New Action Series Is Based On Popular Xbox 360 Game And Features Character Designs By Manga Mastermind, Akira Toriyama

San Francisco, CA April 16, 2007 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies announced today that it has secured from a consortium including TV TOKYO Corporation and Shueisha Inc, the television, home video and non-video game merchandising rights for the Americas, Europe and Oceania to BLUE DRAGON, a new anime series based on the popular Microsoft Xbox 360 Role Playing Game.

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San Francisco, CA, April 10, 2007 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has selected Grupo Editorial VID S.A. de C.V. of Mexico (GEV) and Panini Brazil Ltda. (Panini Brazil) to release the Shonen Jump™ NARUTO™ manga from Shueisha Inc. in their respective countries in April and May 2007.

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DRAGON DRIVE, MILLENNIUM SNOW, SHAKUGAN NO SHANA, HOSHIN ENGI and YURARA offer unique stories for readers of all ages

San Francisco, CA, April 9, 2007 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the debut of five highly anticipated manga series for the second quarter of 2007. The new releases include DRAGON DRIVE, MILLENNIUM SNOW, SHAKUGAN NO SHANA, HOSHIN ENGI and YURARA.

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MangaCast has discovered two new manga from Viz Media, listed in the Simon & Schuster listings for 2008:

• Tekkon Kinkriito All in One by Matsumoto Taiyou
• High School Debut by Kawara Kazune

From Publishers Weekly's Kai-Ming Cha comes an interview with Alvin Lu, Vice President of Viz Media. The interview touches on Viz's current success, as well as its plans for the future.

MangaCast reports that two new shojo titles, Wild Ones by Fujihara Kiyo and Special A by Maki Minami, have appeared on Simon & Schuster's catalog under Viz Media, and is set for release in Q4 2007. Currently there has been no official announcement from Viz regarding the licenses.

Icarus Blog reports that Diamond has announced the result of the 2006 Gem Awards, where retailers cast their vote based on "quality, creativity and sales performance" in the market.

Viz Media was picked for "Video Manufacturer of the Year" and "Manga Trade Paperback of the Year for Naruto volume 9." Also, Dark Horse receives the "Special Recognition of Achievement in Publishing" award.

Source: Icarus Blog

Papo de Budega has conducted a small interview with Viz Media regarding the release status of its manga titles in Latin America. Contrary to what has been said on numerous Latin web forums, Viz currently has no plans to release Ichigo 100% and Megaman: Starforce in Latin America.

According to Viz Media's Senior Director Public Relations Evelyn Dubocq: "We are not planning to sell Megaman: Starforce or Ichigo100% [in Latin America]." According to Evelyn, the recent rumors are not official and have nothing to do with Viz Media.

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San Francisco, CA, March 21, 2007 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media LLC, the leading U.S. publisher of Japanese animation and comics that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, continues to expand its catalog of acclaimed titles set for special North American theatrical screenings with the release of PING PONG, the comedic sports film by director Fumihiko Sori.

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From Sporadic Sequential comes a brief interview with manga artist Usamaru Furuya (Short Cuts, Happiness). The interview originally came from volume one of Usamaru Furuya's Short Cuts manga. In the interview Furuya talks about his experience as a manga artist, and what it's like to work with an editor.