The proliferation of streaming Japanese animation, legally, is incalculable the past year over; but one thing is certain: licensing or distribution groups anxious to corral consumer interest in their titles, while making the most of social media and all its delights, an investment in publishing anime online is an increasing necessity. And so Viz Media, LLC. has pursued the successful launch of VIZ Anime (www.VIZanime.com), a consolidated, non-exclusive resource for anime fans to view some of the publisher's most popular cartoon acquisitions.
"VIZ Anime" is an online hub for VIZ Media licensed anime, a collection of Hulu-hosted video, available for the convenient categorization and favorite-ing of online users. Currently branded as "a permanent home to some of the company's best-loved animated series," VIZ Anime's potential catalogue is monstrous, with the premiere output already knocking on the door of roughly 400 episodes of anime programming. VIZ Anime, for all intents and purposes, is a social sub-network for anime fans interested in tracking shounen- or shoujo-specific titles under VIZ Media's belt.
Anime headlining the launch of VIZ Anime, which is a free-to-use website, include complete episode listings of titles such as the period action-adventure InuYasha and the dark, thinking-man's thriller, Death Note. Various sports anime also populate the website at present, such as Hikaru no Go and Prince of Tennis. Girl-skewing animation also occupies a small space on VIZ Anime: Honey & Clover and Nana. VIZ Media is promising to upload new content on a weekly basis; this includes existing programming under license as well as animation scheduled to launch "later this year." Users can register on the new site to follow as many series as they wish, choosing to be notified each time a new episode is released.
"[We] hope to offer a real community for VIZ Media fans to interact with each other and share their love of anime," Ken Sasaki, Senior Vice President & General Manager, VIZ Media, commented.
"We will also utilize the site as a means of two-way communication to better understand what our fans enjoy most and want, and how they engage with anime and manga online."
Social networking features integrated and functionally designed into the new site include private messaging tools, episode rating and comment systems, webpage/profile personalization, and other interactive tools. Per VIZ Media: "New functionalities will be added regularly."
on VIZ Media, LLC.: Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media is a publisher of animation entertainment and licensor of Japanese content. VIZ Media is owned by three of Japan's largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., serving English-speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa.