Thursday morning at Anime Expo this year VIZ Media had a huge media panel chalk full of special announcements. VIZ is one of the leading companies in America for the latest and greatest anime and manga. They are responsible for titles such as Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, Sailor Moon, and many more. Starting off the panel, their CEO Ken Sasaki came on stage to greet the large crowd. He had great charisma with the crowd and was here in America to get to know the fans here, learn what they are into, and in turn learn what is best for the company.

Next year, VIZ will be 30 years old and promised they would start the celebration early with announcements at this year’s AX along with more announcements scattered throughout the rest of the year. This year is their shojo manga magazine Shojo Beat‘s 10th anniversary. They are responsible for hits such as Ouran High School Host Club, Vampire Knight, and Nana. To celebrate, their booth in the exhibitor’s hall had a wall of shojo manga covers made especially for the anniversary by each of the mangakas. On top anime and manga, VIZ is also responsible for the online Shounen Jump magazine and Neon Alley on Hulu.

In true panelist fashion, VIZ saved all the their special announcements for last. K Missing Kings the anime is getting a season 2 with the subtitle “Return of Kings.” Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which is a 10 part novel series, is receiving a manga adaptation. Dragon Ball colour is coming back by popular demand to make even more full-colour, glossy, graphic novel sized mangas. The “Hokage for a Day” contest was announced for the big fans of Naruto. This contest runs from July 2 – August 21 where contestants create a one minute long video telling about their love of all things Naruto and why they deserve to be treated as a hokage for a day. The winner gets a trip to New York City Comic Con, escorted to all Naruto events, and meet the creator of Naruto himself. If this wasn’t enough Naruto swag for you, they also announced the release of Boruto: Naruto the Movie. Death Note is getting a HD makeover into Blu-Ray which they premiered with a side-by-side contrast of the remastered next to the old opening. Last, but certainly not the least, Murata is adapting One Punch Man for the first time into an anime. Daisuki.net will be streaming this for free along with a free digital download of chapters one through three.

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