Taking Renta! for a test drive.
Oct. 4th, 2011 08:08 pmRenta! is yet another new face in the recent-ish wave of Japanese websites (alongside Reading Room and JComi) that provide digital access to Japanese manga and magazines, both old and new, that us foreigners might never be able to feasibly access otherwise. Renta!, however, is based on ye olde fashioned rental business model: You buy "tickets" that allow you to access a book or magazine either for a set amount of time (48 hours) or "forever." The latter option is, of course, more expensive than the former.
And the prices over at Renta! are a little bit, well, pricey.
A couple of items that I browsed around for: A 160-page dog magazine cost me 400 yen to rent for 48 hours, or 800 yen to rent for "infinity." Each volume of Usagi Drop costs 500 yen to rent forever, as there is no 48-hour option. Each volume of Rose of Versailles cost 100 yen to read for 48 hours or 600 yen to rent without time limit. Each volume of Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom cost only 100 yen to rent for 48 hours, but there was no unlimited option.
As we all know, the "forever"/unlimited/"infinity" rental really isn't any of those things, as your purchases will only last as long as Renta! itself does. But at least Renta! is being honest about the fact that at the end of the day, you're still paying to rent these digital books, not own them... Which is the same thing that you're really doing when you use any other digital comic service, from Comixology to Marvel Comics to Viz Manga to Square Enix. Renta! is just more up-front about what you're really paying for than its competitors are.
Renta!'s browser-based reading interface uses a flash viewer, but there are apps available for iOS and Android devices. I read Usagi Drop on both my laptop and my iPad, and it looked great. I also had no problem getting the iPad app to recognize my login information and download my recent purchases, which is more than I can say for Reading-Room.jp's mess of an app.
You do NOT need a Japanese address, bank account, or credit card to use Renta!. You can easily set up an account with just a username and email address - no need to even tell them your mailing address or other personal information. You have the option of paying for everything through Paypal. I chose to utilize Paypal, so I ended up not having to give any personal information over to the Renta! website. Renta! also allows you to pay for purchases with a credit card, although I didn't test out that feature so I don't know whether it's easy to use or not.
I'd definitely recommend Renta! to anybody interested in reading popular vintage comics, particularly the works of Osamu Tezuka or any of the classic shoujo manga greats. Renta! seems for the moment to be filling a void that its competitors have left kind of gaping in the current digital manga market, as Reading-Room.jp only stocks current stuff and JComi just can't seem to attract the big-name publishers or the most popular manga series of the past. Renta! is also incredibly easy to use, both in terms of browsing and making purchases, which absolutely warms the cockles of my persnickety-manga-consumer's heart.
But it is expensive. Like... really expensive, especially if you're determined to read a longer manga series.
And the prices over at Renta! are a little bit, well, pricey.
A couple of items that I browsed around for: A 160-page dog magazine cost me 400 yen to rent for 48 hours, or 800 yen to rent for "infinity." Each volume of Usagi Drop costs 500 yen to rent forever, as there is no 48-hour option. Each volume of Rose of Versailles cost 100 yen to read for 48 hours or 600 yen to rent without time limit. Each volume of Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom cost only 100 yen to rent for 48 hours, but there was no unlimited option.
As we all know, the "forever"/unlimited/"infinity" rental really isn't any of those things, as your purchases will only last as long as Renta! itself does. But at least Renta! is being honest about the fact that at the end of the day, you're still paying to rent these digital books, not own them... Which is the same thing that you're really doing when you use any other digital comic service, from Comixology to Marvel Comics to Viz Manga to Square Enix. Renta! is just more up-front about what you're really paying for than its competitors are.
Renta!'s browser-based reading interface uses a flash viewer, but there are apps available for iOS and Android devices. I read Usagi Drop on both my laptop and my iPad, and it looked great. I also had no problem getting the iPad app to recognize my login information and download my recent purchases, which is more than I can say for Reading-Room.jp's mess of an app.
You do NOT need a Japanese address, bank account, or credit card to use Renta!. You can easily set up an account with just a username and email address - no need to even tell them your mailing address or other personal information. You have the option of paying for everything through Paypal. I chose to utilize Paypal, so I ended up not having to give any personal information over to the Renta! website. Renta! also allows you to pay for purchases with a credit card, although I didn't test out that feature so I don't know whether it's easy to use or not.
I'd definitely recommend Renta! to anybody interested in reading popular vintage comics, particularly the works of Osamu Tezuka or any of the classic shoujo manga greats. Renta! seems for the moment to be filling a void that its competitors have left kind of gaping in the current digital manga market, as Reading-Room.jp only stocks current stuff and JComi just can't seem to attract the big-name publishers or the most popular manga series of the past. Renta! is also incredibly easy to use, both in terms of browsing and making purchases, which absolutely warms the cockles of my persnickety-manga-consumer's heart.
But it is expensive. Like... really expensive, especially if you're determined to read a longer manga series.
