Ohta Shuppan, publishers of magazine Manga Erotics F has launched their online manga portal called Pocopoco. It’s an interesting website that allows you to preview some of the published Ohta Shuppan Manga titles (mostly from Manga Erotics F) and at the same time read some fantastic one-shots from their authors.

It was launched yesterday and I had almost forgotten about it if not for the announcements over at twitter. Currently, they’re uploading previews of their manga so if you’ve got some Japanese skills and would like to read some titles before they even get on English shores, this is probably the best place to see them.

Ohta Shuppan’s quite a hot publishing firm now in terms of manga. They’re a small publishing company however they have an array of fantastic titles to offer. Some of the interesting titles featured in Pocopoco already are Utsubora by Nakamura Asumiko, Lychee Light Club by Usamaru Furuya ((Although, this preview is no different than Vertical’s page 1 preview, so read that instead)), and Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono.

What I love about this website though is the regular releases of special one-shots. Currently online now is a Lychee Light Club one-shot set some years before the current timeline. It’s called Bokura no Hikaru Club (Our Light Club) and it’s quite an interesting read. Now I wish I had the rest of Lychee Light Club with me to know what’s going on.

Nakamura Asumiko’s Adolte to Adarte should be published today and I’m just waiting for them to basically upload the one shot.

I personally love this effort in making  Ohta Shuppan’s manga accessible. I’m happy they’re embracing this digital access without having to install a gajillions of programs just to view the comics. The quality is pale in comparison to print, but that’s expected. The works are still readable and is enough to at least whet one’s appetite for manga.

Wandering Son’s author, Shimura Takako will also be posting her one-shot Awashima Hyakkei in the website soon!

EDIT: I noticed one interesting thing at the bottom of the pages and I think it’s quite genius on their end. At the bottom of the page, they have links directing people to e-mail them if they’re interested for licensing. Sweet. 😀

EDIT 2: NAKAMURA ASUMIKO’S COMIC IS IN FULL COLOR!! sdakfsgasgsaghsagja!! *A*) HOW BEAUTIFUL! READ IT HERE NOW!

EDIT 3: Took out Opera as suggested. I often mistake Opera and Manga Erotics F under the same publishers as most authors from Manga Erotics F write for Opera (and vice versa). OTL. For reference to those who are interested, Opera is under Akaneshinsha.