An official manga app is coming to the Nintendo Switch

The Japanese manga publisher Shogakukan has announced a new manga app, launching for the Nintendo Switch, and this is hot off the heels of a light novel app the company launched last month on Android and iOS, known as Novelous. While Novelous is more for text-based e-books, it appears Shogakukan’s upcoming Switch app will be centered around reading digital manga comics, which is expected to launch this March.

However, the catch is that Shogakukan’s manga app for the Nintendo Switch will only launch domestically in Japan to start. The good news is that the language used in the X post announcing the software hints at a launch outside the country, though it’s unknown at this point if this means the West, like the US.

An officially licensed manga app is coming to the Nintendo Switch

Thanks to Shogakukan

While the above X post is in Japanese, it is easily translated (heck, Grok makes this pretty easy nowadays, which is already in beta testing on Android), and what it says translates in English to “Domestic first, you can read manga on the Nintendo Switch!!! Launching on March 13,” which not only hints that there are plans to launch the app outside of Japan, but also provides a release date for the Japanese launch expected next month.

Inquisitive X (Twitter) users have asked a few questions, like whether the app will be browser-based, but so far, the Shogakukan editor for the CoroCoro Comic magazine who announced the app hasn’t answered these queries. At the very least, a follow-up tweet reveals that the app will work in handheld and docked to a TV.

Beyond that, details are pretty light, so we’ll have to wait and see what Shogakukan brings to the table on March 13th. Ideally, the Nintendo Switch app will make its way stateside sooner rather than later, and with Shogakukan showing interest in the Western market with its recent Novelous launch on Android and iOS, perhaps there is a chance US Switch users will soon be able to read manga. Here’s hoping.