VIZ Media Celebrates One Piece as World's Top Selling Manga Series
The High Seas Pirate Adventure By Eiichiro Oda Has More Than 345 Million Copies In Print Worldwide
San Francisco, CA, November 21, 2013 – Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, announces a free gift to fans and users of its VIZManga.com digital manga website and Viz Manga App with the release of The One Piece RETROSPECTIVE. The new digital edition celebrates an important milestone, as ONE PIECE has become the world's top selling manga series of all time with over 345 million copies in print.
The special digital retrospective for the pirate adventure series created by Eiichiro Oda will be given as a free premium to all currently registered VIZManga.com and Viz Manga App users, as well as to new members that sign up between November 21st and 27h. Fans can sign up at VIZManga.com and also explore ONE PIECE volumes available for digital download through the VIZ MANGA App for the Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch, and Android-powered smart phones and tablets (including Kindle Fire).
The One Piece Digital Retrospective features five exclusive, full color art spreads, as well as a comprehensive collection of covers for all 69 ONE PIECE volumes. The edition also features a personal interview with creator Eiichiro Oda and one-shot STRONG WORLD, the manga short where fans will find out what the world of ONE PIECE looked like over 20 years ago in a time before Luffy was even born. The One Piece Digital Retrospective will only be available digitally for fans for a limited time.
“ONE PIECE has achieved something very significant and the sales milestone speaks to the strong international appeal of the enduring characters and gripping story that Eiichiro Oda created that are universally loved in multiple countries by millions of fans of all ages,” says Andy Nakatani, Editor-in-Chief, WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP. “The continuing spread of digital technology will bring these action packed high-seas adventures to even more readers. We'd like to thank the legions of ONE PIECE readers and Viz Manga users and also interest new ones with this special ONE PIECE Digital Retrospective.”
Readers are invited to catch the latest One Piece manga chapters, released in English on the same day as their Japanese counterpart, in the pages of Viz Media's digital WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP digital manga magazine. ONE PIECE anime episodes also currently air in North America on Adult Swim's Toonami as well as on VIZAnime, Viz Media's own free website for streaming anime content, and other outlets including FUNimation.com, HULU.com, and OnePieceOfficial.com.
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. The only drawback? He'll never be able to swim again – a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...
ONE PIECE creator Eiichiro Oda began his manga career at the age of 17, when his one-shot cowboy manga, Wanted!, won second place in the coveted Tezuka manga awards. Oda went on to work as an assistant to some of the biggest manga artists in the industry, including Nobuhiro Watsuki (RUROUNI KENSHIN), before winning the Hop Step Award for new manga artists. His pirate adventure ONE PIECE, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1997, has become one of the most popular manga in Japan and the rest of the world.
The free Viz Manga App continues to be the top application for reading digital manga and features a massive library of the most popular series in the world. Through the innovative Viz Manga digital platform, registered users are able to use one account to access their purchased titles across more devices than ever. The platform features a massive library of the most popular manga series in the world, with over 1,700 volumes across more than 170 different series. All manga volumes are generally available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the application starting from $6.99 (U.S. / CAN) each.
For more information, please visit VIZManga.com or www.VIZ.com/apps.
Download the free Viz Manga App for your Android and iOS devices at www.VIZ.com/apps.
About Viz Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Viz Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., Viz Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, Viz Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. Viz Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about Viz Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
ONE PIECE © 1997 by Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Inc.
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