Viz Media
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- This article deals with the American media company. For other uses, please see Viz (disambiguation).
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a major American anime, manga and Japanese entertainment company formed by the merger of VIZ, LLC, and ShoPro Entertainment. The company is commonly referred to as "Viz", the same name used in previous incarnations of VIZ LLC.
Viz also produces a manga and anime review magazine, Animerica; as well as an English language version of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump (shōnen manga) magazine, and a shōjo manga monthly called Shojo Beat.
It formerly published Animerica Extra, a monthly manga anthology (which was converted to shōjo partway through its run), and PULP magazine, an adult-oriented monthly manga anthology that featured story lines inappropriate for younger readers, though not pornography (see seinen, josei).
It is jointly-owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and licensing house Shogakukan Productions (ShoPro), a Shogakukan subsidiary.
Contents |
[edit] Magazines published by Viz
- Animerica (discontinued)
- Animerica Extra (discontinued)
- Manga Vizion (discontinued)
- PULP (discontinued)
- Shojo Beat
- Shonen Jump USA
[edit] Anime and manga distributed by Viz
- A Chinese Ghost Story (Chinese animation)
- Angel Sanctuary
- Basara
- Bastard!!
- BeyBlade
- Beet the Vandel Buster
- Black Cat (manga)
- Bleach
- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (along with Geneon Entertainment)
- Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango)
- Buso Renkin (manga)
- Case Closed
- Ceres, Celestial Legend
- Corrector Yui
- Count Cain
- Croket
- D. Gray-man (manga)
- Death Note [1]
- Deko Boko Friends
- Dr. Slump (manga)
- Dragonball (manga)
- Dragonball Z (manga)
- Dragon Drive
- Eyeshield 21 (manga)
- Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
- Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle (1993)
- Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
- Flame of Recca
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Full Moon o Sagashite
- Fushigi Yugi
- Galaxy Express 999 (along with Orion Pictures)
- Gintama
- Godchild
- Golgo 13
- Great Dangaioh
- Grey: Digital Target (along with Orion Pictures)
- Hamtaro
- Hana Kimi
- Hikaru no Go
- Hot Gimmick
- Hunter × Hunter
- InuYasha (along with Sony Pictures Entertainment)
- Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (manga)
- Kekkaishi
- Key the Metal Idol
- Law of Ueki
- Maison Ikkoku
- MÄR
- MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman EXE)
- MegaMan NT Warrior Axess (Rockman EXE Axess)
- MegaMan Star Force (Ryusei no Rockman)
- Mirmo! (Mirumo de Pon)
- Monkey Turn
- Nana
- Naoki Urasawa's Monster
- Naruto
- Night Warriors
- One Piece (along with 4Kids Entertainment)
- Ogre Slayer
- Ouran High School Host Club
- Please Save My Earth
- Pokémon
- Prince of Tennis
- Project ARMS
- Ranma ½
- Reborn!
- Red River
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- R.O.D.
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Saikano
- S-CRY-ED
- Shaman King
- Short Program
- Sonic X (along with 4Kids Entertainment)
- Tail of the Moon
- Taro the Space Alien
- Trouble Chocolate
- The Drifting Classroom
- Video Girl Ai (along with Geneon)
- Whistle!
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World
- Yu Yu Hakusho (manga)
- Zatch Bell! (Konjiki no Gash Bell)
[edit] Criticism
Among the most common of criticism against Viz Media involves its policies of Western localization; readers familiar with original Japanese manuscripts have noticed severe liberalities with translations, as well as heavy art edits that are seen as detracting from a manga's quality.[1] Numerous manga have several translation inconsistencies due to a frequent rotation of translators, and changes such as "panel swaps" from Japan's "right to left" reading format are maintained because Viz affirms such a format allows its products to be more accessible.[2] Viz's staying popularity has not provided any incentive to change their policies[3][4], and little was done to appease reader complaints until TOKYOPOP emerged as a serious competitor between the years 2002–2004.[5]
Additional complaints focus around Viz's strict policy of censorship; popular titles like Dragonball and its second part, which was renamed as Dragonball Z to avoid confusion were subjected to a degree of various censored panels.[6] Much of this censorship occurred after the previously mentioned titles were published relatively unedited. Viz's argument was that the increased censorship (from a "T" for "teen" rating to an "A" for "all audiences") allowed it to distribute manga in more popular marketing venues (such as Wal-Mart) and to earn greater profits from the marketing of their titles.[7][8]
When Shueisha became a joint owner of Viz Media in 2002[9], both Shogakukan and Shueisha began to exclusively release manga through Viz. There are a few exceptions; Shueisha originally licensed its adult-oriented manga to an affiliate, Raijin Comics; after Raijin Comics' bankruptcy, Viz created the "Shonen Jump Advanced" and "Viz Signature" brands to differentiate properties oriented toward older readers. Recently, Shueisha permitted DC Comics subsidiary CMX Manga to license Tenjho Tenge and Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne. These restrictions are controversial because Shueisha/Shogakukan's competitors (such as Kodansha) have been forced to split their titles between other licensors such as TOKYOPOP, Dark Horse or Del Rey.[10]
Shueisha and Shogakukan's influence in Western markets puts pressure on other affiliated companies, like Hakusensha, to default to Viz Media (Viz holds all but four licensed titles from Hakusensha). This excessive control of the market is seen as a cause of Viz's unstable quality, typography, accuracy, and art cleanliness. However, with the rise of smaller companies, like CMX, Dark Horse, and specifically Del Rey (a partner of Kodansha)[11], this advantage has been permanently curbed; TOKYOPOP now must struggle to remain competitive in the licensing market, while Viz suffers from no such limitation.[12]
Recently, Viz Media has come under fire for their policies of "rotating" manga in their monthly magazine, Shojo Beat. Two titles, Kaze Hikaru and Count Cain were removed from Shojo Beat's monthly serial, on the claim that Viz "periodically switch[s] out stories to keep the magazine fresh" [13]. Readers of the magazine question Viz's integrity, as this move forces them to purchase the tankōbon for discontinued titles, which are released at approximately three month intervals.
[edit] Other media
In addition to the above, Viz has also published online magazines (the now-defunct J-pop.com)
[edit] References
- ^ Rosenfelder, Mark (July 1996). What the translators did to Ranma. Zompist. Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ What Manga Right to Left--Will It Fly?. ICv2 (March 8, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Pokemon is America's best-selling comic book. Anime News Network (June 24, 1999). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Manga Trade Paperback Sales Exploding. ICv2 (March 10, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Manga Trade Paperback Sales Exploding. ICv2 (March 10, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Viz Unleashes Uncensored Dragon Ball. ICv2 (March 11, 2001). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Viz and Shueisha To Launch Mass Market Boys Magazine in US. ICv2 (June 10, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Interview with Viz Management, Part I. ICv2 (August 13, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Shueisha Buys Equity Interest in Viz. ICv2 (August 2, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Random House Preps Manga Releases. ICv2 (June 23, 2004). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ ABOUT US. Del Rey. Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Interview with Tokyopop VP Mike Kiley. ICv2 (July 11, 2002). Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
- ^ Godchild Not Returning to Shojo Beat. ANN (August 19, 2006). Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
