Viz Otakon News

Viz does own the US rights to the Ayashi no Ceres manga and television series. They announced plans to premier the TV series next spring with 2 or possibly 3 episodes per VHS tape/DVD. Ranma 1/2 TV DVDs will be released beginning next year (“many episodes per disc”). Viz plans to finish the entire Ranma 1/2 series. (It was unclear from the report whether this refers to the anime or manga series, but it seems safe to assume both). Fatal Fury OAV DVDs will be coming soon. Maison Ikkoku on DVD looks like an unlikely prospect. Although hard-core fan demand is there, VHS sales don’t warrant a DVD treatment for Maison Ikkoku. Apparently they will also be releasing a Dead or Alive movie.

Upcoming manga plans include Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ayashi no Ceres and more Pokemon. Ayashi no Ceres will be in its own book while the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga will be featured in the Animerica Extra magazine. In other manga news, Viz reluctantly admitted that they have started to edit their comics of Pokemon and Dragonball Z (“We’re putting underwear on Goku.”) due to pressure from parental groups. They don’t know if their graphic novels will also be the edited versions. Most of Viz’s manga business is in the graphic novel collections.

Source: Anime on DVD