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Posts Tagged One Piece

PR: VIZ App Debuts: CLAYMORE, CAPTIVE HEARTS and More!

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, January 21, 2011

VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES CAPTIVE HEARTS, CLAYMORE, D.GRAY-MAN AND TORIKO MANGA DOWNLOADS FOR THE VIZ MANGA APP FOR iPad

Four Acclaimed New Series Join The Latest Updates Of More Than Ten Other Titles

VIZ Media continues to rapidly expand its digital library of manga (graphic novel) titles available for the VIZ MANGA APP on the Apple® iPad™ mobile device. Just launched is the dark, armored action of CLAYMORE and the supernatural adventure D.GRAY-MAN, and set to launch on Tuesday, January 25th is the shojo fantasy of CAPTIVE HEARTS and the zany culinary adventure of TORIKO. The latest updates also features new additions to more than ten other popular VIZ Media manga series already available to iPad users.

The VIZ MANGA APP is available for free through the iTunes Store and all manga volumes are available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the application for $4.99 (U.S. / CAN) per volume.

CAPTIVE HEARTS, Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T’ for Teens · Available January 25th
Carefree Megumi Kuroishi was living a life of luxury until the day a girl named Suzuka Kogami walked into his life. All of a sudden, Megumi finds himself kneeling at Suzuka’s feet and prostrating himself like a servant! What Megumi doesn’t know (until that very moment anyway) is that his family is cursed to follow the orders of the Kogami family.

CLAYMORE, Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens · Available Now!
In a world where monsters called Yoma prey on humans and live among them in disguise, humanity’s only hope is a new breed of warrior known as Claymores. Half human, half monster, these silver-eyed slayers possess supernatural strength but are condemned to fight their savage impulses or lose their humanity completely.

D.GRAY-MAN, Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens · Available Now!
Set in a fictional 19th century England, D.Gray-man is the story of Allen Walker, a 15-year-old boy who roams the earth in search of Innocence. Washed away to unknown parts of the world after The Great Flood, Innocence is the mysterious substance used to create weapons that obliterate demons known as akuma.

TORIKO, Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T’ for Teens · Available January 25th
In a savage world ruled by the pursuit of the most delicious foods, it’s either eat or be eaten! While searching for the tastiest foods imaginable, Gourmet Hunter Toriko travels the world with his bottomless stomach, facing every beast in his way.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: One Piece, Shoujo Beat, Vampire Knight, Viz Media

PR: Viz Media Debuts New Manga Titles for iPad

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, December 20, 2010

1 Comment »

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS NEW MANGA ON THE FREE-TO-DOWNLOAD VIZ MANGA APP FOR THE iPad

VAMPIRE KNIGHT, OTOMEN, OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB And RUROUNI KENSHIN Join Lineup of Legendary Manga Series Available

VIZ Media announces the launch of VAMPIRE KNIGHT (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens), OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB (rated ‘T’ for Teens), OTOMEN (rated ‘T’ for Teens), and RUROUNI KENSHIN (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens), available now from the VIZ MANGA APP on the Apple® iPad™ mobile device. The VIZ MANGA APP is available for free download through the iTunes Store, and all manga volumes are available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada directly within the application for $4.99 per volume.

The recently launched VIZ MANGA APP is the leading application to read Japanese manga on the iPad, with a downloadable library of the most popular manga series in the world. Readers are encouraged to check the app regularly, as new additions to the store and free Chapter 1 previews of other forthcoming manga series for the iPad are featured.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Bakuman, One Piece, Shoujo Beat, Vampire Knight, Viz Media

Viz Media Adds New Artbook, Natume Ono and Omnibus

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, November 16, 2010

1 Comment »

Though news of Viz Media’s license-rescue of Tenjo Tenge stole the spotlight from yesterday’s press release, there was some other new titles slotted in there as well.

Blue Excorist and Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan confirmed licenses previously revealed with more solid release dates while Natsume Ono’s La Quinta Camera is a fresh license from the creator of previous Viz Signature series, not simple and House of Five Leaves:

“A charming suite of linked stories from the acclaimed author of not simple and House of Five Leaves, set in an apartment in Italy. In four of the rooms live four single men with singular personalities. Into this peculiar ménage steps an exchange student, the new tenant of the fifth room. Brought together by chance, friends by choice, they pursue their dreams together as the days drift gently by.”

Icing on the cake of these licenses comes the reveal that Viz Media will be releasing the Vampire Knight artbook in English, similar to its previous art book releases for series such as Angel Sanctuary and Neon Genesis Evangelion. The book will be hardcover and presumably have the same large cut size as Viz Media’s previous art book releases.

