I started learning Japanese a few months ago, and I’d like to start trying to read some mangas in Japanese. Is there any website or app where I can find mangas in Japanese?
The real question is not whether such apps and sites exist, rather, how much you’re willing to pay in terms of cash and/or time&effort (vpn etc.).
[Piccoma](http://piccoma.com) is the only site I ever use for manga. the site does require a vpn, but their app does not (albeit the app is only available through Japanese region ios/google store, but you can just make another account for that region and download it.
In ピッコマ you pay for what you want to read. The beginning chapters of a series are usually free to try out and if you are willing to wait a day between reading chapters you can maximize your savings. They also have sales and deals pretty much weekly
If you only started learning Japanese a few months ago, reading Japanese manga for native speakers will most likely not offer many benefits for you.
Feel free to bookmark the pages [bookwalker](https://bookwalker.jp/free/) and [shonen jump plus](https://shonenjumpplus.com/) for when you are further along in your studies, you can read popular manga for free there with some limitations. My recommendation though, is to start with some manga written especially for learners of Japanese if you are interested in the medium and want to get an early start:
* [彼氏（かれし）がほしい](https://tadoku.org/japanese/book/8777/#bd-look-inside) is a free graded reader in the style of a romance manga. It is short and uses mostly textbook phrasing with only some casual expressions. * [黒子（くろこ）](https://blogs.smith.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/blogs.dir/626/files/2019/02/kuroko.ALICE_.pdf)is a free manga written by a learner about a boy dealing with the loss of his cat. It focuses on expressions and uses mostly vocabulary you will have learned in textbooks. * [Crystal Hunters](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80075613) tells an adventure story in comprehensible Japanese and is accompanied by free guides for both grammar and expressions that can be downloaded for free. Out of 5 or 6 volumes the first one is free. * [The Japan Foundation Manga](https://anime-manga.jp/en/expressions-by-scene) are four short free manga to explore typical manga expressions with. There’s a romance manga, a samurai manga, a school manga and a ninja manga. All have toggable explanations and even audio options.
The manga that you “can read” are not the manga you want to read right now. There are some manga suitable for intermediate Japanese, but after a few months of study you are not quite there. Please try if you want a challenge. I recommend anything published in コロコロコミクス. They are manga published for kids grades 4-6ish. Some are easier than others. Good luck!
4 comments
The real question is not whether such apps and sites exist, rather, how much you’re willing to pay in terms of cash and/or time&effort (vpn etc.).
[Piccoma](http://piccoma.com) is the only site I ever use for manga. the site does require a vpn, but their app does not (albeit the app is only available through Japanese region ios/google store, but you can just make another account for that region and download it.
In ピッコマ you pay for what you want to read. The beginning chapters of a series are usually free to try out and if you are willing to wait a day between reading chapters you can maximize your savings. They also have sales and deals pretty much weekly
If you only started learning Japanese a few months ago, reading Japanese manga for native speakers will most likely not offer many benefits for you.
Feel free to bookmark the pages [bookwalker](https://bookwalker.jp/free/) and [shonen jump plus](https://shonenjumpplus.com/) for when you are further along in your studies, you can read popular manga for free there with some limitations. My recommendation though, is to start with some manga written especially for learners of Japanese if you are interested in the medium and want to get an early start:
* [彼氏（かれし）がほしい](https://tadoku.org/japanese/book/8777/#bd-look-inside) is a free graded reader in the style of a romance manga. It is short and uses mostly textbook phrasing with only some casual expressions.
* [黒子（くろこ）](https://blogs.smith.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/blogs.dir/626/files/2019/02/kuroko.ALICE_.pdf)is a free manga written by a learner about a boy dealing with the loss of his cat. It focuses on expressions and uses mostly vocabulary you will have learned in textbooks.
* [Crystal Hunters](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80075613) tells an adventure story in comprehensible Japanese and is accompanied by free guides for both grammar and expressions that can be downloaded for free. Out of 5 or 6 volumes the first one is free.
* [The Japan Foundation Manga](https://anime-manga.jp/en/expressions-by-scene) are four short free manga to explore typical manga expressions with. There’s a romance manga, a samurai manga, a school manga and a ninja manga. All have toggable explanations and even audio options.
The manga that you “can read” are not the manga you want to read right now. There are some manga suitable for intermediate Japanese, but after a few months of study you are not quite there. Please try if you want a challenge. I recommend anything published in コロコロコミクス. They are manga published for kids grades 4-6ish. Some are easier than others. Good luck!