While the U.S. struggles to generate an audience for cell phone video, Japanese consumers now read Manga on their phones at a startling clip.

There are now more than 300 "e-comic" sites available, where fans of Lupin the 3rd and Ringo to Kedamono (The Apple and the Beast) can download more than 10,000 Manga stories to their cellphones.

As reported in this BusinessWeek article, "the gender demographics of [online comic store] NTT Solmare's site are now 50% male, 50% female, reckons Impress R&D's Toshihiro Takagi. Most other heavyweights, such as publisher Shueisha's Keitai Shueisha and Shogakukan's Keitai Shogakukan, are skewed heavily toward a female audience, with a 70-30 split, he says. That's why many sites rank selections for female readers and are adding content as fast as they can."

The e-comic versions even incorporate sound effects and vibration in order to augment any panels that show action. Sounds good to us.

Mobile-Phone Manga Storms Japan [BusinessWeek]