Viz Media

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Once a power house in manga publishing, this company is now not even a shadow of its former self. Despite publishing some of the most popular manga in the world (Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Pokemon), the majority of it’s titles are poorly chosen (being licensed from Japan). Sadly due to poor business choices and alienating their fandom by not embracing online media, products are now suffering. The magazine Shonen Jump has not only gone down in pages, but the quality of the paper has lessened and it’s sister magazine Shojo Beat has closed completely. Prices of the magazines, manga and animé have all risen while quality decreases over all. Who knew we would ever see the day when Funimation became the leader in this industry.

Along with most (if not all) children in Japan, I grew up with the great works of Shogakukan and Shueisha — two major publishing companies that own VIZ Media. How I adored Black Jack and dreamt of owning a Doraemon… How we looked forward to getting our hands on the monthly Shonen Jump, Ribon, Margaret, Shonen Sunday, Shojo Comic, etc…
And I still continue to grow with them, thanks to VIZ.
Founded in 1986, VIZ Media has been the leading force of animé & manga licensing, translation and distribution throughout the US, Europe and other countries. They have introduced a variety of our all-​time favorite animé titles, including Dragon Ball, Ranma ½, Naruto, Inu Yasha, Yu-​Gi-​Oh…
More notably, they have successfully helped bring in the legendary works of HAYAO MIYAZAKI — Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle…
I LOVE THEM ALLLLLL.
Regretfully, the licensing and distribution business must not have been easy for VIZ, given the worldwide FANSUBBING activities that continue to help expand the animé market, but at the same time, violate existing licenses. There are many ways to download animé and manga online for FREE, but most do not directly benefit the creators.
With that in mind, I really want VIZ to do well… I have never met the staff in SF, but my friend frequents the office. According to him, they are an incredibly unique and fun group. VIZ, best of luck with the upcoming works. YOU HAVE MY FULL SUPPORT!

BernaDiva circa 1998: «You read comic books? Ew. I’m going to go hang out with alcoholic college athletes and air-​headed surfer boys and then go shopping at Banana Republic. Later, geek.»
BernaDiva circa 2008: «You read manga? Wow, you are SO. FREAKING. AWESOME. Yeah, my friend works at Viz and he gave me this big stack of… wait, you’ve read these already too? Ohmygod. I think I just had an nerd-​gasm. Let’s be Facebook friends!»
Viz Media: helping turn once-​too-​fucking-​cool people into total nerds, one Japanese graphic novel at a time.