eManga Memorial Day Sale: Try Online Manga Rentals for Less

Digital Manga Publishing recently announced new titles and site improvements to their online manga rental site eManga. And just to make it even more tempting to give their 'try before you buy or rent to own' digital comics service, they're holding a Memorial Day Sale.

From now through Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at noon, you can "rent" a title (e.g. get access to read it online for 72 hours) for 100 points ($1.00) or get unlimited access to the title for 200 points ($2.00). This is 50% - 66% off the usual rental fee of 200 - 300 points for rental. Rental points are available for $10.00 for 1,000 points.

eManga launched in August 2008 with 10 titles. Now the line-up has expanded significantly, with 30 titles to rent, six titles that only have first chapters available for free samples and four free how-to-draw manga titles. There's also a title that's available for free in its entirety: L'Etoile Solitaire by Yuno Ogami, a one-shot boys love romance about a no-nonsense American businessman who comes to whip a struggling Japanese hotel into shape, but finds himself attracted to the hotel's "clumsy yet endearing president."

eManga rental offerings are still predominantly boys love manga titles, but they are also offering previews of Vampire Hunter D Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki. There's also preview chapters of Princess Princess Volume 1 and Volume 2, and the recently released Princess Princess Plus; all by Mikiyo Tsuda.

According to DMP's press release, the main improvements to the eManga experience include:

• A newly revamped custom reader has been streamlined to focus on making reading fluid and enjoyable.
• Custom features that include two-page, one-page, or panel-by-panel reading and auto play Three custom zoom options
• A bookmark bar
• Reader now maintains great image quality at any screen size.

They've also cut prices from their debut pricing which was about $4.00 - $5.00 for rentals, making it more appealing to readers to give this online manga reading experience a try. So far, I've tried it out, and it works quite nicely. My only complaint is that I'd love to see more variety in their offerings -- but I know that's something that they're working on. But have you tried out eManga? What do you think? Add your comments below!

Image credit: © Yuno Ogami