Viz Media

VIZ Media’s Website Removes Free Anime Videos

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Anime News Network is reporting that VIZ Media’s website has removed its free Hulu-embedded streams of anime episodes. The company’s website now directs visitors to watch the anime on other streaming platforms, such as Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Hulu, and Netflix.

The company previously offered free streams via Hulu for several of its licensed anime, including Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto, One-Punch Man, Bleach, Sailor Moon, Hunter x Hunter, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Death Note, Inuyasha, and Ranma 1/2.

Source: ANN

VIZ Media Announces Print Releases for Summer 2021

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announced eight new titles that the company will be releasing in print in Summer 2021:

  • Fist of the North Star manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara [digital and physical (hardcover editions that will include color pages)]
  • No. 5 manga by Taiyo Matsumoto [digital and print]
  • Sensor manga by Junji Ito [digital and print]
  • Mashle: Magic and Muscles manga by Hajime Kōmoto [digital and print]
  • Undead Unluck manga by Yoshifumi Tozuka [digital and print]
  • Yakuza Lover (Koi to Dangan) manga by Nozomi Mino [digital and print]
  • Kirby Manga Mania manga collection presented by Hirokazu Hikawa
  • Disney Bento: Fun Recipes for Lunchtime by Mami Miyazaki

Source: ANN

VIZ Media Announces the Release of Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media has announced that the company will be releasing Naoki Urasawa’s Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection manga on October 20, 2020. The volume will be released in paperback and will retail for US$17.99.

Urasawa’s characters confront fantastical elements ranging from psychic powers, to alien visitors to planet Earth, to attacks by giant monsters. On the flip side, the author philosophizes about his real-world experiences with the wild and wacky international music scene. Plus, a classic, funny animal tale, in Urasawa’s inimitable style.

Naoki Urasawa’s career as a manga artist spans more than 30 years and has firmly established him as one of the true manga masters of Japan. Born in Tokyo in 1960, Urasawa debuted with BETA!! in 1983 and hasn’t stopped his impressive output since. Well-versed in a variety of genres, Urasawa’s oeuvre encompasses a multitude of different subjects. Many of his books have spawned popular animated and live-action TV programs and films, and 2008 saw the theatrical release of the first of three live-action Japanese films based on 20th Century Boys.

No stranger to accolades and awards, Urasawa received the 2011 and 2013 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia, and is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award, a two-time recipient of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and also received the Kodansha Manga Award. Urasawa has also become involved in the world of academia, and in 2008 accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he teaches courses in, of course, manga.

VIZ Media and MANGA Plus Publish The Promised Neverland and Demon Slayer Bonus Chapters in English

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Both VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump service and Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service released bonus chapters of Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu’s The Promised Neverland manga and Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga on October 4, 2020.

The Promised Neverland‘s “Chapter 181.1” bonus chapter is titled “Special Side Story: The First Shot” and focuses on Ray. Shirai and Demizu launched The Promised Neverland manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in August 2016, and ended it on June 15, 2020.

The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba‘s “Chapter 205.1” bonus chapter is titled “Special One-Shot” and centers on Rengoku’s first mission. Gotouge launched the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga in 2016 and ended it on May 18, 2020.

Source: ANN

VIZ Media Announces the Release of the Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media has announced that the company will be releasing Chiho Saito’s Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution manga on October 6, 2020. The volume will be released in paperback and will retail for US$12.99.

Utena has saved Anthy by defeating Akio in the final duel, but in doing so she has vanished from the world. Now the student council members at Ohtori Academy find themselves in their own revolutions.

Chiho Saito was born June 29th in Tokyo. In 1982 she debuted with Kento Mademoiselle. Some of her works include Green Apple Labyrinth and Waltz wa Shiroi Doresu De (Waltz in a White Dress). She won the 42nd Shogakukan Manga award for Kanon. In 1997, Revolutionary Girl Utena became a groundbreaking anime series.

Be-PaPas is a group of highly creative people founded by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and includes such storied members as master manga artist Chiho Saito and animator Shinya Hasegawa. Their collaboration produced the Utena TV series and the movie Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena.

VIZ Media Announces Broadcast Partners for Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media, the leading pop culture publisher and producer of Japanese manga and animation in North America has announced that Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is coming to Crunchyroll, FUNimation, and Hulu on October 3, 2020.

The Inuyasha-inspired anime will be available for simulcast in North and Latin American territories subtitled, with the English dub to follow shortly after.

Brad Woods, VIZ Media CMO, said: “We can’t wait for both Inuyasha and anime fans of all ages to discover the spirit of adventure and friendship in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, which will be coming to Crunchyroll, FUNimation, and Hulu this October. By partnering with multiple platforms, the iconic and much-loved property will have tremendous reach and availability for fans to enjoy this next chapter with half-demon twins Towa and Setsuna.”

