VIZ Launches Shojo Beat Home Video

Date: 2006 March 01 10:14

Posted by Jeremy

VIZ announces launch of new Shojo Beat video line for titles of related genre.

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VIZ Media, LLC announced on their website that they will be expanding its successful Shojo Beat imprint of manga graphic novels. Starting this summer, Shojo Beat Home Video will begin releasing compelling anime titles aimed at female fans in North America. The first title, Full Moon, the anime adaptation of one of Shojo Beat’s most popular titles, will be released in June of this year.

"Based on the runaway success of Shojo Beat magazine, the only monthly shojo manga anthology published in the United States, the timing is ideal for the launch of Shojo Beat Home Video," said Anthony Jiwa, Director of Marketing for VIZ Media. "Full Moon is an emotional roller coaster that will tug at viewers’ heart strings, and we believe that fans will respond enthusiastically to the story of this talented and spunky young girl."

Based on the manga by Arina Tanemura, Full Moon tells the tragic tale of Mitsuki, a 12-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a pop idol singer to fulfill a childhood promise but learns she has a malignant tumor in her throat. A cure would cost her her voice, which she will lose entirely in a year anyway if untreated. She receives help from a pai of comedic harbingers of death who transform her into Fullmoon, a 16-year-old version of herself who embarks on the road to fame while searching for a cure. The manga has proven to be one of Shojo Beat’s most popular titles, with the first volume having sold more than 150,000 copies and currently in its fourth. There is plenty to offer in the story, using heart-wrenching drama as Mitsuki searches for a cure while dealing the demands of a pop star’s life combined with the shojo standard of a cute story of a young girl overcoming obstacles and finding romance in pursuit of a goal.

The first volume of the Full Moon anime under Shojo Beat Home Video, I Want to Sing, will be released to American retail outlets on June 27, containing four episodes and having a standard retail price of $24.98. Future volumes will be released quarterly. Fans can get a sneak peek at the series this May, as a special preview disk containing the first episodes will be included with the June 2006 issue of the Shojo Beat manga anthology magazine.