Square Enix MANGA UP! Global App Removes Black Bars From All Content

Square Enix has shared a message to fans using the global version of their MANGA UP! app. For those unaware, this app has been quite contentious since its launch due to its needless and overt censorship. Countless black bars covered various images, ultimately ruining the reading experience.

However, the company has announced that all black bars across its catalog have been removed and that all suggestive content has been restored to its original iteration. Modification as a whole has not been entirely ruled out for the future, though.

The full message is quoted below:

“Hello MANGA UP! Fans: Thank you for sharing your feedback on MANGA UP!. We heard your comments and have issued an update to the app that removes the use of black bars from all content.

Starting today, suggestive content has been restored to its original artwork and explicit content has been addressed using blurring or shading techniques that are less intrusive to the reading experience.

In the future, we will do our best to only modify artwork when absolutely necessary and to do so in a manner that is as seamless as possible to the storytelling.”

This global app was initially launched in July 2022, with it boasting to be the quickest source for select English manga, thanks to simultaneous translations with Japanese releases.