially licensed BL manga in 2019.

futekiya launched as an online subscription service for officially licensed BL manga on July 8, 2019. Determined to connect fans around the world with English-translated BL legally and conveniently, futekiya empowers readers to support creators and the manga industry.

Readers who subscribe to futekiya and pay a flat monthly fee of $6.99 will have access to their expanding library of English-language manga. To subscribe, please go to read.futekiya.com and create an account.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube

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