VIZ Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series.

[2] Seiji Horibuchi, originally from Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku, Japan, moved to California, United States in 1975.

[3] VIZ Communications released its first titles in 1987, which included Legend of Kamui; however, sales were mediocre due to the specialist comic market being averse to venturing into new territory.

Into these titles, Horibuchi began publishing manga, calling them graphic novels so they would be carried by mainstream bookstores.

Sales also picked up when VIZ Communications acquired the license for the comedy series Ranma ½, which became an instant hit.

[citation needed] Some exceptions to this exclusivity exist, however: Shueisha permitted DC Comics's subsidiary CMX Manga to license Tenjho Tenge (although it was later re-licensed and re-released by Viz Media) and Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, permitted Dark Horse Comics to license Gantz, Lady Snowblood, Shadow Lady, The Monkey King, and recently Yasuhiro Nightow's Blood Blockade Battlefront and CLAMP's Gate 7.

In March 2010, Shogakukan began a partnership with Fantagraphics Books to issue a line of manga to be edited by Matt Thorn.

In 2003, possibly in response to Shogakukan and Shueisha's co-ownership of Viz, Japanese publisher Kodansha formed a co-venture with Del Rey.

[7] During the same year, Horibuchi started a related division, Viz Pictures, for releasing selected live-action films in the US to theaters and DVD.

Viz president and CEO Hidemi Fukuhara stated that he believes the partnership will help the company grow its anime holdings more effectively.

[citation needed] On February 20, 2009, Viz Media laid off an unknown number of employees in order to help be more streamlined to face the current economic climate.

[23] On July 5, 2024, Viz announced on their social media channels that they had acquired RWBY following the closure of its original parent company, Rooster Teeth—several months prior.

[citation needed] VIZ continues to publish many titles, some of the most popular including: Dragon Ball, One Piece, Detective Conan (as Case Closed), Bleach, Inuyasha, and Naruto which results a high success of the company as well as a large amount of the North American readers.

Viz also received an award for Manga Trade Paperback of the Year for its release of the fourteenth volume of the Naruto series.

During that year Dallas Middaugh, the senior marketing manager of Viz, stated that the left-to-right version of Neon Genesis Evangelion outsold the right-to-left version of Neon Genesis Evangelion on a three to one basis; Middaugh concluded that readers wanted "an easy reading experience."

VIZ Productions' first film is the live action adaptation of All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

Their second production was the American live-action adaptation to the supernatural thriller manga series: Death Note, which was directed by Adam Wingard and starred Nat Wolff, as the film's lead.

Viz also has many partnerships with various authors and celebrities, perhaps the most famous being the cosplay film that debuted in the 2013 Tokyo Anime Festival with Kirata Uchiha, played by JadexRoyal.

In 2004, it had a circulation of 45,000 readers, but low sales and high competition from Newtype USA resulted in the essential cancellation of the original magazine and its reformatting as a free digest.

Two video game-based manga series, Super Street Fighter II: Cammy by Masahiko Nakahira, and Samurai Shodown by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and Yuki Miyoshi, were serialized in the magazine.

A one shot story based on Battle Arena Toshinden, illustrated by the game's character designer Tsukasa Kotobuki was published in the magazine as well.

The premiere issue was dated March 1995 and featured three series: The Tragedy of P, Samurai Crusader: The Kumomaru Chronicles, and Ogre Slayer.

[38] Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture,[39] and Cartoon Network, Suncoast, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine.

[41][42] Viz launched related "Shojo Beat" imprints in its manga, light novel, and anime divisions to coordinate with the magazine's contents.

[47] In January 2009, Viz Media announced plans to launch a Japanese science fiction novel line called Haikasoru.

In 2010, the imprint release Project Itoh's novel Harmony, which later won a Special Citation Philip K. Dick Award.

[50] In March 2016, Viz Media announced that they are collaborating with United Talent Agency on their live action projects based on anime series.

[59] Despite the fact that Viz Media's licensed distribution territory includes Canada, the company has been criticized[60] for not providing online anime simulcasts to that country.