Viz Media


Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company, focused on publishing manga, and distributing and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series.
The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, LLC. In 2005, Viz and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current Viz Media, which is owned by Japanese publishing conglomerates Shueisha and Shogakukan, as well as Japanese production company Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. In 2017, Viz Media was the largest publisher of graphic novels in the United States in the bookstore market, with a 23% share of the market.
WWW Official Site𝕏 vizmediaFB OfficialVIZMedia

History

Founding

Seiji Horibuchi, originally from Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku, Japan, moved to California, United States in 1975. After living in the suburbs for almost two years, he moved to San Francisco, where he started a business exporting American cultural items to Japan, and became a writer of cultural information. He also became interested in publishing Japanese manga in the United States, though he himself was not a fan of Japanese comics until a visit to Japan in 1985 exposed him to Katsuhiro Otomo's single-volume title Domu: A Child's Dream. His idea came to fruition after he met Masahiro Ohga, then managing director of Shogakukan, in 1985 and shared his vision. Shogakukan provided Horibuchi with $200,000 in startup capital, which Horibuichi used in 1986 to found Viz Communications.
Viz Communications released its first titles in 1987, which included Legend of Kamui; however, sales were mediocre due to the specialist comic market being averse to venturing into new territory. To counteract this problem, Viz expanded into the general publishing business and began publishing various art related books in 1992. Into these titles, Horibuchi began publishing manga, calling them graphic novels so they would be carried by mainstream bookstores. The plan worked, and after several years, leading booksellers began to have dedicated shelves for manga titles. Sales also picked up when Viz Communications acquired the license for the comedy series Ranma ½, which became an instant hit.
The company continued to see success when it expanded into the anime distribution market, began publishing Shonen Jump, an English adaptation of the popular Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. It also acquired another huge selling title, Inuyasha. In the late 1990s, Viz began making the push to move into the European and South American markets.

Shueisha co-ownership (2000–2005)

When Shueisha became a joint owner of Viz in 2002, both Shogakukan and Shueisha began to release manga exclusively through Viz. Shueisha's deal with Viz may have been prompted by competition with Raijin Comics, a rival manga publisher created in 2002 by editors and artists who had split off from Shueisha, taking their properties with them.
Some exceptions to this exclusivity exist, however: Shueisha permitted DC Comics's subsidiary CMX Manga to license Tenjho Tenge and Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, permitted Dark Horse Comics to license Gantz, Lady Snowblood, Shadow Lady, The Monkey King, and recently Yasuhiro Nightow's Blood Blockade Battlefront and CLAMP's Gate 7.
Shueisha also permitted Udon Entertainment to license The Rose of Versailles, Seven Seas Entertainment to license Hayate X Blade, and will later permit Seven Seas Entertainment to license To Love Ru, Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs and Super HxEros, and permitted Tokyopop to license Kodocha, Marmalade Boy, and Digimon Next and Manga Planet to license Silver Fang -The Shooting Star Gin- and allowed Kodansha USA to license the Battle Angel Alita manga in America. Shogakukan permitted Tokyopop to license Corrector Yui and Yumi Tsukirino's Stitch! manga, Seven Seas Entertainment to license Dai Dark, ''Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, Polar Bear Cafe, and the Himitsu Sentai Gorenger manga and Digital Manga to license The Amazing 3 manga by Osamu Tezuka, Udon Entertainment to license the Infini-T Force manga, the now-defunct ComicsOne to license Wounded Man - The White Haired Demon, permitted Dark Horse Comics to license Crying Freeman, New Lone Wolf and Cub, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Mob Psycho 100, and permitted Hachette Book Group's subsidiary Yen Press to license Azumanga Daioh, Silver Spoon, Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, and Cirque du Freak'' to Shogakukan. The Yen Press edition is a newly translated and lettered version of ADV Manga's edition. In March 2010, Shogakukan began a partnership with Fantagraphics Books to issue a line of manga to be edited by Matt Thorn. In 2003, possibly in response to Shogakukan and Shueisha's co-ownership of Viz, Japanese publisher Kodansha formed a co-venture with Del Rey.

