Anime Expo 2008

Viz Media

Viz kept their audience entertained Friday by going over some of their upcoming releases, including the first volume of Blue Dragon (Sep. 16), a series based on the RPG of the same name. Also coming out this year are the second and third Naruto movies, as well as the first Bleach movie. Other big DVD releases include Hunter X Hunter volume 1 (Dec. 9) and the first Death Note box set (Nov. 18), which will include the first 20 episodes on five discs.

Upcoming manga releases from Viz include the second edition of Rumiko Takahashi's One-Pound Gospel, Takehiko Inoue's Real and Slam Dunk, Asano Inio's Solanin, Rei Kiroe's Black Lagoon, Toriyama's Cowa, and Kazunari Kakei's Nora. September will also see the release of the Vizbig edition of Inoue's Vagabond, a 3-volumes-in-one collection that will retail for $19.99 MSRP. Viz will be re-releasing many of their previous manga titles as collector's editions, which will feature hard covers and dust jackets, with an MSRP of $19.99. Titles that will receive the special treatment include Bleach, Death Note, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and Yugioh.

New releases for 2009 will include Oishinbo by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki, a manga about food. The bimonthly releases will cover different Japanese cuisines, including sake, ramen, fish, sushi, rice, pub food, and others. Also to be released is the previously announced Heaven's Will, by Satoru Takamiya. Viz will also re-release two of their previous titles in omnibus format, with the Vizbig versions of Fushigi Yuugi and Hot Gimmick.

The panel was concluded with the announcement of new acquisitions. These include Honey Hunt (Miki Aihara), Magic Touch (Izumi Tsubaki), Otomen (Aya Kanno), and Gestalt (Yun Koug).