For all you Death Note fans, the two live-action films are coming to Blu-ray on 8/24/10!
The 3-disc set includes 2 feature films, Death Note and Death Note II: the Last name, and includes a bonus DVD with 2 hours of behind the scenes footage.
To celebrate this release, we are hosting a Death Note autograph and poster giveaway! Three lucky winners will win a poster for Death Note and Death Note II: the Last name along with an autograph from one of the three main actors – Tatsuya Fujiwara (who played Light), Kenichi Matusyama (L/Ryuzaki), and Erika Toda (Misa). The contest ends 9/24 so enter HERE for a chance to win!
August 9th, 2010
This is a crazy fun film! VIZ Pictures is very excited to announce our recent acquisition of Detroit Metal City, a movie based on the #1 death metal comedy manga series written by Kiminori Wakasugi. Starring our favorite Kenichi Matsuyama of Death Note, NANA, and Linda Linda Linda, and with a gimmick appearance by Gene Simmons himself, this death metal flick has some of the greatest live music scenes! As a “somtimes-so-wrong” manga that turned into a thrashing movie, we can’t wait for this live-action title to be released here in the US later this fall. Get ready to be rocked!
July 22nd, 2010
Have you grabbed your copy yet? The DVD for “Battle League HORUMO” just went on sale. Get sucked into the underground college tradition of Kyoto and bizarre legend of “Horumo”!
Based on the best-selling fantasy novel by Manabu Makime, this combat action comedy centers around a Kyoto University student, Akira Abe, who joins the club “Azure Dragon” in order to get closer to the girl of his dreams. At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social club but the new members soon find out about the 1000 year-old tradition upheld by the four universities of Kyoto and the “Horumo” battle. Members must go through rigorous training to achieve the fluency of the Oni language and learn to manipulate an army of Oni spirits.
July 6th, 2010
Anime Expo in LA opened today! VIZ Pictures has been featured throughout the festival with 14 films screening. Fans will be able to watch movies like 20th Century Boys and K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces in rare 35mm film format, and DON’T MISS the marathon of VIZ Pictures films on Saturday at one of the screening rooms to catch a hot line-up of Death Note: L, change the WorLd, Kamikaze Girls, Train Man and more!!! So get your con-badge and indulge!
July 1st, 2010
Same Look, But Better!
Check out our new and improved VIZ Pictures website! With the number of our movies increasing to over 25 titles, we have decided to organize and get some spring cleaning done. Now with better sorted categories, it’s easier to browse through our catalog of films.
June 15th, 2010
Summer is here and we are on a steady roll of DVD releases. Thanks to all our fans that have supported us through our pioneering years!
20th Century Boys 3: Redemption now in stores!
The disc we’ve been all waiting for. “WHO IS FRIEND!” will be all revealed in this final chapter with a twist in the ending that is deifferent from the original Manga version written by Naoki Kurosawa. Nonetheless, Mr. Urasawa helped wrote the movie scripts, so this is also an author approved ending! Peel off the mask! Find out!
Katsura Funakoshi: Whispering Gaze
As the final volume of the 6-DVD set of the NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES, Katsura Funakoshi brings on the dedicatation and critical eye of a “high artist”. How does he breath life into his acclaimed bust statues? The gaze of a meloncholic woman. The process is all captured in this documentary film. DVD is coming soon on 6/15!
Go to VIZ Pictures ONLINE Store!!
June 1st, 2010
VIZ Pictures is proud to present a new addition to the NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES Cynic in the Playground: Makoto Aida! Enjoy tapping into this genius’ creative process and outrageous ideas that come to be. Members of VIZ Pictures had the honor to meet and dine with Mr. Aida, while he was visiting San Francisco last summer during his stay as he was completing his giant mural ath the Yerba Buena Art Center downtown.
Stay tuned for the last artist of the NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES!
