VIZ MEDIA BRINGS ANIME AND MANGA FUN TO THE BIG APPLE FOR NEW YORK COMIC CON 2012

Meet The Character Designer For TIGER & BUNNY, Sample Digital Manga, Neon Alley And WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, And More As VIZ Media Returns To The East Coast’s Biggest Pop Culture Convention

San Francisco, CA, October 3, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, returns to New York City for the 2012 New York Comic Con with an array of events, special booth appearances, insightful panel discussions and promotional giveaways. New York Comic Con takes place October 11^th-14^th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. VIZ Media will be located in Booth 2042.

New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention and plays host to the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. More information on New York Comic Con is available at: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com.

VIZ Media is pleased to welcome Masakazu Katsura, TIGER & BUNNY character designer and creator of manga hits VIDEO GIRL AI, I”S, ZETMAN and more. Mr. Katsura will appear at a special signing session at the VIZ Media booth on Saturday, October 13^th, at 4:30PM, along with Sunrise Studio Producer Yasuo Miyakawa. Mr. Katsura and Mr. Miyakawa will speak on the Tiger & Bunny: Insider’s Panel, held in at 6:30PM the same day in Room 1A23, where fans can find out what it was like to make the anime.

The VIZ Media booth will be a must-visit attraction for digital manga and anime fans at the convention. Visitors can test drive the VIZ Manga digital manga platform on a laptop through VIZManga.com, as well as through the VIZ Manga App for iPad™, iPod™ touch, Android Nexus 7 tablet and Android smartphone. Fans that download the FREE VIZ Manga App will receive an exclusive full-color 27”x39” BLEACH poster!  Besides being able to read the latest Bleach volumes on the go, fans can choose from over 850 volumes of pure manga goodness, including Bakuman Vol. 15, Blue Exorcist Vol. 8 and much, much more. 

Visitors can also sample the latest issues of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, North America’s preeminent weekly digital manga magazine, on an assortment of Android- and Mac OS-based devices. Each new digital edition of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA treats manga 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. Attendees that sign-up for a WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA annual membership will receive a rare Slifer the Sky Dragon YU-GI-OH! trading card.

The SHONEN JUMP Alpha team will also host two additional events. A special offsite will be held on Friday, October 12^th from 5:00pm-8:00pm at the Kinokuniya Bookstore, located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas (between 40^th & 41^st Streets). Mingle with other fans of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, catch the debut of the SJ Alpha 2013 yearbook, and meet special guest Masakazu Katsura and the staff of SJ Alpha. Finally, the team will speak on the SHONEN JUMP ALPHA Panel on Saturday October 13^th, from 7:45pm-8:45pm, in Room 1A23. TEAMJUMP will have awesome announcements, and Katsura-sensei will again make a special appearance.

Throughout the convention, VIZ Media will celebrate the launch of Neon Alley, a new 24-hour anime channel debuting across the United States and Canada exclusively on the PlayStation^® Network and the PlayStation^® 3 system on October 2^nd. Neon Alley will feature the world’s best titles, dubbed in English and uncut, and presented in HD when available. Neon Alley is the first platform designed to be studio agnostic, and programming will include exclusive premieres and blockbusters from VIZ Media, as well as content from Aniplex, FUNimation, NTV, Taiseng, Anime News Network and more. Fans that sign up for a Neon Alley subscription during the show (limited time one week free offer, and only $6.99 per month thereafter) will receive a special Neon Alley tote bag.

VIZ Media invites younger anime and manga fans to join in the fun at the booth for special guest appearances and VIZ Kids giveaways! On Friday, October 12^th, meet some of the creative staff behind the new VOLTRON FORCE original graphic novel, series writer Brian Smith and artist Jacob Chabot, at 10:30am to meet fans and sign posters. Fans can also meet the creative staff behind the recently debuted REDAKAI graphic novel, inspired by the popular Cartoon Network animated series and the innovative trading card game developed by Spin Master. Writer Mike Raicht will appear at the booth on Friday October 12^th at 3:30pm, and artist Zach Turner will appear at Sunday October 14^th at 1:30pm to meet fans and sign posters of the graphic novel.

Other fun free VIZ Media convention giveaways will include samplers from the VIZ Kids imprint; mini-samplers of BLUE EXORCIST, the newly released LOVELESS, and the upcoming STROBE EDGE; full-color LOVELESS postcards; Neon Alley wristbands, and more. Fans can also sign up for the VIZ Media newsletter and be entered for a chance to win a NOOK Color or a NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND manga box set.

Finally, the annual VIZ Media Panel will be on Sunday October 14^th at 12:15pm in Room 1A12. Get the scoop on Neon Alley, VIZ Manga, and your favorite manga and anime! Also get the latest updates and exciting news on new acquisitions, upcoming releases, and upcoming projects.

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 ALPHA 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.