Viz Media

VIZ Media Announces Publishing Rights for Dragon Ball: A Visual History

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announces the publishing rights for Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball: A Visual History.

Dragon Ball: A Visual History will be published under VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump imprint and is scheduled for release in Fall 2019. The hardcover art book features stunning full-color artwork, rarely seen sketches, and exclusive creator commentary by Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball: A Visual History is the definitive journey through the artwork of one of the most influential and popular manga series of all time.

Internationally renowned for his playful, innovative storytelling and humorous, distinctive art style, Akira Toriyama burst onto the manga scene in 1980 with the series, Dr. Slump. His series Dragon Ball (published in the U.S. as Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) ran from 1984 to 1995 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. He is also known for his design work on video games such as Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Tobal No. 1, and Blue Dragon. His manga works include COWA!, Kajika, Sand Land, Neko Majin, and a children’s book, Toccio the Angel.

VIZ Media is the official North American English publisher of a variety of bestselling Dragon Ball properties including the original manga series as well as its sequels, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and the spin-off volume, Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha. All of these titles are available in print as well as digitally. VIZ Media also publishes the Dragon Ball manga series in special full-color, collector’s print editions.

VIZ Media Announces the Release of Urusei Yatsura Signature Editions

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announces the return of the classic manga comedy Urusei Yatsura in all-new deluxe editions on February 19, 2019.

Set for publication under the VIZ Signature imprint, Urusei Yatsura depicts the hilarious misadventures of an unlucky human boy who meets a beautiful alien princess. The series is rated “T+” for Older Teens; Volume 1 will carry a print MSRP of $19.99 U.S. / $26.99 CAN. Urusei Yatsura‘s volumes will present 400 pages of content in the larger VIZ Signature trim size. The complete series is scheduled for English publication by VIZ Media on a quarterly basis.

In Urusei Yatsura, beautiful space alien princess Lum invades Earth on her UFO, and unlucky Ataru Moroboshi’s world gets turned upside down. Will Lum become Earth’s electrifying new leader? Or will Ataru somehow miraculously save Earth from space alien onslaught?

“Urusei Yatsura is an iconic manga series, and until now, has never been fully published in English,” says Amy Yu, Editor. “Our new VIZ Signature editions allow readers to enjoy the complete Urusei Yatsura for the first time ever. We hope new and veteran manga fans will add this legendary series to their collections!”

The spotlight on Rumiko Takahashi’s career began in 1978 when she won an honorable mention in Shogakukan’s prestigious New Comic Artist Contest for Those Selfish Aliens. Later that same year, her boy-meets-alien comedy series, Urusei Yatsura, was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday. This phenomenally successful manga series was adapted into anime format and spawned a TV series and half a dozen theatrical-release movies, all incredibly popular in their own right. Takahashi followed up the success of her debut series with one blockbuster hit after another—Maison Ikkoku ran from 1980 to 1987, Ranma 1/2 from 1987 to 1996, and Inuyasha from 1996 to 2008. Other notable works include Mermaid Saga, Rumic Theater, One-Pound Gospel, and RIN-NE.

Takahashi was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2018. She won the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award twice in her career, once for Urusei Yatsura in 1981 and the second time for Inuyasha in 2002. A majority of the Takahashi canon has been adapted into other media such as anime, live-action TV series, and film. Takahashi’s manga, as well as the other formats her work has been adapted into, have continued to delight generations of fans around the world. Distinguished by her wonderfully endearing characters, Takahashi’s work adeptly incorporates a wide variety of elements such as comedy, romance, fantasy, and martial arts. While her series are difficult to pin down into one simple genre, the signature style she has created has come to be known as the “Rumic World.” Rumiko Takahashi is an artist who truly represents the very best from the world of manga.

VIZ Media Announces the Home Media Release of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders – Battle in Egypt

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media delivers the home media release of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Set 3: Stardust Crusaders – Battle in Egypt on January 22, 2019.

