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NEWS: Viz and ShoPro Merge




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Aaron White
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Joined: 23 Aug 2002
Posts: 1365
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 am Reply with quote
Sorry if this is old news and I missed it, but Viz is apparently merging with another company.
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Aaron White
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Joined: 23 Aug 2002
Posts: 1365
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:05 am Reply with quote
Also, here's a messboard thread where some Viz folks discuss why they currently can't sell their products outside of North America.

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubb/Forum2/HTML/003624.html
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Kenshin5000



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:38 pm Reply with quote
Wow...anyone else get the feeling that this is a pretty big and important announcement?
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s_j



Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 162
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:14 pm Reply with quote
A sign that Japanese publishers are now more interested in, and consolidating their power over the [just recently] very profitable manga business in North America?
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Kenshin5000 wrote:
Wow...anyone else get the feeling that this is a pretty big and important announcement?
No, but it is an addition to what seems to becoming a noticable trend. The little masu are joining up to make a whole bigger being. (Tenchi muyo: OVA2;I love Tenchi-Ep-10 )Wink

I hope it means that maybe VIZ, or "Newco", will finally translate the Shin, or True, Tenchi Muyo novels and make them available to purchase.
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incantrix



Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:16 pm Reply with quote
FYI, this is from Animation Magazine, a trade publication. I'll quote the important parts of the article:

Quote:
Osamu Kamei, executive director of Shogakukan Inc., comments, "In order to nurture and grow the worldwide exposure of Japanese manga and animation, we have decided to step beyond the corporate framework that exists in Japan, and form a new globally oriented company by merging VIZ and ShoPro Ent." He adds, "I strongly believe that the partnership of the three companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha and ShoPro, will be a major step forward for the Japanese contents business."

According to Publishers Weekly, manga and anime generate roughly $4 billion in revenues globally each year, with anime accounting for 25% of children’s programming in the U.S. Sources say the Shopro/VIZ merger will cause a significant shakeup in the business, leaving competitors 4Kids Ent., Tokyopop and Funimation to find new resources for content.
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R.G.



Joined: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 687
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:40 pm Reply with quote
Hhhmm . . . maybe "Newco" will get the Naruto anime license.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15597
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:03 pm Reply with quote
Don't really see the point. Mega Man's their only success story, and even then it's nowhere near the level of Pokemon. A really worthless investment IMHO.
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s_j



Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 162
PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:14 am Reply with quote
There probably wasn't much of a new investment at all, given this is a merger of two subsidiaries of the same company. Having to deal with only one company for the dvd, tv, and manga rights of any one property streamlines the process, and they'll be able to pool their personnel resources together. Makes sense.

(i.e., redundant positions are going to get cut. I'd think the PR departments at either company should start watching their backs... Wink )
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Aaron White
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Joined: 23 Aug 2002
Posts: 1365
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Today's comicsreporter.com references this thread. The walls have eyes...
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