There’s also some new releases to see on retail sites this week. Under Viz Media’s sci-fi novel imprint, Haikasoru, are two new books – Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights (src: AAAAnime) and Cage of Zeus (src: AAAAnime). They’re also listing the novel edition of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot (src: AAAAnime)

Also listing on said-retail sites are several more Shonen Jump series getting the omnibus treatment: Bleach, Naruto and Kekkaishi. Viz Media has already re-released several of its popular series in omnibus format, typically being 3-in-1, including One Piece, Dragonball and Fushigi Yugi. Each book will cost $14.99 putting the content at a fraction of buying them individually. I can speak from personal experience to say these are perfect for those looking to start these series from the beginning but are intimidated by the high book counts. (src: AAAAnime 1/2/3)

On the omnibus note, I continue to find it exciting just how many publishers are embracing omnibus editions – Viz Media, Tokyopop, Yen Press, Dark Horse, Vertical, DelRey (RIP), Seven Seas, Digital Manga – nearly the entire crew! It was near-exactly a year ago today we were contemplating their role in the future of manga and here we are now with such a strong mix of the two printed formats. While sometimes carrying a 600+ page book around isn’t the most feasible thing in the world, saving half-off the cost of buying them separately and getting triple the content still garners no complaints from me.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Fushigi Yugi, Light Novels, Manga, One Piece, Shoujo Beat, Vampire Knight, Viz Media

Viz Media Launches Manga App for iPad Users

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, November 5, 2010

2 Comments »

Viz Media announced the launch of their new iPad application earlier in the week – a digital shop downloadable on iPads where users can purchase volumes of their manga.

Volumes in this digital format will cost $4.99 each and Viz Media is currently offering the first volume of Death Note for free so readers can test out the program. Currently they’re offering the company’s big-name titles such as One Piece, Naruto and Dragonball. iTunes lists volumes of One Piece as being the top sellers on the app since its debut.

Personally this news doesn’t interest me much because, well, I don’t own an iPad. Even if I did, I prefer books in paper-format – personal preferable. For those who have an iPad and enjoy reading comics digitally, however, I can of course see the more jump-for-joy reasoning here.

Looking at from sheerly from an audience perspective, those who own an iPad have proven themselves already the type more apt to pay money for their hobbies and entertainment. It’s a perfect environment to find manga fans and create new ones on those grounds alone. Still, I have to wonder – those who own the iPad, are they the 12-16 year old audience that thebooks Viz Media is offering are aimed for? Highly doubtful. That Viz Media wouldn’t come out of the gate with more mature titles such as their Sig Ikki series, most of which already have at least some kind of digital rights as they’re posted to the imprint’s website on a weekly basis, boggles my mind and is a bit disappointing.

I’m not saying that readers of any age can’t or don’t enjoy the Shonen Jump big-guns, and there’s certainly value in putting out the big-sellers, but they hardly seem strong titles to use in reaching out to the vast majority of iPad owners who likely don’t read manga in the first place. It feels a mix-match of audiences.

Then again, the app has only been out since November 2nd, so who knows how many or how potentially diverse their manga offerings could be in the future.

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Categories: Misc, News
Tags: Manga, One Piece, Viz Media

PR: Viz Media Launches Free Viz Manga iPad App

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, November 2, 2010

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VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES FREE VIZ MANGA iPAD APP

App Debuting with NARUTO, DRAGON BALL, BLEACH and Other Greatest Hits of Manga; DEATH NOTE Volume 1 As A Free Download for a Limited Time

San Francisco, CA, November 2, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its long-awaited digital manga (graphic novel) application for the Apple® iPad™ mobile device, launching today for FREE download through the iTunes Store. With this launch, the VIZ MANGA APP instantly becomes the leading destination to read Japanese manga on the iPad, with a downloadable library of the most popular manga series in the world.

The VIZ MANGA APP will launch on its first day with five legendary manga series, BLEACH Vols. 1-2, DEATH NOTE Vols. 1-2, DRAGON BALL Vol. 1, NARUTO Vols. 1-2, and ONE PIECE Vols. 1-2, as well as the recently launched BAKUMAN。 Vol. 1. In Week 2, the shojo fan favorite OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB Vol. 1 joins the lineup. All volumes will be available for purchase and download directly within the application for $4.99 per volume. In addition, DEATH NOTE Vol. 1 will be available as a FREE download for a limited time only. Readers are encouraged to check the app regularly, as new additions to the store and free Chapter 1 previews of other forthcoming manga series for the iPad will also be featured and added on a frequent and regular basis.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Bakuman, One Piece, Viz Media

Big Changes Coming to Viz Media? Let the Theories Fly!

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 21, 2010

17 Comments »

Staffers at Viz Media used Twitter for some teasing today, posting the following on their different imprint accounts:

“Keep your eyes peeled, HUGE news from VIZ coming next week. This changes everything! Any guesses?”

And guesses there were, as Twitter was quickly full of theories and ideas of what this could be all for good fun and curiousity. For a fairly good overview of who’s saying what and the various ideas brought to the table, I recommend a Viz_Media Twitter search.

A move to digital distribution of some kind was and remains the most seriously presumed of the theories. Will Viz Media be following the recent wave of digital distribution for comics on the iPad/iPhone? Will they begin to offer some multi-device eBook options? Will they reveal an online portal site to read their series via browsers? Old series? New series? All series?