Concluding the Stardust Crusaders story arc, the second-half of Season 2 will be available on DVD and as a Limited Edition Blu-ray. Each multi-disc set will include 24 episodes (Episodes 25-48) with a variety of notable bonus features exclusive to the Blu-ray release. Based on Hirohiko Araki’s bestselling manga, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure brings to life the outlandish characters, wild humor, and frenetic battles for which the series is renowned.

Having crossed continents and cheated death, Jotaro, Joseph, and crew finally arrive in Egypt to root out the charismatic evil threatening the Joestar lineage and the world. Fighting Stand with Stand, the ever-clever Joestars are put to the ultimate test as a bizarre new army of adversaries hailing from the Egyptian pantheon strike in ways more brutal and outrageous than ever before. Thankfully, a new ally has arrived to assist the humans. The question is, can the team come together in time to unravel the mystery of DIO’s Stand?

The JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Set 3 Limited Edition Blu-ray Set will carry an MSRP of $69.99 U.S. / $81.99 CAN. Set 3 contains four discs as well as a 104-page episode guide and six full-color collectible art cards. Notable bonus features include English voice cast interviews, a digital art gallery, series trailers, and clean Opening and Ending credits.

The Standard Edition DVD Set will carry an MSRP of $39.99 U.S. / $52.99 CAN with extra features that include clean Opening and Ending credits and series trailers.

VIZ Media is the master distributor for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime series and also publishes print and digital editions of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga series. VIZ Media is also the North American master merchandise licensee for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and holds the home media, online streaming, and TV broadcast rights for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind anime series and the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable live-action film.

VIZ Media and CineLife Entertainment Present the North American Theatrical Premiere of Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announces the theatrical release of the second Hunter X Hunter film, Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission with screenings beginning January 30, 2019. A list of participating theater locations and advance ticket sales for all screening dates is available at (more theaters and screenings added daily): cinelifeentertainment.com/event/hunter-x-hunter-the-last-mission.

Presented in partnership with CineLife Entertainment, the event cinema and alternative programming division of Spotlight Cinema Networks, Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission will be presented in both subtitled and dubbed formats at select theaters nationwide.

In Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission, the Battle Olympia tournament at Heaven’s Arena is about to begin. Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio plan on watching the matches along with the other Hunters and VIPs in attendance. As they wait, a raid by The Shadow ends the festivities. Skilled fighters fall one by one to their terrifying ability called On, a dark power derived from malice. When their leader Jed captures Netero and declares death to all Hunters in the name of vengeance, Gon and Killua rush to defeat him.

“We are excited to partner with CineLife Entertainment for the first time to bring Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission to all corners of the nation,” says Brian Ige, Vice President, Animation. “Audiences can enjoy all the must-see action in theaters filled with fellow Hunter X Hunter fans this month!”

“We are thrilled to be able to offer the theatrical North American premiere of VIZ Media’s anime adventure Hunter X Hunter: The Last Mission to all fans and audiences,” says Mark Rupp, Managing Director, CineLife Entertainment.

The Hunter X Hunter anime series reboots the Hunter X Hunter manga created by Yoshihiro Togashi. The anime adventure was produced by the animation studio, MADHOUSE, and has been seen widely in North America on Adult Swim’s Toonami. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor of the Hunter X Hunter anime series and holds the broadcast rights, digital streaming rights, home video rights and merchandising rights to the series.

VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump to Replace “Jump Start” Initiative With More Serializations

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Anime News Network is reporting that VIZ Media will no longer run its “Jump Start” initiative for the new version of Shonen Jump, as the company will instead be picking up more series as regular serializations.

For its “Jump Start” initiative, VIZ’s English digital edition of Shonen Jump published only the first three chapters of a new manga from Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump simultaneously with the Japanese release. Sometimes popular manga that ran under this initiative would join the magazine’s regular lineup.

VIZ replaced its digital magazine with a Shonen Jump service, which offers new chapters for free and catalog chapters at a US$2/month subscription rate, on December 17, 2018. Several manga that previously ran as Jump Starts were upgraded to full serializations at that time.

