VIZ Manga APP review

VIZ manga app

Over the past few weeks I’ve been using the VIZ Manga app on Android to review a few manga, but then I got to thinking,

“I’ve not actually reviewed this app, have I?”

Why not?

hmm…. Let’s review this manga app!

 

When I first got this app I will admit that I didn’t much fancy it at all. For someone that is more accustomed to manga apps with a lot under the hood I found this one to be a bit lacking at first, and in a lot of ways I still do find it lacking. For many of you that use other manga apps on android, Windows Phone, and apple devices you may be accustomed to features like customization setting including, Zoom preferences, right or left reading preference, brightness settings, storage settings, parental control, language change, reader reviews, download settings and so much more. With VIZ manga you get none of that. It’s all basically what you see is what you get.

Screenshot_2015-12-19-01-47-02
If VIZ Manga was a car it would be the most basic stock model, No extra bells and whistles.

Like the settings, everything else about the app is pretty standard. The Navigation is pretty simple, with very few options. It allows you to choose either between manga, and weekly jump from the main screen or you can choose the all manga option on the top right section of the app screen. These options allow for you to find and purchase manga for your reading pleasures, but if you’re looking for something specific then you’re pretty much out of luck with this. There are no search or genre options to be found here, so if you want a specific series you will have to scroll through the entire listing.

After you’ve purchased yourself something to read you’ll want to tap the M icon next to all series to download and read it. It took me some time to get accustomed to this, because pretty much every other manga app that I’ve used up to this point has the downloads or library option clearly outlined, or some option to make it the start-up screen for the app. With the VIZ manga app lacking any kind of proper settings menu there is no way for you to set it, though I will say that after a while using the app I did get accustomed to hitting the “M” icon as soon as it started up.

What’s Good

VIZ manga may be a pretty basic app, but where it shines is where it matters, its catalog of quality manga to read at pretty good prices. VIZ Media is the official licence holder for Shonen Jump manga in the North America region so you can expect your Naruto’s, One Piece, One-Punch Man, and other popular Shonen Jump series, and some of the other more obscure ones that many of you may not have heard about before. I didn’t count them all but there are hundreds of manga to choose from, some of which are updated weekly, and if you’re not sure about some of them there is a preview feature that you can use to preview manga before you buy them. This is a feature I really love about the app, because it allows the reader to get a good look at the titles they’re considering before making a purchase. One of the series I decided to follow I found via that very preview system.

Another thing I found myself liking while reading was the way the app would auto rotate for my reading comfort, and that it was swipe to left to right to turn the page, and yes I know these are available in most other apps, but with the main menu being static, and lacking any real custom settings, it was nice to know that the reading screen wasn’t locked in place, and that I could read my digital manga the same way I would with the books.

 

Final Verdict

With hundreds of well translated, high quality manga to choose from, great prices, and that sweet preview feature VIZ manga is a good manga app that you should consider if you want to support the publishers of the manga that you read regularly. It is nowhere close to being the best manga app I have used to date, due to its lack of customization settings and no search feature, but I do think it has the capability to become one of the best if the missing features I mentioned before are added.

Get VIZ Manga App: Link


 

if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on this topic, then I suggest you listen to the Buttonsmashers podcast.

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.