Author : Hyoe NARITA

Hyoe Narita started as an editor at Shogakukan Inc. for women's magazines and manga for eight years from 1988. In 1996, Narita moved on to work for VIZ Media, LLC (San Francisco, California, USA) and eventually served as the Executive Vice President. There, he founded and became the first editor-in-chief of North American SHONEN JUMP. From 2012 to 2017, Narita was the President of Viz Media Europe with offices in Paris, Berlin, and Lausanne. Simultaneously, he served as the Vice President of the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Japonaise en France between 2014-2017. Narita is now President of Humony International, Inc., Chairman of FANTASISTA, INC., and Professor at the Anime and Manga Department at Kaishi Professional University.

Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Chapter 4: The Contributions and Difficulties of PULP
|

In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, I wrote at some length about PULP, North America’s first seinen manga magazine, which launched in the winter of 1997.   After its founding, PULP was featured in various pop culture media as well as reviewed by famed British comic book writer Warren Ellis as being “amongst the best … Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Chapter 3: The Greatness of PULP, North America’s First Seinen Manga Magazine
|

PULP, modeled after Japanese seinen manga magazines, launched in the winter of 1997 and was, if I do say so myself, a very well-produced magazine.   It still somewhat is so today, but back then, manga was even more of a niche market in North America. Manga was rarely available in then-big US chain bookstores … Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Chapter 2: Hyoe’s Strategy, The First Major Awareness Campaign in North America
|

Last time, I described being met with various surprises when I arrived in the United States.   To quickly sum up the situation: manga wasn’t selling, it was expensive, and distribution was weird.   My secret plan I concocted to break out of this situation was to launch a manga magazine in North America. This … Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America

Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America – Chapter 1

Chapter 1: 1996 Landing in the United States. Nothing but Surprises
|

After working as a so-called manga editor at Shogakukan’s weekly manga magazine, Big Comic Spirits, I transferred to VIZ in the U.S. 26 years ago in 1996.   At the time, although in decline, Spirits was still publishing one million copies. Its retail price was about 250 yen if I remember correctly. One manga volume … Former Executive VP of VIZ, The Legendary Hyoe’s History of Manga in North America – Chapter 1