New York Comic-Con 2012

Viz Media Panel

Marketing Director Candice Uyloan, Publishing Marketing Manager David Eicke, and Senior Marketing Manager Eric Eberhardt hosted the standing-room only Viz Media panel on Sunday afternoon. 

Uyloan started off the panel by streaming a trailer for Namco Bandai's Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 game. The video revealed that the game will come with a day one bonus: a Goku outfit for Naruto. The game is available now for pre-order, and will ship in March. 

Uyloan then discussed Toshin, Viz Media's merchandise line. The website for the line opened today on cafepress.com. The website currently features Naruto and Bleach merchandise, and it will add Death Note merchandise later. 

Next Uyloan talked about Neon Alley, which is a 24-hour streaming network on the PlayStation 3. The service streams English-dubbed uncut anime such as One Piece, Naruto, Tiger & Bunny, Zetman, Inuyasha: The Final Act, Blue Exorcist and more. The service costs US$6.99/month. Uyloan then showed a sizzle reel for the service.

Uyloan then talked about Viz's recently-announced simulcast for Studio GoHands' television anime K. The first episode is available now on vizanime.com and Hulu, and new episodes will stream on Thursdays. The series is set in a world where history has taken a slightly different course from the one we're familiar with. It follows the story of a young boy whose life is caught in a psychic war between seven kings for committing a crime he does not remember committing.

Uyloan then discussed new releases. Viz Media will release Bleach set 15 uncut in December for US$49.95. Naruto Shippuden set 12 uncut will also ship soon, and Uyloan showed an English trailer for that release. Set 13 will ship in January. The first set for Inuyasha: The Final Act will ship on November 20 for DVD and Blu-Ray Disc. Uyloan also showed an English-dubbed trailer for that series. The second set will ship in February.

Naruto Shippūden: The Will of Fire film will ship on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 23 for US$19.95. Viz also showed an English-dubbed trailer for that film.

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - The Egg of the King film will ship on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on November 27. Viz showed the recently-released English-narrated global trailer that features footage from all three films.

Bleach The Movie: Hell Verse will ship on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 4. The release will feature production art, illustrations and trailers.

Uyloan then noted that this year will mark the 10th anniversary of he Naruto anime franchise, and there have been more than 500 episodes in the series. Viz will be releasing special commemoration merchandise soon.

Eicke then took over to talk about Viz publishing. 

Loveless volume 9 is out now, and the first volume in Viz's 2-in-1 omnibus edition is also available now. Viz will release the first omnibus volume for the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga soon, and the 13th volume will ship in English on the same day it ships in Japan.

Viz then announced that it will be releasing 3-in-1 omnibus editions of Dragon Ball starting next year and D. Gray-Man startng in June 2013. Both will retail for US$14.99.

Viz's Haikasoru imprint will release Hideo Furukawa's Belka, Why Don't You Bark? in hardcover on October 16 for US$25.99. Also, the  10 Billion Days 100 Billion Nights novel will be rereleased in paperback soon. Eicke then said that the Street Fighter x Sanrio book will also ship soon, and it is accompanied by a sticker book. 

Viz then launched into its new licenses. First up was Monsuno, based on the show airing on Nicktoons.  Next up was Ugly Doll Comics by David Horvath and Sun Min Kim, which will premiere in July 2013. The series will have a total of four volumes with each volume containing 80 pages.

Next Eicke revealed that Viz will release Pepita: Takehiko Inoue Meets Antonio by Takehiko Inoue on April 16 for US$25.99. Viz will also release Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto in Spring/Summer 2013, and the company will release Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration by Nobuhiro Watsuki in Spring/Summer 2013 in print. The series is currently running in Shonen Jump Alpha.

Viz will also release Kohei Horikoshi's Barrage manga in print in March 2013. He series ran in its entirety in Shonen Jump Alpha. The digital volume is out now and was released the same day the series was released in print in Japan. Volume 2 will be released digitally on November 2.

Eicke then revealed that Viz will release Mizuki Sukikobara's Tiger & Bunny manga starting on April 9. Viz will also release the Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology manga by multiple artists in August 2013.

Viz Media is now releasing its titles digitally on the same day as their print release. Upcoming releases on vizmanga.com include new volumes of Dr. Slump, The Prince of Tennis, Honey and Clover, Hunter x Hunter, High School Debut, Sand Chronicles, and Natsume's Book of Friends.

Eberhardt then discussed Shonen Jump Alpha, which comes out weekly digitally. Viz's manga app is available on iOS and Android devices and on the Kindle Fire. Subscribers also get free Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and the newest one will be Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings.

Eberhardt also mentioned the Shonen Jump Alpha 2013 yearbook, which will contain the Bakuman one-shot spinoff Otter #11 and will have a preview for Akira Toriyama and Masakazu Katsura's Sachie-chan Good!!, and the rest of the latter series will eventually be available in Shonen Jump Alpha.

Eberhardt also confirmed that Viz will soon release chapters in Shonen Jump Alpha on the same day the chapters are published in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan.

The panelists then gave out prizes, such as the Street Fighter x Sanrio book, Bleach and Blue Exorcist posters, a Nana bag, and Neon Alley T-shirts.