Viz Taking ‘Naruto’ To Simultaneous Print And Digital Release Schedule

Starting next week fans of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto will be synched up in digital and print. Viz Media will release its most current installment of the manga, Naruto vol. 52, at retail and via its digital storefront and iOS app on Tuesday September 6. All of Viz's future Naruto volumes will follow the same schedule, bringing the series just five volumes behind the ongoing Japanese series.Viz has had a number of its manga series on accelerated release schedules over the past few years, giving North American readers more of a chance to "catch up" with their favorite ongoing manga more at pace with Japan.

Since the launch of its digital service in November of 2010, Viz has been pretty aggressive about bringing digitized content to market at a steady pace with a price point that's typically about half of what their printed products cost. As prominent as pirated manga scanslations are, Viz seems to be responding to digital demand by continually working to address factors of ease of use, timeliness, selection and pricing. Though still there's a number of titles fans would probably like to see take on Naruto's release pace, Viz is establishing an encouraging precedent by making one of its flagship titles available in multiple formats and prices.

[Via ANN]