VIZ Media is an anime and manga distribution company, co-owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan, its licensing division Shogakukan Productions (ShoPro for short) and Shueisha. Founded in 1986 by writer Seiji Horibuchi, VIZ Media is the oldest American anime distribution companies. It is a primary distributor of many popular shonen-oriented manga series (such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach and Death Note), which have also been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump manga anthology.
An American version of the magazine, referred to by fans as "Shonen Jump USA", was published monthly between 2003-2012 before it was replaced by a weekly digital version. From 2005-09, VIZ Media also published Shojo Beat, a monthly shojo manga anthology. The folks at VIZ also managed to achieve linguistic immortality by coining the term "glomp" for use as a sound effect in their translations of Ranma ½ and Urusei Yatsura.
VIZ Media also distributes Anime on DVD and Blu-Ray as well, with Warner Home Video (and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment beginning in 2021
) backing them up in North America. In 2009, they launched VizAnime.com, a Hulu-supported website for streaming anime from Viz's catalog. In 2012, VIZ launched Neon Alley, their very own 24/7 linear anime channel for game consoles and PCs. Neon Alley would eventually merge with VizAnime.com in 2014, after VIZ consolidated all its streaming anime under the "Neon Alley" brand.
In 2019, VIZ Media announced the VIZ Originals imprint, to help shed more light on the non-Japanese manga market. The imprint focuses on Animesque works by non-Japanese creators, much like Radiant, giving creators of the genre a better platform outside of Japan.
Not, repeat not, to be confused with British humour anthology comic Viz.
Shonen Jump (and Shonen Jump Advanced) titles:
- Assassination Classroom (manga)
- Astra Lost in Space (manga)
- Bakuman。 (manga and anime; rescued from Media Blasters)
- Bastard!! (Pre-Shonen Jump, cancelled after Volume 19)
- Baoh (Pre-Shonen Jump)
- Black Cat (manga)
- Black Clover (manga)
- Bleach
- Blue Exorcist (manga)
- Bobobo Bo Bobo Bo (manga)
- Bone Collection (manga)
- Buso Renkin
- Claymore (manga)
- Cowa!
- Cross Manage
- Death Note
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (manga)
- D.Gray-Man (manga)
- Doctor Slump (manga)
- Dr. Stone (manga)
- Dragon Ball (manga) (Separated into two halves. Volume 1-16 is Dragon Ball, 17-42 is Dragon Ball Z)
- Dragon Ball Super (manga)
- elDLIVE
- Eyeshield 21 (anime and manga; anime re-licensed by Sentai Filmworks)
- Fist of the North Star (Stopped after volume 4, pre-Shonen Jump)
- Food Wars! (manga)
- Genkaku Picasso
- Gintama (manga) (Stopped after volume 23)
- Haikyuu!! (manga)
- High School Exciting Story: Tough (First series, stopped after 6 volumes)
- Hikaru no Go
- Hunter × Hunter (manga and both anime series)
- I"s
- Jaco the Galactic Patrolman
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (manga and anime series, Phantom Blood to Golden Wind (Vento Aureo in the manga))
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (manga)
- Karakuridouji Ultimo
- Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (manga)
- Kinnikuman Nisei (manga, as Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy)
- Kurohime
- Kuroko no Basuke (manga)
- Legendz
- Letter Bee (manga)
- Mission: Yozakura Family (manga)
- Muhyo and Roji
- My Hero Academia (manga)
- Naruto
- Nisekoi (manga)
- Nora
- Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
- One Piece (manga)
- One-Punch Man
- Platinum End
- Pretty Face
- The Prince of Tennis
- The Promised Neverland
- Psyren
- Robot × Laserbeam
- Rosario + Vampire (manga)
- Rurouni Kenshin
- RWBY: The Official Manga (manga)
- Saint Seiya (manga, as Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya)
- Sand Land
- Seraph of the End (manga)
- Shaman King (manga, expired)
- Slam Dunk (manga, formerly licensed by Gutsoon)
- Soul Hunter
- Space Adventure Cobra (Pre-Shonen Jump, cancelled after 12 issues)
- Spriggan (Discontinued with 3 volumes as of 2018. Not all chapters published when it was initially published)
- Strawberry 100%
- Takamagahara
- Tokyo Shinobi Squad (manga)
- Toriko (manga)
- Twin Star Exorcists (manga)
- Video Girl Ai (manga and anime, not published under the Shonen Jump label)
- We Never Learn (manga)
- Whistle!
