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Posts Tagged Viz Media

PR: Viz Media Announces Preview of Cross Game Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 8, 2010

VIZ MEDIA PREVIEWS THE RELEASE OF
BASEBALL MANGA SERIES
CROSS GAME
ONLINE AT SHONENSUNDAY.COM

Set Against The Backdrop Of The Sport Of Baseball, This New Manga Series Explores The Bonds Of Love
Between Friends, Siblings And Family

San Francisco, CA, APRIL 7, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will bring Mitsuru Adachi’s acclaimed manga series CROSS GAME to North American readers via special online previews beginning in May on VIZ Media’s Shonen Sunday website (ShonenSunday.com). CROSS GAME is rated ‘T’ for Teens and is due to release Fall 2010.

CROSS GAME is a moving drama that is heartfelt and true, yet in the brilliant hands of manga artist Mitsuru Adachi, delightfully flows with a light and amusing touch. The series centers around a boy named Ko, the family of four sisters who live down the street and the game of baseball. This poignant coming-of-age story will change your perception of what shonen manga can be.

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PR: Viz Media Announces Gentlemen’s Alliance Conclusion

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 6, 2010

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THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE† REACHES A DRAMATIC SERIES CLIMAX IN EXCITING FINAL VOLUME FROM VIZ MEDIA

VIZ Media will bring on the conclusion of Arina Tanemura’s acclaimed shojo drama THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE† with the release of Volume 11 today.

Haine goes to Shizumasa and Takanari’s grandfather, the head of the Togu family, to ask him to release the twins from their fate. But he tells her that she must pass the same trial the twins went through for determining the rightful Togu heir. Haine agrees, but little does she know that a former friend is now out for her life!

Published under the Shojo Beat imprint, THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE† (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) has helped to define the shojo genre of manga, selling more than 2.5 million copies in Japan. Creator Arina Tanemura’s beautiful flowing art and spunky female lead characters has brought her international adoration.

THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE† opens when, in return for a business loan of 50 million yen, the prestigious Kamiya family gives their daughter Haine away to the Otomiya family. Haine, now an Otomiya, is appointed to the student council of the exclusive Imperial Academy, a private school for the aristocracy. Even though Haine is of proper lineage to be on the council, she finds herself struggling to find her place among the many secrets of its elite members, especially those of the president, Shizumasa Togu, aka “the Emperor”, who holds her heart.

Arina Tanemura began her manga career in 1996 with several short stories published in the shojo manga magazine Ribon. But she started to gain fame in 1997 with her series I•O•N (published by VIZ Media, rated ‘T’ For Teens), a high school romance with a supernatural twist. From 1998 to 2000, Tanemura worked on the popular series Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, about a young girl who is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, followed by TIME STRANGER KYOKO in 2000–2001 and FULL MOON in 2002 (both also published by VIZ Media, rated ‘T’ for Teens). Both Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne and FULL MOON were adapted into popular TV series.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Viz Media

PR: Viz Media’s New Shojo Beat manga – Stepping on Roses

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, April 2, 2010

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A GORGEOUS TRANSFORMATION TO A LADY
IN NEW VIZ MEDIA MANGA SERIES STEPPING ON ROSES

Heartwarming Rags-To-Riches Story With An Unexpected Twist
From The Creator Of TAIL OF THE MOON

San Francisco, CA, April 2, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings the romantic fun of Rinko Ueda’s shojo manga series – STEPPING ON ROSES – to readers on April 6th. The new release, to be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Poor Sumi Kitamura… Her irresponsible older brother Eisuke keeps bringing home orphans for her to take care of – even though they can barely afford their own basic needs! Just when Sumi’s financial problems become dire, wealthy Soichiro Ashida enters her life with a bizarre but intriguing proposition: he’ll provide her with the money she so desperately needs if she agrees to marry him. But can Sumi fool high society into thinking she’s a proper lady? Moreover, is it worth giving up everything for this sham of a marriage?

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Viz Media

PR: VIZ Media’s upcoming release of Rosario+Vampire: SeasonII

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, March 18, 2010

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LIFE AND DEATH CONTINUE TO HANG IN THE BALANCE IN THE COMEDY AND ACTION MANGA SERIES
ROSARIO + VAMPIRE: SEASON II

New Sequel To Bestselling Manga Chronicles
Life At A Boarding School Filled With Monsters And The Undead

San Francisco, CA, MARCH 17, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, lets fans quench their desire for stories of the undead with the premiere of the sequel to Akihisa Ikeda’s smash hit manga series ROSARIO + VAMPIRE. ROSARIO + VAMPIRE: SEASON II will be published under the Shonen Jump Advanced imprint and hits stores nationwide on April 6th with a ‘T+’ for Older Teens rating and a MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

In this action filled series, average teenager Tsukune accidentally enrolled at a boarding school for monsters – no, not jocks or the popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches and other unnamable denizens from of his wildest nightmares! On the plus side, all of the girls have a major crush on him. But on the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns, because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire, Moka. Still, on the plus side, Moka only has glowing red eyes for Tsukune. But on the O-negative side, she also has a burning, unquenchable thirst for his blood!

“They’re sexy, they’re undead and unlike any student body you’ll find!” says Elizabeth Kawasaki, VIZ Media Senior Editorial Director. “The popularity of the vampire genre has exploded in the wake of films like Twilight and TV shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, but it’s also long been a favorite subject for manga. ROSARIO + VAMPIRE: SEASON II continues to find Tsukune’s life at Yokai Academy anything but normal. Readers will want to hold on tight to the page, and their souls, with this exciting new action comedy release from VIZ Media and Shonen Jump Advanced!”

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Viz Media

Review: The Magic Touch (Vol. 07)

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, March 17, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Izumi Tsubaki
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “Yosuke returns to his childhood home to search for clues to a vague but traumatic memory. But will the past be too much for him to relive? This volume also includes a special story about Tanaka and Sanae, members of the Sazanka Massage Club, and the tender moment of Chiaki and Yosuke’s first kiss!”

This volume of The Magic Touch works on the grounds that it finally backs off from following Chiaki for a while and instead gives Yosuke a volume nearly all to himself. Chiaki isn’t a real flaw to the story but it’s nice to have the plot step back from the often-silly aspect of her massage addiction and delve into territory a little darker, not to mention an area of Yosuke’s life that’s been long in the coming and reveals to readers the cause of his fear of being touched by women.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Shoujo Beat, Viz Media

PR: Finale of Urasawa’s mega popular manga series – PLUTO

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, March 16, 2010

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VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES
THE EXCITING FINALE TO
PLUTO: URASAWA × TEZUKA MANGA SERIES

VIZ Media will be releasing the much anticipated final volume (Volume 8) of NAOKI URASAWA’S manga masterpiece PLUTO: URASAWA × TEZUKA on April 6th

PLUTO: URASAWA × TEZUKA is a modern reinterpretation of the work by the master of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something is after the seven great robots of the world. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case – and he eventually discovers that he is one of the targets!

In the final volume Atom is back, and the fate of the earth is in his hands! Now that Atom has all the answers to the unsolved mysteries around Pluto, Bora and more, he’s prepared to put everything on the line. With the memory of his fallen brethren – Gesicht, Mont Blanc, North No. 2, Brando, Hercules and Epsilon – etched deeply into his heart, Atom is headed for one last battle to save the world!

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Viz Media, Viz Signature

Review: Skip Beat! (Vol. 20)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, March 15, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Yoshiki Nakamura
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “It’s the season of giving in Tokyo, but Lory’s granddaughter Maria is in no mood to celebrate. Kyoko, never one to sit out a challenge, finally gets Maria to admit what has her so soured on the holidays. It turns out December 24 is Maria’s birthday–and the anniversary of her mother’s death! Can Kyoko work a Christmas miracle and give this little girl a happy birthday?”

Does it seem to anyone else that Kyoko has lost most of what made her interesting originally? It’s easy not to notice when spread out over twenty progressing volumes, but a volume like this really hits it home when having recently reread the earlier books. Where’s the chaos? The bull-headed-ness? The unadulterated spite? Well, at least we have love, friendship and smiles trying to fill that void – for better or worse.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Shoujo Beat, Skip Beat, Viz Media

Review: Ooku – The Inner Chambers (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, March 13, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Fumi Yoshinaga
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2009

Synopsis: “In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country’s men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun’s Inner Chamber…”

Ooku begins with the first victim of a deadly plague to hit feudal Japan. This disease, spreading quickly over the entire country, affects only young men and swiftly sees the death of over seventy-five percent of the male population. Little time is spent dwelling on this progression period and the story fast forwards almost a century ahead. Here readers are introduced to a world where women have taken over roles originally held by men, including a country under rule by a female Shogun with a house of well-bred men at her service.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Fumi Yoshinaga, Manga, Viz Media

PR: Viz Media Releases Ristorante Paradise Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, March 11, 2010

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SAVOR A TASTY MANGA TREAT WITH NATSUME ONO’S
RISTORANTE PARADISO NEW FROM VIZ MEDIA

New VIZ Signature Release Comes From The Talented Creator of
HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES And not simple

San Francisco, CA, March 11, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the release on March 16th of the manga -Natsume Ono’s RISTORANTE PARADISO. The story, a romance among the staff at a bistro in Rome, is offered in a single volume and will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint. RISTORANTE PARADISO is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

At the age of 21, Nicoletta travels to Rome to find her mother, Olga, who abandoned her long ago. Nicoletta finds her at Casetta dell’Orso, a charming little restaurant owned by Olga’s husband. The staff of bespectacled gentlemen welcomes Nicoletta warmly, but Olga’s reception is not so pleasant. Olga has never told her husband that she had a child – and he must never know.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Viz Media

Review: Ristorante Paradiso

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, March 9, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Natsume Ono
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “At the age of 21, Nicoletta travels to Rome to find her mother, Olga, who abandoned her long ago. Nicoletta finds her at Casetta dell’Orso, a charming little restaurant owned by Olga’s husband. The staff of bespectacled gentlemen welcomes Nicoletta warmly, but Olga’s reception is not so pleasant. Olga has never told her husband that she ever had children–and he must never know.”

Seeking to reveal her existence to her Mother’s new husband, Nicoletta has travelled to Rome for an impromptu visit with her wayward parent. Soon finding her spiteful plans on hiatus, Nicoletta finds herself welcomed into the fold of the Casetta dell’Orso, a popular restaurant where older men serve as the eye-candy for their patrons.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Viz Media