Azuki Manga Service, a digital manga publisher and platform operated by KiraKira Media Inc., announced on Thursday, November 13, 2025, a major update to its brand strategy—a new name, Omoi, to better reflect the company’s broader creative vision.
Since its launch in 2021, Azuki — now Omoi — has established itself as a niche alternative in the digital manga landscape, distinguishing itself through curated partnerships with indie manga publishers, including Star Fruit Books, Glacier Bay Books, Kaiten Books, and Fakku, providing its subscribers with a unique mix of independent, literary, and fan-favorite titles often unavailable elsewhere. Additionally, by offering a seamless reader experience across its iOS, Android, and web platforms, Omoi has built a loyal following with its affordable subscription model and ad-free reading, which allows readers to conveniently access the platform’s expansive, ever-growing catalog of officially licensed, English-translated titles, as well as its award-winning original series.
In a statement provided via the press release, the company said that the new name, Omoi—a Japanese term that translates loosely to “thought,” “feeling,” or “emotion”—was chosen to reflect better its editorial mission to connect readers and creators through expressive storytelling. According to Omoi Co-Founder and Licensing & Marketing Director Evan Minto, “The name represents a new phase for us, as we greatly expand our catalog in 2026, and […] reduces the brand confusion around our old name, which was in use by multiple companies in other industries.”
The rebrand — which also introduces a fresh visual identity for the company, featuring a new domain, logo, color scheme, and brand identity — arrives at a pivotal moment in the digital manga industry, which continues to expand globally while consolidating around a handful of major corporate platforms. As digital manga readers like MANGA Plus by Shueisha, K Manga by Kodansha, Crunchyroll Manga, and, of course, VIZ Media‘s VIZ Manga and Shonen Jump apps compete for audience attention with deep publisher-backed catalogs, Omoi employs a different strategy to attract new subscribers. To strengthen its market position as a niche alternative to the larger corporate-owned platforms, Omoi focuses on curation of diverse and quality titles, creative partnerships with smaller Japanese publishers and localization teams (that, of course, consist of real people), and affordable access to its expansive library of 500+ titles — an approach that has seemed to work, helping the platform carve out a loyal following of readers seeking a diverse range of titles.
While Azuki may have changed its name to Omoi and updated the look of its platforms, what fans love about its digital manga platform will remain unchanged — from its diverse catalog, featuring numerous indie titles translated into English for the first time; to its intuitive, user-centric UI/UX design, making it easier for fans to discover new reads that match their interests; to its affordable, accessible payment models. Additionally, the transition to the new brand name will not impact user accounts, subscriptions, or pricing.
Omoi continues to expand its content library
Currently, Omoi continues to expand its library with new manga chapters and print releases. On the digital side, the platform is serializing ongoing chapters of My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files by Natsumi Ito, Natsume & Natsume by Shunsuke Sorato, and You’re So Sloppy, Hotta-sensei by Mao Nakada, alongside hundreds of other titles available through its subscription-based apps and web platforms.
Beyond its digital and e-book publishing services, the company has also branched out into print editions of its licensed and original works, including the titles Hikaru in the Light!, written and illustrated by Mai Matsuda, and Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms, written and illustrated by Yoshino Koyoka. Also recently announced by Omoi are the upcoming releases of the print edition of Hamachi Yamada‘s Crescent Moon Marching, which will be distributed through its partnership with Scholastic‘s Graphix imprint, and Koumori‘s Our Aimless Nights, which will be distributed through its partnership with Penguin Random House‘s Ink Pop label, both with Summer 2026 release dates.
Moving forward, the company’s web platform will be available at the domain omoi.com, while the updated iOS and Android apps can be downloaded from their respective app stores under the name Omoi: Manga Reader.
Source: Omoi Press Release
