Manga App comico to End Service on January 6, 2027
The closure of comico, a pioneer of vertical-reading manga in Japan, marks the end of a platform that helped define the WebToon format, while its production business continues on other platforms.
Key Facts
- comico will end its service at 23:59 on January 6, 2027.
- New chapter distribution, work rental updates, coin sales, and new member registration stop at 23:59 on August 31, 2026.
- Sales and rentals of works stop at 23:59 on September 28, 2026.
- The bookshelf transfer to MechaComic is scheduled from January 7 to April 30, 2027, for works purchased as of September 28, 2026, subject to availability and rights holder permission.
- comico began in October 2013 and had over 25 million cumulative domestic downloads as of 2026.
Reporting from 2 sources: KAI-YOU, Denfaminicogamer.
NHN comico announced on August 17 that the manga app comico will end its service at 23:59 on January 6, 2027. The service, which began in October 2013, helped establish vertical-scroll, full-color manga as a standard format for smartphones in Japan. It distributed over 600 original manga and reached more than 25 million cumulative domestic downloads as of 2026. The shutdown will happen in stages. New chapter distribution, work rental updates, coin sales, and new member registration will stop at 23:59 on August 31, 2026. Sales and rentals of works will stop at 23:59 on September 28, 2026, after which rental gauges and tickets become unusable. Users can view purchased works from their bookshelf until the service ends. The operator is preparing to transfer purchased works to the ebook store MechaComic, with a transfer period scheduled from January 7 to April 30, 2027. Unused paid coins will be refunded, with details announced by January 6, 2027. The announcement does not cover the end of NHN comico's WebToon production business, which continues to distribute works to over 20 platforms.
comico, which launched in October 2013 by NHN PlayArt, was an early proponent of manga designed for smartphone reading, using vertical scrolling, full color, and digital effects. This format later became widely known as WebToon. The service produced original works such as ReLIFE and How to Keep a Mummy, both of which received TV anime adaptations.
The service termination will occur in phases. After sales and rentals stop on September 28, 2026, the bookshelf transfer to MechaComic will target works registered as purchased as of that date, but only if the same title is available on MechaComic and the publisher or rights holder permits the transfer. Users who do not complete the application during the transfer period will lose access to their purchased works after the service ends. Application details are scheduled to be announced in September 2026.
NHN comico's WebToon production business is not ending, as the editorial department still lists planning, production, and distribution as its activities, serving more than 20 domestic and international platforms beyond comico.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.