I decided to start off my Anime Boston weekend with the Viz Media Industry panel. Most fans will be familiar with Viz, as they’ve been distributing some of the most popular anime and manga content across the globe for the past 30 years. Being a fan of a lot of the content Viz has distributed, I was super excited for this panel and I’m happy to report they didn’t disappoint.
Leading today’s panel was Charlene Ingram, Director of Animation Marketing for Viz Media. Charlene didn’t waste any time and got right into all the fantastic free content Viz is serving up for their fans. By visiting Viz.com, fans can enjoy thousands of hours of free anime and manga, with new chapters being released every week. You can also find yourself featured in Viz.com’s fanzone by sharing your fan art and cosplay on social media with the hashtag #vizmedia.
There’s some great content coming out right around the corner in April. Check it out!
Homestuck
One of the greatest webcomics of all time is being collected and released on April 13th. It will be published in a beautiful hardcover edition, with lots of extra treats including additional commentary from creator Andrew Hussie.
“A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that he’s about to embark on an adventure involving birthday cakes, magic chests, hammers, arms (detachable and otherwise), harlequins, imps, eccentric architecture, movable home furnishings, bunnies, and a video game that will destroy the world.”
Dead Dead Demons
College, social media and aliens — so, just another regular college student then. With story and art by Inio Asano, Dead Dead Demons releases April 17th.
“The Japan Self-Defense Forces are still looking for a way to combat the alien threat, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional.
Meanwhile, Kadode Koyama and her best friend avidly track the aliens’ movements on social media and less enthusiastically study for college entrance exams. When the end of the world looms overhead, you learn to take things one step at a time.”
Kenka Banco Otome
A battle royal action romance with a whole lot of sex. If you like romance stories with a lot of spunk, this is for you. Coming out this Tuesday April 3rd.
“Hinako thought she didn’t have any family, but on the day she starts high school, her twin brother Hikaru suddenly appears and tricks her into taking his place. But the new school Hinako attends in his stead is beyond unusual. Now she must fight her way to the top of Shishiku Academy, an all-boys school of delinquents!”
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
If you’re looking to pick up some digital content, don’t worry, Viz has you covered. By subscribing to their digital magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, you’ll get your new manga every monday, including the incredibly popular My Hero Academia, which is currently being featured in Viz’s Speed Up! program. Speed Up! is putting out the manga fans love faster than ever, with volumes 12 & 13 of My Hero Academia coming out soon. There’s also a new spin-off series coming out in graphic novel format this summer, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Naruto and Boruto fans will be pleased to know (thanks to Charlene) that Boruto: Naruto Next Generations will have new episodes available every week on Viz.com. There’s also a pile of Boruto and Naruto manga available now with Naruto Shippuden set #34 coming out right around Father’s day.
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Sailor Moon SuperS, Season 4, Part 1 is coming April 24 on DVD and Blu-ray with never before seen content, such as Japanese episodes that were never released in North America. Charlene mildly freaked out due to sheer excitement during this announcement, as she’s a huge Sailor Moon fan. She excitedly shared that this set also includes the only appearance ever of Sailor Neptune and you’ll get to see her fight a weird evil baby clown dummy. I watched a clip of it, rest assured it’s really weird.
Charlene had one more clip to share with us before the panel ended and man it was cool. Acquired in October of 2017 by VIZ Media is the celebrated anime film Blame!. Based on the original manga story comes a dystopian world where humanity is hunted by machines and oppressed by their technological overlords. The artwork is gorgeous and the story intrigued me — I’ll definitely be checking this out once it’s released.
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