ShoPro merger and Restructuring (2005–2013)

In 2005, Viz Communications merged with ShoPro Entertainment, an American subisidary of Shogakukan and was renamed to Viz Media. Horibuchi became the new company's chairman. During the same year, Horibuchi started a related division, Viz Pictures, for releasing selected live-action films in the US to theaters and DVD.
On December 17, 2008, Viz Media announced that starting on April 1, 2009, Warner Home Video would be handling the distribution of both its new and existing catalog releases. Viz itself is still the licensor and will do all production, while tapping the distribution powerhouse that distributes the works of other major companies such as Disney XD, Adult Swim, and Cartoon Network. Viz president and CEO Hidemi Fukuhara stated that he believes the partnership will help the company grow its anime holdings more effectively.
On February 20, 2009, Viz Media laid off an unknown number of employees in order to help be more streamlined to face the current economic climate. On May 11, 2010, Viz Media again laid off a number of workers, 60 this time, again in order to try to become more streamlined. This time they released a press release claiming that none of their current product lines would be affected.
On April 2, 2012, it was announced that the senior vice-president and general manager of Viz Media Ken Sasaki would be succeeding executive producer Hidemi Fukuhara as president and CEO; Fukuhara will subsequently take up the position of vice-president at the end of the month.

Partnerships and expansion (2013–present)

In 2013, Viz began distributing titles to the Philippines. In 2014, it announced it would do the same in India with 75 Shueisha titles being released in that country; Viz titles had been distributed unofficially to that country prior to the announcement.
On July 3, 2019, Viz Media partnered with Crunchyroll to distribute select Crunchyroll licensed titles on home video and electronic sell-through in the United States and Canada.
In 2020, Viz Media saw a 70% growth in the U.S. market, in line with a 43% increase in overall manga sales in the United States the same year.
On July 3, 2020, Funimation announced that they would begin streaming the original Naruto series on July 6. More content from Viz Media started to launch in their catalog such as Hunter × Hunter, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, and two Berserk films.
On September 9, 2020, Funimation announced that they had reached a distribution partnership with Viz Media, with Viz Media titles being made available to stream on Funimation's website. The deal was made after select Viz titles were previously made available on Funimation.
On May 9, 2023, Viz Media launched a digital manga service called "Viz Manga", featuring licenses from Shogakukan and Shueisha that are not published on the digital "Shonen Jump" service, and has simultaneous English releases of ongoing manga.
On July 5, 2024, Viz announced on their social media channels that they had acquired RWBY following the closure of its original parent company, Rooster Teeth—several months prior.

Manga ratings

In contrast to similar TV and film ratings, Viz also has set up certain "manga ratings" for their products based on their content.A 6+: May be suitable for readers or consumers of any age. For example, may contain mild language and fantasy violence but no swearing or nudity.T 13+: May be suitable for early teens and older. For example, may contain violence, infrequent use of strong language, suggestive themes or situations, crude humor, alcohol and/or tobacco use.T+ 16+: May be suitable for older teens and adults. For example, may contain intense and/or gory violence, sexual content, frequent strong language, alcohol, tobacco and/or other substance use.M 18+: Suitable for adults only. May contain extreme violence, mature themes and graphic depictions.
Despite its name, Viz's manga ratings were also used on licensed anime titles, though, in the later 2000s, they instead relied on local countries' rating systems.

Reception

Viz Media was awarded the Manga Publisher of the Year Gem Award by Diamond Comic Distributors in 2007. Viz continues to publish many titles, some of the most popular including: Dragon Ball, One Piece, Detective Conan, Bleach, Inuyasha, and Naruto which results a high success of the company as well as a large amount of the North American readers.
Viz also received an award for Manga Trade Paperback of the Year for its release of the fourteenth volume of the Naruto series.

Publication style

By 2002, Viz Communications kept some publications in the original right-to-left format, while in other publications it mirrored pages from Japan's right-to-left reading format to fit the Western left-to-right reading style. During that year Dallas Middaugh, the senior marketing manager of Viz, stated that the left-to-right version of Neon Genesis Evangelion outsold the right-to-left version of Neon Genesis Evangelion on a three to one basis; Middaugh concluded that readers wanted "an easy reading experience." Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, requested that his work, which was separated by Viz into Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, be published in the original right-to-left format. Vagabond was printed in right-to-left to preserve historical accuracy. Middaugh said that younger readers of Dragon Ball adapted to the right to left format more easily than their parents.
Viz has censored some of its titles. Some titles, such as Dragon Ball, were published in both censored and uncensored forms.

Divisions

Viz Productions

Based in Los Angeles, Viz Productions coordinates the licenses of Japanese material to American film companies. Their goal is to involve the Japanese creators in the production and facilitate communication between all parties in the US and Japan. Viz Productions' first film is the live action adaptation of All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Their second production was the American live-action adaptation to the supernatural thriller manga series: Death Note, which was directed by Adam Wingard and starred Nat Wolff, as the film's lead.
Viz also has many partnerships with various authors and celebrities, perhaps the most famous being the cosplay film that debuted in the 2013 Tokyo Anime Festival with Kirata Uchiha, played by JadexRoyal. Winning multiple awards for the board including Masashi Kishimoto, others include Full Moon and Last Quarter.

