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Viz Media Licenses Pokémon Sun & Moon, Pokémon Battle Frontier, Castlevania Anime
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Viz Media announced at its Comic-Con International: San Diego panel on Thursday that it has licensed the Pokémon Sun & Moon and Pokémon - Battle Frontier anime, as well as the Castlevania animated series.
The Pokémon Sun & Moon television anime series premiered in Japan in 2016, and Disney XD is airing the series in the United States. The Pokémon - Battle Frontier television anime premiered in Japan from 2002 to 2006, and it aired on Cartoon Network in the United States.
In related news, Viz Media announced the digital release of the Pokémon Adventures manga volumes that it previously released in print. The company will begin releasing the series on its website, the Viz Manga app, and other digital outlets on July 24. The release is slated as follows:
- July 24: Pokémon Adventures Vols. 1-7: Red & Blue
- August: Pokémon Adventures Vols. 8-14: Gold & Silver
- September: Pokémon Adventures Vols. 15-22: Ruby & Sapphire
- October: Pokémon Adventures Vols. 23-25: FireRed & LeafGreen, Pokémon Adventures Vols. 26-29: Emerald
- November: Pokémon Adventures Diamond & Pearl/Platinum Vols. 1-11
- December: Pokémon Adventures HeartGold & SoulSilver Vols. 1-2, Pokémon Adventures Black & White Vols. 1-9, Pokémon Adventures Black 2 & White 2 Vols. 1-2
Additionally, Viz Media will begin releasing Pokémon movie adaptation manga digitally in January 2019.
Viz Media has acquired the home video rights for the first season of the Castlevania animated series, and it describes the series:
Inspired by the classic videogame series, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself. In Season 1, Trevor Belmont, embittered and excommunicated, finds himself drawn into a battle for the survival of Europe – a region that has brought doom upon itself by taking away the one thing its greatest monster loved.
The first four-episode season premiered worldwide on Netflix in July 2017. The second season is slated to premiere this year, and a third season is in the works.
Sources: Email correspondence, Viz Media's panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego (Thanks, Deb Aoki)
