From its beginnings in 1986, VIZ Media has been a gateway for Japanese storytelling in the West and is now the leading English-language manga publisher and leading global licensor of manga and anime--and is also co-producing content.
VIZ Media has become a cultural, lifestyle force that shapes how manga and anime fans live, what they wear and eat and read and watch, and how they experience Japanese pop culture, which continues to grow in popularity around the world. VIZ Media has built connections and relationships with key Japanese creators and guides partners and fans to the right stories and makes the market even larger.
Consider some of the company's recent moves. It has expanded to doing location-based entertainment and live events that include, for example, a 60-city symphonic tour and collaborations with Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League as well as collaborations with such companies as Converse, Burger King, and MrBeast. It offers apparel, collectibles, food, beauty, and immersive fan experiences around the world.
The market is astounding: the worldwide anime market is estimated to be between $35.6 billion and $41.7 billion. (Grand View Research provides the most detailed reporting.) Japan is the single-largest market at a little more than 40%, but North America is the fastest-growing market. The global manga market is estimated at between $11.9 billion and $17.5 billion.
VIZ Media was formed in 1986 in partnership with Shueisha, Shogakukan, and ShoPro. Forty years ago, the market was much different. As Hope Donovan, VIZ Media's editorial director, states, "Manga and anime fandom in the U.S. began as a subculture, and fans from 1986 would be shocked to see manga and anime today in malls and stores across the country, with media, merchandise and apparel widely available." They'd also be shocked, she continued, to see "well-stocked manga sections in bookstores and libraries, and streaming anime!"
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| Hope Donovan | |
Donovan notes "the immense role" libraries play in accessibility. "Manga series can be long and hard for a young person to purchase in their entirety. That's where a library can come in. It's also helpful to have a curated space to help find titles now that the manga industry has grown so much."
Manga continues to grow, and some genres that have been underrepresented in the past, including horror and LGBTQ+, are growing the fastest. Strangely, an early misconception that manga is all porn has persisted somewhat. As Donovan points out, "There are tons of genres and stories for readers of all ages. Right now there's more variety available in English than ever before, and hopefully exposure to tons of different kinds of manga has been chipping away at that misconception."
VIZ Media works diligently to translate manga for an English-speaking audience in a way that retains the originals' intent and meaning. For example, "we retouch sound effects, which gives readers of our books the same immediacy of understanding as Japanese readers," Donovan observes. "Each localization is its own work of art, created through the efforts of experienced translators, letterers, designers, editors, and other people who care a lot about manga." The efforts make for the most immersive reading experience for English-speaking fans.
Still, there are areas for expansion for VIZ Media. The main audience for manga and anime continues to be age 30 or below. As Donovan notes, "We have yet to cultivate a sizable audience of older readers in the U.S. interested in manga created for older readers in Japan."
In addition, as manga and anime become more mainstream, there are "casual fans" that VIZ Media can make more "part of the ecosystem," something akin to how "sports fans run the gamut from casual to hardcore," Donovan says.
For people who have never read manga, Donovan recommends titles that "match a person's existing interests," she says. Thus, "if someone likes Sarah J. Maas, I'd recommend Yona of the Dawn. If someone likes action movies, then titles like My Hero Academia will appeal to them." And depending on the readers' ages, some broadly accessible titles are Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Minecraft: The Manga, Pokemon, and Dragon Ball.