Films

Television

New People

In November 2005, New People was officially formed as a sister company for releasing live-action Japanese films as theatrical releases in selected markets called Viz Pictures. According to Horibuchi, the company will focus on films that focus on the "Japanese 'kawaii and cool' pop culture." In 2007, the division released seven films to theaters, including Train Man: Densha Otoko and Honey and Clover. DVD releases for all Viz Pictures films are distributed exclusively by its parent, Viz Media. Viz Pictures renamed themselves to New People and no longer shares office space or employees with Viz Media. Viz Media no longer distributes DVD and Blu-ray releases of their products.

Entertainment complex

In August 2009, Viz Pictures opened a three-story entertainment complex in San Francisco called New People. The center piece of the complex is a 143-seat movie theater that screens anime and Japanese live-action films. The center also has a cafe, a store selling anime and manga related items, and clothing stores offering Japanese clothing items.

Neon Alley

Neon Alley was a streaming service dedicated to anime and related programming established in October 2012. After moving streaming content from its own platform to Hulu, the branding would be retired in May 2016.

Publications

''Animerica''

Animerica is a quarterly anime and manga digest that initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993 cover date. The magazine originally featured articles and reviews on manga, anime, and related media, as well as manga preview chapters. In 1998, Animerica Extra was launched as a manga anthology that eventually focused specifically on shōjo titles. It was canceled in 2004.
Viz changed the magazine's format in April 2005, with the new magazine really being two free publications of the same name. One is advertising-oriented and created specially for distribution at anime and manga conventions while the other is more general in scope and distributed through retail stores. Both versions have fewer and briefer articles and a lower page count. The last monthly issue of the original format Animerica had a cover date of June 2005.
Animurica was one of the first professional anime and manga magazines released in the United States, and one of the most popular in the 1990s. In 2004, it had a circulation of 45,000 readers, but low sales and high competition from Newtype USA resulted in the essential cancellation of the original magazine and its reformatting as a free digest.

''Game On! USA''

Game On! USA was a monthly magazine that focused primarily on Japanese-developed video games, with an emphasis on the import scene. It served as the American counterpart to Shogakukan's Game On! magazine. It was published in May 1996 and ran for 7 monthly issues before being discontinued that same year in November. The magazine had news and reviews and other articles about classic fighting games like Street Fighter, Samurai Shodown and Virtua Fighter. Two video game-based manga series, Super Street Fighter II: Cammy by Masahiko Nakahira, and Samurai Shodown by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and Yuki Miyoshi, were serialized in the magazine. A one shot story based on Battle Arena Toshinden, illustrated by the game's character designer Tsukasa Kotobuki was published in the magazine as well.

''Manga Vizion''

Manga Vizion, sometimes misspelled Manga Vision, is a manga anthology introduced by Viz in 1995. It is believed to be the first manga anthology published in the United States. The premiere issue was dated March 1995 and featured three series: The Tragedy of P, Samurai Crusader: The Kumomaru Chronicles, and Ogre Slayer. It ran for three and a half years until it was canceled in August 1998.

''Pulp''

Pulp was a monthly manga anthology introduced by Viz in 1997. The magazine featured more mature titles, marketed at adults rather than teenage readers. Some of titles serialized in the magazine included: Uzumaki, Banana Fish, and Dance till Tomorrow. The magazine was canceled in 2002.

''Shonen Jump''

Shonen Jump is a shōnen manga anthology that debuted in November 2002, with a January 2003 cover date. Based on the popular Japanese anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump, published by Shueisha, Shonen Jump is retooled for English readers and the American audience and is published monthly, instead of weekly. It features serialized chapters from seven manga series, and articles on Japanese language and culture, as well as manga, anime, video games, and figurines. In conjunction with the magazine, Viz launched new imprints for releasing media related to the series presented in the magazine, and other shōnen works. This includes two new manga imprints, an anime DVD imprint, a fiction line for releasing light novels, a label for fan and data books, and a label for the release of art books.
Prior to the magazine's launch, Viz launched an extensive marketing campaign to promote the magazine and help it succeed where other manga anthologies in North America have failed. Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture, and Cartoon Network, Suncoast, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine. The first issue required three printings to meet demand, with over 300,000 copies sold. It was awarded the ICv2 "Comic Product of the Year" award in December 2002, and has continued to enjoy high sales with a monthly circulation of 215,000 in 2008.

''Shojo Beat''

Shojo Beat was a shōjo manga magazine Viz launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for Shonen Jump. It featured serialized chapters from six manga series as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty. Viz launched related "Shojo Beat" imprints in its manga, light novel, and anime divisions to coordinate with the magazine's contents.
Targeted at women ages 16-18, the first issue of Shojo Beat launched with a circulation of 20,000 copies. By 2007, average circulation was approximately 38,000 copies. Half of its circulation came from subscriptions rather than store sales. In May 2009, the magazine was discontinued after 49 issues, with the July 2009 issue being the last released. Viz stated the "difficult economic climate" was behind the magazine's cancellation, and that it would continue releasing the magazine's titles, as well as others, using the "Shojo Beat" imprint.

Haikasoru

In January 2009, Viz Media announced plans to launch a Japanese science fiction novel line called Haikasoru. The first novels were scheduled to be released in the summer of the same year, with four novels: The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa, ZOO by Otsuichi, All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and Usurper of the Sun by Hōsuke Nojiri. In addition, the imprint released an expanded edition of Kōshun Takami's Battle Royale. In 2010, the imprint release Project Itoh's novel Harmony, which later won a Special Citation Philip K. Dick Award. The imprint is distributed to trade by Simon & Schuster.

SuBLime

In October 2011, Viz Media launched SuBLime as an imprint for boys' love titles. The imprint was formed in collaboration with the Japanese publisher Libre and its parent company Animate to publish English-language boys' love manga for the print and worldwide digital market. Although the first slate of books announced under SuBLime are Libre titles, the imprint will potentially offer titles from other Japanese publishers in the future.

Business partnerships

In March 2016, Viz Media announced that they are collaborating with United Talent Agency on their live action projects based on anime series. On July 3, 2019, Viz Media announced that they had partnered with Crunchyroll to distribute select Crunchyroll licensed titles on home video and electronic sell-through in the United States and Canada, as well as stream selected Viz Media titles on Crunchyroll.

Titles

Manga

Currently licensed

Viz Originals
BETWIXTChampion of the Rose †Devil's Candy †FangirlThe Girl That Can't Get a GirlfriendI'm the Grim Reaper †Lynx †Not So Shoujo Love Story †Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Manga †Status Royale †
† - New volumes currently being released
†† - Series not published in its entirety
††† - Yen Press has the rights to series' digital release due to being a Square Enix title.

Formerly licensed

2001 NightsA, A PrimeA.D. Police: Dead End CityAbaraAct-Age ††Adolf The All-New Tenchi Muyo!Aqua KnightArea 88 ††Ashen VictorAyakashi Triangle ††B.B. ExplosionB.O.D.Y. ††BaohBastard!! ††Battle Angel Alita Battle Angel Alita: Last Order ††Beet the Vandel Buster ††Benkei in New YorkBeybladeThe Big OBio Booster Armor Guyver ††BiomegaBlack Jack ††Black Rose Alice ††Blood: The Last VampireBlue SpringCheeky AngelChicagoChocoMimi ††Cobra ††Crimson Hero ††Crying Freeman Dance till TomorrowDi Gi CharatDinosaur KingDragon DriveEagle: The Making of an Asian-American PresidentEat-Man ††El-HazardFlowers & BeesGalaxy Express 999Getter Robo GoGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence Gimmick!GreyHaou AirenHaruka: Beyond the Stream of TimeHomestuck ††Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs ††Kurohime ††The Legend of Kamui ††LegendzMacross IIMagical Pokémon Journey ††Mai, the Psychic GirlMarionette GenerationMedabotsMidori DaysMobile Police Patlabor ††Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 ††Mobile Suit Gundam WingMobile Suit Gundam: The Origin ††Monster Hunter: Flash HunterNeko Majin ††No Need for TenchiOgre Slayer ††Pineapple Army ††Pokémon: The Electric Tale of PikachuProject ARMSPromise RahXephonRead or DieRead or DreamReborn! ††Resident Evil: The Marhawa DesireRumic Theater ††Rumic World ††Rurouni Kenshin: Master of FlameRurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc ††SaikanoSamurai CrusaderSanctuarySensual PhraseShakugan no Shana ††Shaman King Short CutsShort ProgramSilent Möbius Socrates in LoveSOSSpriggan ††Steam DetectivesStrainStrawberry 100% ††They Were Eleven Times TwoTogariTough ††Train Man: Densha OtokoUltimoVoyeur ††Wedding PeachWild Com.WishXenonZatch Bell! ††Zoids: Chaotic CenturyZoids: New Century
†† - Series not published in its entirety

