VIZ Launches Shonen Jump Video Line

Date: 2005 October 20 22:58

Posted by Jeremy

VIZ announces plan to launch new video line featuring Shonen Jump titles.

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VIZ Media, LLC has announced a new expansion of both its anime home video line and its popular Shonen Jump brand. This December will see the launch of the new Shonen Jump Home Video Line, which will offer highly anticipated anime titles currently appearing in VIZ's monthly Shonen Jump monthly manga anthology and line of graphic novels.

VIZ has been one of the longest running distributors of anime to North American audiences ever since the anime craze began, putting out the Rumiko Takahashi classic Ranma 1/2 both in anime and manga form. In January, 2003, VIZ debuted the American version of the hit manga anthology Shonen Jump, which has since built up a monthly circulation of almost 200,000 and become the most successful and widely read magazine of its kind in North America. The line of Shonen Jump graphic novels are rated as top sellers, with over 2.7 million copies to date sold in North America, featuring such titles as Bleach, One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, all of which have either been serialized or previewed in the magazine. This success has encouraged VIZ to continue its momentum with the extension of some of the line's most popular titles into the home video and entertainment arenas.

Two titles have already been announced for release under the new Shonen Jump Home Video Line. The first will be Hikaru no Go, with the first volume, Descent of the Go Master, set to debut on December 27, 2005. The story of a young boy on a quest to become the best Go player in the world with help of the ghost of an ancient Go master, the title has been a hit both in Japan and in North America. The next title will be Naruto, the hit series about a young boy aiming to become a powerful ninja despite the odds against him, which is currently being aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block. The first volume, Enter Naruto, will debut on March 28, 2006. It isn't known at this time whether the episodes on the DVD will be the edition versions appearing on Cartoon Network or the uncut ones.

No other titles have yet been announced for release under the new home video line.