VIZ MEDIA OFFERS AN EMOTIONAL MIX OF THE REAL AND IMAGINARY IN THE DEBUT OF

TAIYO MATSUMOTO’S GOGO MONSTER

New Manga Release Blends Bold Art And A Clever Story Of A Young Boy Who Tries To Balance His Own Lonely World With a Fantastic Supernatural Realm Only He Can See

San Francisco, CA, November 10, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the upcoming release of Taiyo Matsumoto’s celebrated manga GOGO MONSTER on November 17^th. GOGO MONSTER will be published by the company’s VIZ Signature imprint, rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $27.99 U.S. / $36.00 CAN.

Third grader Yuki Tachibana lives in two worlds. In one world, he is a loner ridiculed by his classmates and reprimanded by his teachers for telling stories of supernatural beings that only he can see. In the other world, the supernatural beings vie for power with malevolent spirits who bring chaos into the school, the students' lives, and even nature itself.

“Taiyo Matsumoto’s clever stories and striking art have placed him among the best of a new generation of influential manga artists and we are privileged to present GOGO MONSTER to U.S. audiences,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President Sales & Marketing, VIZ Media. “This story continues to show Matsumoto’s fascination with youth as he seamlessly blends themes of alienation with the paranormal.  For anyone with an overactive imagination or has even just daydreamed during class, GOGO MONSTER offers an emotional tale that shows how what we see and imagine, whether real or imaginary, shapes our personality in profound ways.”

Taiyo Matsumoto made his manga debut in the Japanese magazine Comic Afternoon with the short story STRAIGHT. He went on to travel throughout France and became heavily influenced by the French comics he studied there including those created by pioneering European artists like Moebius and Enki Bilal. Matsumoto has become internationally acclaimed for stories that capture the essence of disaffected youth and adolescent alienation. His other notable works include BLUE SPRING, NO. 5 and TEKKONKINKREET: BLACK & WHITE, which are all published in North America by VIZ Media. TEKKONKINKREET won a prestigious Will Eisner Award in 2008 and was also adapted for an animated feature film. Another Matsumoto manga story, PING PONG, was turned into an award-winning live action film that is available from VIZ Pictures.

For more information on other VIZ Signature titles please visit www.VizSignature.com and www.Sigikki.com.

 Between September 1st and November 30th, 2009, the Japan National Tourism Organization will be sending one lucky person to Japan in 2010. All you have to do to enter is submit an essay up to 2010 characters long or submit a photo with a 201-character caption. Both should tell or show why you want to go to Japan. For more information, please visit http://www.japantravelinfo.com/2010/win.html.

In honor of Super J-Rock Band, GLAY performing in California, Anime 3000 will be giving away (2) tickets to see them in concert. In order to be eligible for this contest, you need to be a registered member of our website. Once you're registered, leave us a voice mail detailing why we should pick you as our contest winner. We will make our announcement on our site once we've picked our winner.  Call us and leave a voice mail: (954) 903-0811. Make sure you let us know why we should pick you as well as an email address where we can get more details if you're chosen.

San Francisco, CA, August 24, 2009– VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the North American debut of the new steampunk/action manga series TEGAMI BACHI: LETTER BEE on September 1^st. The series, rated ‘T’ for Teens, will be published under the company’s SHONEN JUMP imprint and will carry an MSRP of $7.99 U.S. / $9.50 CAN.

In a land of perpetual night, your heart is your light.

Amberground is locked in darkness. A man-made star casts only a dim light over the land. The pitch-black wilderness is infested with Gaichuu--colossal insects with metal exoskeletons. The Gaichuu make travel between the cities of Amberground extremely dangerous. But thankfully the Letter Bees, a brave corps of messengers, risk their lives in order to keep the hearts of Amberground connected.

Convention Coverage: San Diego Comic-Con 2009

The Day and the Life of a Comic-Con Volunteer

By: Jd Banks

The largest comic-related convention in the United States took place in San Diego, California, and I was one of thousands of attendees to enjoy the scheduled festivities.