- World Trigger (manga)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga) (Separated into three parts. Volumes 1-7 is Yu-Gi-Oh, 8-31 is Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist, and 32-38 is Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium World.)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (manga)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! R (manga)
- Yu Yu Hakusho (manga)
- Zipman!! (manga)
Shojo/Shojo Beat titles:
- Absolute Boyfriend
- Aishiteruze Baby
- Alice 19th
- Ao Haru Ride
- Baby and Me
- Banana Fish (manga)
- Barajou no Kiss (as Kiss of the Rose Princess)
- Basara
- B.O.D.Y.
- Beauty is the Beast
- Beauty Pop
- Black Bird
- Bokura ga Ita (as We Were There)
- Boys over Flowers (anime and manga; anime currently licensed by Discotek Media)
- Butterflies, Flowers
- Ceres, Celestial Legend (anime and manga; anime currently licensed by Discotek Media)
- Count Cain (as Godchild)
- Crimson Hero
- Doubt!!
- Full Moon (anime and manga)
- From Far Away
- Fushigi Yuugi (manga)
- Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden
- Hana-Kimi
- Happy Happy Clover
- Happy Marriage?!
- Honey and Clover (anime and manga; anime currently licensed by Discotek Media)
- High School Debut
- Imadoki!
- ION
- Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (as Phantom Thief Jeanne)
- Kamisama Kiss
- Kaze Hikaru
- Kimi ni Todoke (manga)
- La Corda D Oro
- Library War
- Lovely Complex
- Maid-Sama! (manga)
- Meru Puri
- Mistress Fortune
- Nana
- Natsume's Book of Friends (manga)
- Ore-sama Teacher
- Otomen
- Ouran High School Host Club (manga)
- QQ Sweeper and its sequel, Queen's Quality
- Red River
- Sand Chronicles (Sunadokei)
- Shinshi Doumei Cross
- Skip Beat! (manga)
- Snow White with the Red Hair (manga)
- St. Dragon Girl
- Stepping on Roses (Hadashi de Bara wo Fume)
- Strobe Edge
- Tail of the Moon
- Time Stranger Kyoko
- Ultra Maniac (anime is now licensed by Discotek Media)
- Vampire Knight (anime and manga)
- Wedding Peach (manga)
- Yona of the Dawn (manga)
Shonen Sunday titles:
- Arata: The Legend
- Cross Game
- Detective Conan (manga; as Case Closed)
- Flame of Recca (manga and anime; anime now licensed by Discotek Media)
- Hayate the Combat Butler (manga)
- Hyde and Closer
- Inuyasha
- Itsuwaribito
- Kekkaishi
- Komi Can't Communicate
- Kurozakuro
- Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (manga)
- One Pound Gospel (anime and manga)
- Maoh: Juvenile Remix
- Ranma ½
- Rinne (manga)
- Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle
- Yakitate!! Japan (manga)
Other anime and manga released by Viz Media include:
- 20th Century Boys
- Accel World (anime)
- All You Need is Kill (both the novel and the manga adaptation; Viz was also a co-producer of film adaptation Edge of Tomorrow)
- Area 88 (manga); along with Mai The Psychic Girl and The Legend of Kamui, the first manga from Viz stateside.
- Bastard!! (manga)
- Battle Angel Alita (The original manga series and parts of Last Order; license revoked and handed to Kodansha Comics USA)
- Berserk: The Golden Age Arc
- The Big O (manga)
- Bio Boosted Armor Guyver (mostly as a tie-in to the live-action movies back in the 90s; the source of "Reichmann Gyro" as an alternate name for Richard Guyot)
- Black Lagoon (manga)
- Blood Lad (anime)
- Blue Dragon (anime)
- Bokurano (manga, released online as Bokurano: Ours)
- Captain Tsubasa (the 2018 anime)
- Cheeky Angel (manga)
- ChocoMimi
- Coppelion (anime)
- Corrector Yui (license expired)
- Crying Freeman (manga; re-released by Dark Horse Comics)
- Deadman Wonderland (manga; originally owned by Tokyopop)
- Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction
- Deko Boko Friends
- Descendants of Darkness (manga)
- Detroit Metal City (manga)
- Dogs: Bullets & Carnage
- Doraemon (merchandise rights only)
- The Drifting Classroom
- Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-American President
- El-Hazard: The Magnificent World (manga)
- Excel Saga (manga)
- Fatal Fury (The Movie and the OVAs; now licensed by Discotek Media)
- Flame of Recca (manga)
- Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)
- Galaxy Express 999 (movies only, license expired; now distributed by Discotek Media) Gangsta. (manga)
- Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
- Girls Bravo (manga)
- Golden Kamuy (manga)
- Goodnight Punpun
- Golgo 13 (manga)
- Grey (manga and the Digital Target OVA)
- Hamtaro (anime and books; license expired)
- Here is Greenwood (manga)
- Homestuck
- House of Five Leaves
- Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
- Infini-T Force (anime; manga currently owned by Udon Entertainment)
- Jormungand
- Juuni Taisen (light novel and manga; anime rights belong to Funimation)
- K (both seasons)
- K: Missing Kings (Movie)
- Karin (a.k.a. Chibi Vampire) (manga; license formerly held by Tokyo Pop)
- Key the Metal Idol
- Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne
- The Law of Ueki
- The Legend of Zelda (manga)
- Loveless (manga; license formerly held by Tokyo Pop)
- Lucky Star (manga; license formerly held by Bandai Entertainment)
- MÄR
- Maison Ikkoku
- Mai, the Psychic Girl
- March Story
- Master Keaton
- Mazinger Z: Infinity
- Megalo Box
- MegaMan NT Warrior
- Mermaid Saga (Mermaid's Scar OVA only)
- Mirumo De Pon (anime)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
- Monster
- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (anime; license formerly held by Media Blasters)
- The Mr. Men Show (graphic novels)
- My Love Story!! (manga)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga)
- Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge (license expired; now distributed by Discotek Media)
- Ogre Slayer (Onikirimaru)
- Oishinbo
- Ooku: The Inner Chambers
- Osomatsu-san (as Mr. Osomatsu)
- Plant Dolls
- Please Save My Earth
- Pokémon (licensed by Pokémon USA)
- Ratman (licensed formerly held by TokyoPop)
- Read or Die and Read or Dream (manga)
- Real
- Record of Grancrest War (manga)
- Revolutionary Girl Utena (manga)
- Adolescence of Utena (manga)
- Ristorante Paradiso
- Rumiko Takahashi Anthology
- Sailor Moon (all five anime seasons, specials and movies; which were formerly held by DiC, ADV Films, and Geneon USA)
- Samurai Girl Real Bout High School (manga, licensed formerly held by TokyoPop)
- Sanctuary (manga, anime OVA, live-action film)
- Seis Manos ("anime," also the first original animated property from the company)
- Sgt. Frog (manga, license formerly held by TokyoPop)
- Shakugan no Shana (manga, light novels)
- Silent Möbius (manga)
- Splatoon
- Super Mario Adventures (2016 reprint)
- Sweet Blue Flowers (manga)
- Switch
- Tekkonkinkreet (manga)
- Tenchi Muyo! (manga)
- Tenjho Tenge (manga; license formerly held by CMX)
- TerraforMARS
- They Were Eleven
- Tiger & Bunny
- Tokyo Ghoul (manga)
- Trinity Blood (manga; license formerly held by TokyoPop)
- Ultraman
- Urusei Yatsura (manga)
- Uzumaki
- Vagabond
- Vocaloid merchandise
- The World Next Door (prequel comic)
- X1999 (manga)
Tropes:
- Ascended Meme:
- One "holiday gift guide" video made in 2017 acknowledged the "Boruto's dad" meme started by Crunchyroll.
- When JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders started airing on Toonami, VIZ made a promotional video with Patrick Seitz, DIO's voice actor, referencing popular DIO memes like "THE WORLD" and ROAD ROLLER DA.
- One "holiday gift guide" video
- Comic-Book Adaptation: VIZ owns the rights to several officially licensed Nintendo adaptations, such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and Splatoon.
- Production Posse: They used The Ocean Group in Vancouver a lot back in the day. Nowadays, most of their dubs are recorded in Los Angeles at Studiopolis (and sometimes Bang Zoom! Entertainment and/or NYAV Post) with the exception of the 2018 remake of Captain Tsubasa which was recorded in Miami at NM Miami Studio and The Kitchen Inc.
- No Export for You:
- At least with regard to streaming anime, anyway. For nearly a decade, Viz Media was the only major anime distributor in North America that did not provide any on-demand streams of its anime offerings to Canada, preferring to do business with the US-exclusive Hulu. Canadians can find a handful of their shows on Netflix, but often in an incomplete state. Not until Tubi TV began streaming several Viz titles—albeit to date not all of them—had the company attempted a proper work-around for Canadians, leaving them to just Keep Circulating the Tapes of Viz's titles for that near-decade.
- For some reason, some of the movies they've dubbed and released haven't gotten Blu-Ray releases in the US, even though they have the HD masters to put on digital services and it's been years since the Japanese ones were released. The main ones being the three Naruto movies and the first two Bleach movies. They finally released the first Shippuden movie on Blu-Ray in October 2017, so maybe they'll release the others.
- Spiritual Successor: In terms of being one of the larger distributors in California, to either Geneon or Bandai Entertainment.
