Along with a crop of new Play announcements, including AI-powered app comparisons and a feature that bundles similar apps, Google is also rolling out new "Curated Spaces," topic-focused hubs.

Launched on Wednesday, "Comics" is to be an offering to manga fans. At the top of the screen between "For You" and "Top Charts," the new hub is making manga and anime titles, live events and so much more available to users in Japan.

Google teamed up with the best providers, such as "Attack on Titan" publisher Kodansha. Samples will be previewed in-app and users can read comics without downloading any apps at all. In the Comics tab now, manga- and anime-related live streams top the page, joined by previews of upcoming titles, editor picks, and expert reviews.

According to Grand View Research, the size of the global manga market was estimated at $13.69 billion in 2023. Manga apps by popularity in Japan on Google Play include Piccoma, Line Manga, Mechacomi, and Jump+. Another one is Magapoke by Kodansha, with a count of about 20 million installations under its roster.

Currently, Comics is only available in Japan. Google is not looking to expand the space to other markets at this time.

"We are now excited to unveil our next curated space, 'Comics' rolling out in Japan. More than half of the population in Japan reads comics, and lots of them are seeking easier ways of getting more of that," Google Play vice president Sam Bright explained members of the press during a demo yesterday.

Bright however noted that there are more curated spaces in the pipeline.

“Comics are just the start. In the future, we’ll be launching curated spaces to give more people and more countries new ways to dive deeper into the content they care about,” Bright said.

Earlier in the year, the company tested a themed space around Cricket fans in India-including gamified voting, cricket-related YouTube videos, and other content drawn from over 100 apps. The Cricket space is no longer live, but I suspect we can expect curated spaces dedicated to other sports in the future.