The first day, I arrived at the San Diego Convention Center around noon. I normally picked 12 o’clock as my arrival time because it meant most convention-goers were somewhere in the city munching away at food. Less people meant shorter lines! I went to check in at the Volunteers booth, and ironically, they ran out of volunteer assignments. Still, they issued me a free badge into the convention.

Comic-Con requires volunteers to work a 3-hour shift in exchange for convention attendance. Every volunteer was required to register before the cap-off in late May, and upon reporting to the convention, assignments needed to be scheduled early. Every day, I jumped into a long line of waiting volunteers for the next day’s volunteer shifts around 1 PM. Other than collecting assignments and completing the 3-hour shifts, I was free to spend my day at the convention.

Convention Coverage: Anime Expo 2009

By: Joshua Valencia

Anime Expo is the largest anime fan convention in the country, and as such, it would be expected that there would be some sort of hype. When AX 09 came and went, I came away with the feeling of the convention being only slightly above average.

That said, this year’s Anime Expo was definitely an interesting one. The large amount of panels and Guests of Honor attributed to a more diverse selection of what fans can look forward to.

There were a few panels that I liked and a few panels that I didn’t really care for. To start off, the Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour was, by far, the best panel at Anime Expo. I didn’t know what to expect. Hell, my main reason for going was to support Anime Genesis, Anime Diet and Dancing Queen. Seeing the awesome opening video, the enthusiastic crowd screaming for prizes, and the great musical performance by Makenai was a highlight of my AX experience. The only thing that disappointed me was that there wasn’t enough of the Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour.

VIZ MEDIA PREVIEWS THREE EXCITING MANGA SERIES TO BE PUBLISHED UNDER THE NEW

SHONEN SUNDAY IMPRINT

AT THE 2009 COMIC-CON SHOW

New Manga Chapters From Each Series Will Be Previewed For Free On The Official SHONEN SUNDAY Website With Print Versions Scheduled To Be Published In 2010

San Francisco, CA, JULY 28, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, previewed three upcoming manga titles to be published under the company’s newest imprint – SHONEN SUNDAY – for a packed audience at its Anime & Manga panel discussion at the recent 2009 Comic-Con International show in San Diego, CA.

The new manga series will debut in 2010 and will include ARATA: THE LEGEND by renowned manga creator Yuu Watase, MAOH: JUVENILE REMIX based on the original story by Kotaro Isaka with story and art by Megumi Osuga, and HYDE & CLOSER by Haro Aso. Every month, the official SHONEN SUNDAY website at www.ShonenSunday.com will present a new chapter from each of the three new titles online for free, as well as post a new chapter from the ongoing action/fantasy adventure KEKKAISHI by Yellow Tanabe (rated ‘T’ for Teens; published domestically by VIZ Media).

San Francisco, CA, July 7, 2009– VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced today the availability of its popular shojo animated series NANA on the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com) in the US and the iTunes Store in Canada (www.itunes.ca). NANA will be exclusive to iTunes until August 31, 2009. Plus, every purchase of a NANA Season 1 pass will include a free, bonus episode download. Find out more at www.itunes.com/tv/nana.

The NANA anime is based on the popular manga by Ai Yazawa, which has sold over 43 million copies in Japan, and is published in North America by VIZ Media under its SHOJO BEAT imprint. It is considered an all-time best selling shojo title from Japanese publishing giant Shueisha, and was the recipient of the Shogakukan Manga Award in the Girls' category. Its tremendous success further inspired two live-action feature films which are available on DVD in North America from VIZ Pictures

NANA follows the adventures of two girls, both named Nana. While they share the same name, they couldn't be more different. Nana "Hachi" Komatsu follows her boyfriend to Tokyo in the hopes of making a new start, while Nana Osaki, who arrives in the city at the same time, is a punk rock beauty who has the ambition of making it big in the world of rock and roll. Although these two young women come from different backgrounds, they quickly become best friends while chasing their happiness and dreams.