Anime

Currently licensed

86 ††Accel WorldAccel World: Infinite Burst Bakuman †Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - The Advent Black Torch †Blame! ††BleachBleach: Memories of Nobody Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion Bleach: Fade to Black Bleach: Hell Verse Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood WarBlue DragonBlue Dragon: Trials of the Seven ShadowsBlood LadBoruto: Naruto Next GenerationsBurn the Witch ††Buso RenkinCaptain Tsubasa (2018) †Castlevania ††Castlevania: Nocturne ††CoppelionDeath NoteDoraemon †Gargantia on the Verdurous PlanetGenie Family 2020 †The God of High School ††Hikaru no GoHunter × Hunter (2011)Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission In/Spectre ††Infini-T ForceInfini-T Force the Movie: Farewell, FriendInuyashaInuyasha: The Final ActInuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass Inuyasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island JoJo's Bizarre Adventure JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust CrusadersJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is UnbreakableJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden WindJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean ††Jujutsu Kaisen ††KK: Missing Kings K: Return of KingsK: Seven Stories Levius ††Mazinger Z: Infinity Megalobox Mr. Osomatsu NarutoNaruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom Naruto: ShippudenNaruto Shippuden the Movie Naruto Shippuden the Movie 2: Bonds Naruto Shippuden the Movie 3: The Will of Fire Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie The Last: Naruto the Movie Boruto: Naruto the Movie Naruto SD: Rock Lee and his Ninja PalsNura: Rise of the Yokai ClanNura: Rise of the Yokai Clan - Demon CapitalOne-Punch ManPokémon: The Series
† - Not currently dubbed or released outside of streaming
†† - Only has home video rights

Formerly licensed

Adieu Galaxy Express 999 Boys Over Flowers Ceres, Celestial Legend Corrector YuiCross Game Deko Boko FriendsEyeshield 21 Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle Flame of Recca Full Moon o Sagashite Galaxy Express 999 Grandpa DangerGreat DangaiohGrey: Digital TargetHamtaroHoney and Clover Honey and Clover II Hunter × Hunter (1999)I"sI"s PureJin-Roh Kekkaishi Key the Metal Idol Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-neMaison IkkokuMÄR MegaMan NT Warrior Mega Man Star Force Mermaid's ScarMirmo!MonsterMoribito: Guardian of the Spirit Nana Neuro: Supernatural Detective Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge Ogre SlayerOne-pound GospelPlease Save My EarthThe Prince of Tennis Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva Project ARMS Saikano SanctuaryStrawberry 100% Trouble ChocolateUltra Maniac Video Girl AiZatch Bell! Zoids: Chaotic Century

Live-action films

Currently licensed

Formerly licensed

20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope20th Century Boys 3: RedemptionDeath Note Death Note 2: The Last Name Densha OtokoDetroit Metal CityFunky Forest: The First ContactHoney and CloverKamikaze GirlsL: Change the WorldLove*Com NanaNana 2

Novels

Currently licensed

Haikasoru
All You Need Is KillApparitionsAutomatic EveBattle RoyaleBelka, Why Don't You Bark?The Book of HeroesBrave StoryThe Cage of ZeusDenderaDragon Sword and Wind ChildThe Future Is JapaneseThe Gate of SorrowsGene MapperGenocidal OrganGothHanzai JapanHarmonyIco: Castle in the MistLegend of the Galactic HeroesThe Lord of the Sands of TimeLoups=GarousMardock ScrambleThe Melancholy of MechagirlMetal Gear Solid: Guns of the PatriotMirror Sword and Shadow PrinceMM9The Next ContinentNoble V: GreylancerOrbital CloudThe Ouroboros WavePhantasm JapanRed Girls
†† - Series not published in its entirety

Formerly licensed

Kamikaze GirlsMobile Suit GundamRurouni Kenshin: Voyage to the Moon WorldShakugan no Shana ††Socrates in LoveThe StationmasterSteamboyVirus
†† - Series not published in its entirety

Website

For a period, Viz offered an e-mail service called Viz Mail. In the first two weeks of service, it had 1,000 members. The service allowed users to use stationery and letterheads decorated with characters from Viz Media properties.
Despite the fact that Viz Media's licensed distribution territory includes Canada, the company has been criticized for not providing online anime simulcasts to that country.