Source: ANN

VIZ Media Announces the Home Media Release of Pokemon: Battle Frontier Complete Collection

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media announces the release of Pokemon: Battle Frontier Complete Collection on January 8, 2019.

Under license from The Pokemon Company International, the ninth season of the beloved adventure series features 47 episodes and will be released exclusively on DVD with an MSRP of $54.97 U.S. / $63.99 CAN. Episodes contained in the six-disc collection are presented with English-dubbed as well as English SDH-subtitled dialogue options.

In the complete collection of Pokemon: Battle Frontier, the territory might be familiar, but even Ash and Brock can find more than a few surprises in their home region of Kanto, like a Pokemon Ranger hot on the cases of two Legendary Pokemon. May’s back on the Contest path, blazing a trail to the Kanto Grand Festival, while Ash seeks out the hidden facilities of the Battle Frontier. If finding them wasn’t hard enough, he’s still got battles with the Frontier Brains to deal with—much tougher than any Gym Leader he’s ever faced.

Pokemon is one of the most successful international entertainment franchises of all time. More than 290 million Pokemon video games and over 23.6 billion Pokemon Trading Cards have been sold in more than 74 countries in addition to substantial publishing and merchandise sales. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor for a wide variety of Pokemon home media releases including animated series and films and also publishes a variety of Pokemon manga graphic novel series including Pokemon Adventures, Pokemon Adventures: FireRed & LeafGreen, Pokemon Adventures: Emerald, Pokemon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl/Platinum, Pokemon Adventures: HeartGold & SoulSilver, Pokemon Adventures: Black & White, Pokemon X•Y, and Pokemon Omega Ruby • Alpha Sapphire.

VIZ Media Makes Top Shonen Jump Manga Chapters Available for Free and Simultaneous With Japanese Debut

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media proudly announces a major new development for the company’s flagship imprint, SHONEN JUMP, and the world’s most popular digital manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump.

Beginning December 17, 2018, the current Weekly Shonen Jump magazine lineup of 13 series will be available to readers for free, including Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, My Hero Academia, One Piece, and more. Additional series join the simultaneous lineup, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Act-Age, Haikyu!!, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Combined with the current lineup, there will be a total of 25 free series, with all-new chapters published in English simultaneously with Japan. Fans can dive into the three latest chapters for hit series such as Dragon Ball Super, The Promised Neverland, Dr. Stone and more, with new series coming soon. For the upcoming simultaneous chapter release schedule, please visit https://viz.com/shonen-jump-chapter-schedule.

As a part of this evolution, Weekly Shonen Jump published its final digital magazine issue on December 10, 2018 and launched the SHONEN JUMP digital vault membership on December 17, 2018. This new SHONEN JUMP membership ($1.99 per month) grants readers seamless access to a substantial and continually updated digital vault that currently features more than 10,000 manga chapters from nearly 100 series – almost every ongoing and completed series SHONEN JUMP has published in English.

“We are extremely excited and proud to announce this bold evolution for SHONEN JUMP,” says Hisashi Sasaki, Global Vice President, SHONEN JUMP. “Fans want to catch their favorite stories the same day they debut in Japan for free, and accessing back chapters of popular SHONEN JUMP series has been one of the most requested features from our online readers. Our new model will make SHONEN JUMP the premiere showcase for manga content.”

Current Weekly Shonen Jump subscribers have been converted to the new membership and can now catch up with the latest series at any point, revisit classic favorites like Naruto, Bleach, Death Note and Nisekoi, as well as explore additional new titles that will be added on a regular basis.

A 7-day free trial membership is currently available at viz.com/sj-offer.

Fans can access the free digital chapters and unlock the SHONEN JUMP digital vault at shonenjump.com or with the SHONEN JUMP app for iPhone, iPad and Android-based devices. Current app users should download the latest version of the SJ app.

For more information on Shonen Jump, please visit viz.com/company-faq#sj.