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon follows the daughters of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha as they set out on a journey transcending time. Set in feudal Japan, half-demon twins Towa and Setsuna are separated from each other during a forest fire. While desperately searching for her younger sister, Towa wanders into a mysterious tunnel that sends her into present-day Japan, where she is found and raised by Kagome Higurashi’s brother, Sota, and his family.

Ten years later, the tunnel that connects the two eras has reopened, allowing Towa to be reunited with Setsuna, who is now a demon slayer working for Kohaku. But to Towa’s shock, Setsuna appears to have lost all memories of her older sister. Joined by Moroha, the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome, the three young women travel between the two eras on an adventure to regain their missing past.

Confirmed voice cast: Sara Matsumoto as Towa Higurashi, Mikako Komatsu as Setsuna, and Azusa Tadokoro as the voice of Moroha.

VIZ Media and MANGA Plus Add the High School Family: Kōkōsei Kazoku and Our Blood Oath Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Both VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump service and Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service released the first two chapters of Ryō Nakama’s High School Family: Kōkōsei Kazoku manga on September 6, 2020, and the third chapter on September 13, 2020. They also released the first chapter of Kazu Kakazu’s Our Blood Oath (Bokura no Ketsumei) manga on September 13, 2020. A new chapter of both manga will debut on September 18, 2020.

MANGA Plus describes High School Family: Kōkōsei Kazoku as:

Spring is in the air, and Kotaro is about to begin his first year of high school. He’s full of hope and anticipation of a wonderful life at his new school, only to have his dreams crushed by… his family? Isobe Isobee Monogatari ~ Ukiyo wa Tsuraiyo creator Ryō Nakama’s latest series combines family and school life gags, making it feel familiar but also fresh and new. This new genre of comedy will be sure to make the grade.

Ryō Nakama launched the manga in the 40th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on September 7, 2020.

MANGA Plus describes Our Blood Oath as:

Last year’s acclaimed one-shot that graced the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump returns as a brand new series. Kazu Kakazu’s elegantly drawn tale of vampire siblings and the oath that binds them now begins.

Kazu Kakazu launched the manga in the 41st issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on September 14, 2020. Kakazu published a one-shot in Weekly Shonen Jump in November 2019 titled Seiyaku no Aka (Red Pledge).

Source: ANN

VIZ Media Announces the Release of the Moriarty The Patriot Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announces the release of Moriarty The Patriot, which is a manga by Ryosuke Takeuchi that’s based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The series is illustrated by Hiakaru Miyoshi. VIZ will release the first volume of the series on October 6, 2020 with an MSRP of US$9.99.

In the late 19th century, Great Britain rules over a quarter of the world in Moriarty the Patriot. Nobles sit in their fancy homes in comfort and luxury, while the working class slaves away at their jobs. When young Albert James Moriarty’s upper-class family adopts two lower-class orphans, the cruelty the boys experience at his family’s hands cements Albert’s hatred of the nobility he was born into. He asks the older of the two boys—who has a genius mind and a killer instinct—to help him rid the world of evil, starting with Albert’s own family.

Ryosuke Takeuchi was born November 20, 1980, in Hyogo, Japan, and is a manga artist and writer. He got his big break in 2011 with ST&RS, his first serialized Weekly Shonen Jump series. He later did the storyboards for All You Need Is Kill.

Hikaru Miyoshi is a manga artist whose previous work includes Inspector Akane Tsunemori, which was based on the Psycho-Pass anime.

Takeuchi and Miyoshi began collaborating on Moriarty the Patriot in 2016.

VIZ Media Announces the First Naruto Blu-ray Set

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media has announced that the company will begin releasing Blu-ray sets for Naruto. The first set is scheduled to be released on November 3, 2020. The set will include the first 27 episodes of the series, as well as a new interview with Maile Flanagan, the English voice actress for Naruto Uzumaki.

Considering that VIZ Media is dedicating 2020 to the 20th anniversary celebration for the Naruto franchise, the timing of this release feels appropriate.

Source VIZ Media’s Facebook page

FUNimation Entertainment Announces Distribution Partnership With VIZ Media

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

FUNimation Entertainment has announced a distribution partnership with publisher and distributor VIZ Media that will add new anime titles to FUNimation’s streaming catalog, beginning with five titles on September 22, 2020. The first five titles for the partnership are Terra Formars, Terra Formars Revenge, Coppelion, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, and Megalobox.

Megalobox is the newest title in the lineup, and it premiered in April 2018. Crunchyroll simulcast the series as it aired.

FUNimation is already streaming the Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I – The Egg of the King, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II – The Battle for Doldrey, and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent from VIZ Media.

Source: ANN