NTT DOCOMO announced today that its European subsidiary DOCOMO Netherlands B.V. will launch Europe’s first mobile-phone service for downloading Japanese comics, better known as manga, beginning today in France.

The service, named MANGA MODE, is expected to appeal to the growing number of people who enjoy reading manga, a popular form of Japanese pop culture.

Customers of French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom S.A. will be able to use the service to download French translations of famous manga into their mobile phones and view them panel by panel using a dedicated reader. A MANGA MODE mobile website where customers can sign up for the service will be accessible from Bouygues Telecom’s mobile web portal