viz comic . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . december 2008 this article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with wikipedia s quality standards . you can help . the discussion page may contain suggestions . february 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message coordinates 37 46 35 n 122 25 01 w 37.776508 n 122.41706 w 37.776508 ; 122.41706 viz media llc founded july 1986 ; 30 years ago 1986 07 founder seiji horibuchi headquarters location san francisco california u.s. distribution north america south america united kingdom ireland south africa india philippines key people ken sasaki president & ceo hidemi fukuhara vice president owner s shueisha shogakukan shopro 1 official website www.viz.com viz media llc is a japanese american manga anime and entertainment company headquartered in san francisco california . it was founded in 1986 as viz llc . in 2005 viz llc and shopro entertainment merged to form the current viz media llc which is jointly owned by japanese publishers shueisha shogakukan and shogakukan shueisha productions shopro . 1 contents 1 early history 1.1 shueisha co ownership and mergers 2000 to present 2 manga ratings 3 reception 3.1 publication style 4 divisions 4.1 viz productions 4.2 new people 4.2.1 entertainment complex 4.3 neon alley 4.4 publications 4.4.1 animerica 4.4.2 game on usa 4.4.3 manga vizion 4.4.4 pulp 4.4.5 shonen jump 4.4.6 shojo beat 4.4.7 haikasoru 4.5 business partnerships 5 titles 5.1 manga 5.1.1 currently licensed 5.1.2 formerly licensed 5.2 anime 5.2.1 currently licensed 5.2.2 formerly licensed 5.3 live action films 5.3.1 previously distributed 6 web site 7 see also 8 references 9 external links early history edit seiji horibuchi originally from tokushima prefecture in shikoku moved to california in 1975 . after living in the mountains for almost two years he moved to san francisco where he started a business exporting american cultural items to japan and became a writer of cultural information . he also became interested in publishing japanese manga in the united states though he himself was not a fan of japanese comics until a visit to japan in 1985 exposed him to katsuhiro otomo s single volume title domu a child s dream . his idea came to fruition after he met masahiro ohga then managing director of shogakukan in 1985 and shared his vision . shogakukan provided horibuchi with 200 000 in startup capital which horibuichi used in 1986 to found viz communications . 2 the exterior of viz media s former headquarters in san francisco california . viz communications released its first titles in 1987 which included legend of kamui however sales were mediocre due to the specialist comic market being adverse to venturing into new territory . to counteract this problem viz expanded into the general publishing business and began publishing various art related books in 1992 . into these titles horibuchi began publishing manga calling them graphic novels so they would be carried by mainstream bookstores . the plan worked and after several years leading booksellers began to have dedicated shelves for manga titles . sales also picked up when viz communications acquired the license for the comedy series ranma which became an instant hit . 2 the company continued to see success when it expanded into the anime distribution market began publishing shonen jump an english adaptation of the popular japanese magazine weekly sh nen jump . it also acquired another huge selling title inuyasha . in the late 1990s viz began making the push to move into the european and south american markets . 2 shueisha co ownership and mergers 2000 to present edit when shueisha became a joint owner of viz media in 2002 3 both shogakukan and shueisha began to release manga exclusively through viz . shueisha s deal with viz may have been prompted by competition with raijin comics a rival manga publisher created in 2002 by editors and artists who had split off from shueisha taking their properties with them . 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 . shueisha also permitted seven seas entertainment to license hayate x blade and permitted tokyopop to license kodocha marmalade boy and digimon next . shogakukan permitted the now defunct comicsone to license wounded man the white haired demon permitted dark horse comics to license crying freeman even though it was previously licensed by viz and recently new lone wolf and cub however this is because dark horse has the original series and the legend of zelda skyward sword and permitted hachette book group s subsidiary yen press to license azumanga daioh my teen romantic comedy snafu and cirque du freak however for cirque du freak this is because their sister company publishes the original novels . for azumanga daioh yen press s license of the manga was a month before shogakukan reprinted the manga in may 2009 resulting in a change of license holders from ascii media works when yen press announced the license to shogakukan when yen press released it . the yen press edition is a newly translated and lettered version of adv manga s edition taken from ascii media works as opposed to the 3 volume edition by shogakukan . yen press has expressed interest in releasing the 3 volume edition although editor kurt hassler said he is not sure this will be possible . possibly because of the fact that shogakukan owns viz and that they almost exclusively license their titles to them . . 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 . 4 in 2004 viz communications was merged with shopro entertainment funding company shogakukan s american distribution division . horibuchi became the new company s chairman . citation needed in 2005 horibuchi started a related division viz pictures for releasing selected live action films in the us to theaters and dvd . 5 on december 17 2008 viz media announced that starting on april 1 2009 warner home video would be handling the distribution of both its new and existing catalog releases . viz itself is still the licensor and will do all production while tapping the distribution powerhouse that distributes the works of other major companies such as bbc national geographic channel and cartoon network . viz president and ceo hidemi fukuhara stated that he believes the partnership will help the company grow its anime holdings more effectively . 6 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 . 7 on may 11 2010 viz media again laid off a number of workers 60 this time again in order to try to become more streamlined . 8 this time they released a press release claiming that none of their current product lines would be affected . 9 in april 2012 it was announced that the senior vice president and general manager of viz media ken sasaki would be succeeding executive producer hidemi fukuhara as president and ceo ; fukuhara will subsequently take up the position of vice president at the end of the month . 10 manga ratings edit in contrast to similar tv and film ratings viz also has set up certain manga ratings for their products based on their content . 11 a all ages suitable for readers of all ages . such titles may contain little or no objectionable content . some however may contain mild language and fantasy violence but no swearing or nudity . t teen 13 years or older . may be suitable for early teens and older . such titles may contain violence blood use of strong language suggestive themes or situations crude humor alcohol and tobacco use which some people may find inappropriate . t older teen 16 years or older . may be suitable for older teens and adults . such titles may contain intense violence sexual content nudity frequent strong language alcohol tobacco and or other substance use . m mature readers suitable for 18 years or older . such titles may contain much more extreme violence mature themes and graphic depictions . despite its name viz manga ratings were also used on licensed anime titles . though in the later 2000s they instead relied on local countries rating systems . reception edit viz media was awarded the manga publisher of the year gem award by diamond comic distributors in 2007 . viz keeps on publishing many titles some of the most popular including 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 . 12 publication style edit by 2002 viz communications kept some publications in the original right to left format while in other publications it mirrored pages from japan s right to left reading format to fit the western left to right reading style . 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 . akira toriyama creator of dragon ball requested that his work which was separated by viz into dragon ball and dragon ball z be published in the original right to left format . vagabond was printed in right to left to preserve historical accuracy . middaugh said that younger readers of dragon ball adapted to the right to left format more easily than their parents . 13 viz has censored some of its titles . some titles such as dragon ball were published in both censored and uncensored forms . 14 divisions edit viz productions edit based in los angeles viz productions coordinates the licenses of japanese material manga books and film to american film companies . their goal is to involve the japanese creators in the production and facilitate communication between all parties in the us and japan . viz productions first film is the live action adaptation of all you need is kill edge of tomorrow starring tom cruise . 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 . winning multiple awards for the board including masashi kishimoto . others include full moon and last quarter . new people edit in november 2005 15 new people was officially formed as a sister company for releasing live action japanese films as theatrical releases in selected markets called viz pictures . according