Then there was the thoughts of more simultaneous releases such as what Viz Media has been doing with Rumiko Takahashi’s Rinne. Will we be seeing more simultaneous releases? Single series or multiple magazine-style? Could their existing Shonen Jump start accommodating such releases via subscription service online? Could Shonen Jump go completely digital all together such as Yen Press’s Yen Plus has?

Other theories, hopeful-wishes and amusing-WTFeries included new license announcements, a speed-up of another popular series such as what was done with One Piece and Naruto or Viz Media announcing it’s first boys’ love title (couldn’t help but toss this one in the ring myself).

So what do you think it could be? (Or think would be the most entertaining but improbable!)

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Categories: Misc
Tags: One Piece, Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media

Review: One Piece (Vol. 51)

By Shannon Fay on Tuesday, August 24, 2010

1 Comment »

Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: June 2010

Synopsis: “Camie the mermaid offers to take Luffy and the crew to Fish-Man Island if they’ll help rescue her boss Hachi from the notorious Flying Fish Riders. Ignoring all of the warning signs (hint: her boss sounds suspiciously like an old enemy!), the crew agrees to help their mermaid friend, only to end up losing Camie to the kidnappers too!”

An alternative title for One Piece vol.51 could be “How to Write a 50+ Manga Series.” In this volume Oda reintroduces characters from over a dozen volumes ago and also weaves in new ones who have strange but important ties to the main cast. It’s amazing how easily both the old and new characters are able to slip into the story. The huge cast highlights how big and real the world of One Piece feels. While of course the main cast is always caught up in some adventure, the side characters have lives and goals of their own that continue even after they’ve left the main story.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, One Piece, Shonen Jump, Viz Media

Super Savings: RightStuf Bags Viz Media Bargains

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, July 22, 2010

1 Comment »

RightStuf’s weekly sale has gone live and this week it’s on all Viz Media books -that my friends is a large library of savings indeed. Just going through the first couple of listings pages shows you these are sales well worth taking advantage of too – almost 50% off or more on some titles! The sale ends on August 2nd.

Because they fall a little higher on the price scale, and because they’re generally fantastic, I recommend spelunking through the Viz Sig imprint. Along with the wonders that is 20th Century Boys and Pluto by Naoki Urasawa, the Viz Signature line also includes Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku and the fan-tabulous line-up of titles currently up to read chapters for free of over at SigIkki.com. Definitely doesn’t hurt to get caught up on your favourite running shonen series either, be it Bleach, Eyeshield 21, One Piece or Naruto (to name some). Not to mention the shoujo… and artbooks… and back issues… and omnibus…and DVDs… Oh boy, this could take a while.

As a bonus, RightStuf is also offering free Viz Media convention tote bags to those who purchase three or more Viz Media items.

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Categories: Features, Super Savings
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Fumi Yoshinaga, One Piece, Viz Media, Viz Signature

Review: One Piece (Vol. 50)

By Shannon Fay on Thursday, July 8, 2010

3 Comments »

Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: June 2010

Synopsis: “The Straw Hats are in a desperate battle against time and Gecko Moria to get their shadows back before dawn. Gecko Moria unleashes his devasting power of a thousand shadows, but Luffy counters back with his “Gear” powers. To save his crew, will Luffy have to make the ultimate sacrifice?”

Part of One Piece’s charm is its madcap, anything-goes mix of adventure and comedy. The plot sounds like something an eight-year-old might come up with between swigs of Red Bull: our cast of heroic pirates run into one of the seven warlords of the sea, Gecko Moria, a bad guy who steals the crews’ shadows in order to become more powerful. If they don’t get their shadows back before the sun comes up, they’ll die. With the sun starting to peek over the horizon, Luffy engages Moria in a no-holds brawl in order to save his friends – and that’s just the first couple of chapters! The rest of the book packs in a fight between swordsman Zolo and warlord Kuma, the tragic back-story of a musical skeleton named Brook, and the introduction of a new storyline involving a mermaid and an undersea island. All that and the crazy comedy and action One Piece is known for.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, One Piece, Shonen Jump, Viz Media

Release List: October 2009

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 10, 2009

3 Comments »

October is here and thus Autumn is officially upon us! And as I’m sure everyone knows, October is also the month of Halloween – but do any of these month’s releases offer some spooky complimenting reads?

Let’s take a brief look – CMX has the second volume of Ballad of A Shinigami out (a series of which I really enjoyed the first book of) and Del Rey has volume fourteen of XXXholic. But of course what about the vampires? Digital Manga offers up the next installment of Vampire Hunter D, Tokyopop the long-awaited-by-its-fans next volume of Vampire Doll and volume fourteen of Chibi Vampire, Viz Media’s Rosario+Vampire and Yen Press’s Cirque Du Freak. Those’re just some of the books ready to be enjoyed on dark, eery night so check them out and have a ghoulishly pleasant October!

You can check out the full list of October 2009’s currently scheduled manga releases under the cut:

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Categories: Release Lists
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Negima, One Piece, Skip Beat, Slam Dunk, Viz Signature