VIZ MEDIA INVITES MANGA FANS TO “SHOW YOUR SHONEN JUMP LOVE” WITH A FUN NEW

PHOTO CONTEST

Contest Encourages Fans To Submit Photos Showing Their Passion For SHONEN JUMP; iPad 2 With WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA Membership And Other Prizes To Be Awarded

San Francisco, CA, March 16, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, invites fans to show their love for SHONEN JUMP with a brand new contest that will award a variety of valuable prizes to several lucky winners. Contestants are encouraged to upload a photo showing their love for SHONEN JUMP to the contest page at sjalpha.com/ipad2.

Encourage friends, family and other fans to vote for your entry during the two, week-long voting periods! Prizes will be given to the fan with the most votes for that given week. A Grand Prize will also be awarded to fan with the most overall votes.

The first contest submission period is from March 16^th to March 23^rd, with voting from March 24^th to March 31^st. The second contest submission period will be from April 1^st to April 8^th with contest voting from April 9^th to April 16^th. Winners will be notified via email.

The Grand Prize for the Show Your SHONEN JUMP Love Contest will include a brand new Apple iPad 2, plus an annual membership to the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA (SJ ALPHA) digital manga magazine, along with a $100.00 credit for VIZManga.com. The runner up prize will be a SHONEN JUMP gift bag, valued at $250.00 and awarded to the fan with the most votes during each of the two submission periods.

“Has your manga collection overtaken your house? Do you have a running countdown until your next local anime convention? Want to show off your latest SJ Cosplay? Then the Show Your SHONEN JUMP Love contest is definitely for you,” says Tu Ly, Senior Digital Marketing Manager. “It’s all about our fans and their connection to the stories and characters they love.  Manga and anime fans are by far the most creative people I’ve had the chance to meet and we’re really excited to see what comes out of this contest!

Each new digital issue of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA treats manga (comics) fans in North America to the latest chapters of some of the world’s most popular manga series only two weeks after they debut in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP magazine. Series include popular titles such as BAKUMAN｡, BLEACH, NARUTO, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN, ONE PIECE, and TORIKO.

SJ ALPHA is available on VIZManga.com through an annual membership that provides 52 weeks of access to 48 weekly issues for just $25.99; single issues can be read for four weeks for only $0.99. Annual members will also receive an annual collector’s yearbook, collectable YU-GI-OH! game cards four times a year, and access to exclusive content, including creator interviews and videos. From now until April 30^th, all members will also receive exclusive access to a special ONE PIECE x TORIKO crossover manga as a digital gift.

For more information on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and exclusive subscriber offers, please visit SJAlpha.com or VIZManga.com. 

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 monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine 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.