May 4th, 2010
137 minutes of retro futuristic entertainment spectacular! Inspired by mystery novelist Rampo Edogawa’s book series Kaijin 20 Mensou, K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces is VIZ Pictures’ newest DVD with Hollywood-type action galore. Set in 1949, a Japan that didn’t experience World War II has a strong ruling nobility system. The ongoing battle between Detective Kogoro Akechi and K-20 has now involved Heikichi Endo, a circus acrobat that was at the wrong place at the wrong time! Now Heikichi must fight to clear his name. Unmask the fiend with twenty faces!
April 10th, 2010
Radical yet traditional! Hisashi Tenmyouya takes hundreds of years of traditional method and tells his own “punk” story. Against the wishes of many critical conservatists, his art is now the most talked about Japanese traditional paintings! His soccor-playing Samurai was chosen to be 2006 FIFA World-Cup poster design, and his traditionally desipcted “Gundam” was sold for 650,000 at the Christie’s auction in Hong Kong in 2008.
Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau is the 4th DVD that is a part of NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES.
February 26th, 2010
The saga continues! It is now 2015, and Friend rules a disturbing new world. Kenji’s niece Kanna is now in high school and her textbook contains a fabricated story about Kenji being the terrorist behind the horrific events of 2000. Kanna, knowing the truth, openly resents this, and as a result she is marked as a problem child and sent to Friend Land, a facility where people with rebellious anti-Friend behavior are re-educated. There Kanna learns a crucial secret about Friend…
Thank you for attending the DVD release event at VIZ Cinema. He had Friend appear in person??? Thank you for all the support!
February 9th, 2010
Happy New Years to all Japanese cinema lovers! VIZ Pictures has now entered our fifth year in operation and we are still going strong, thanks to all of your support. We are looking forward to bringing over more exciting movies to our US fans again this year! Stay tuned!
Our first news of the year is from the NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES. Volume 3 is Photographer Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog of Tokyo coming out on January 26th! Order now!
The third volume of the New People Artist Series follows the charismatic photographer Daido Moriyama with a single camcorder as he wanders around Shinjuku with his camera in hand as he takes quick snapshots without looking in the finder. Since the late 60’s, Moriyama has had a fascinating presence in the world of photography but has continued to avoid the media and therefore parts of his persona still remain covered under a veil of mystery. This film is justly an invaluable documentary that captures his true state of being that has never been revealed before. The film even captures the moment when he takes his first digital photo. His stark, high contrast black and white images symbolize his fervent lifestyle.
DVD release event at VIZ Cinema. Get your DVD, small goodies and watch the movie on the big screen for only $25! The event is on 1/26 at 7:30pm.
January 17th, 2010
We have been ranting and raving about these films ever since we teamed up with Nippon Television to license the trilogy, and since we hosted the red carpet premier event with actress Takako Tokiwa at the grand opening of NEW PEOPLE this August 15th (see pictures).
20TH CENTURY BOYS is not only one of the greatest epic masterpieces of Naoki Urasawa, but also has been our key film series since Death Note! We do recommend all fans to pick up the manga that VIZ Media is putting out and see how the characters are translating. Mr. Urasawa had a lot of say in the film script, so it should be visually quite similar!
20th CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END on DVD is $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN. Order now!
December 15th, 2009
Who is the face behind the mask of Tomodachi? You are far from finding out in the very first DVD of the 20th Century Boys Trilogy! But nonetheless, the suspense builds and the story unfolds. The very first DVD will hit the stores on December 15th, and we will hold a special DVD release event at VIZ Cinemaon December 10th for a movie + DVD combo pack and fan gathering, so stay tuned!
20th CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END on DVD is $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN.
Check out the official website for more info!
November 9th, 2009
Who is not in love with the polka-dotted world of Yayoi Kusama? Our brand new DVD Yayoi Kusama: I Love ME hits the stores today …finally! To celebrate these releases, we are going to screen the first (Yoshitomo Nara at 6:30pm) and second (Yayoi Kusama at 8:30pm) NEW PEOPLE ARTIST SERIES in one night, $25 (Just $25 to view one of the movies, get a DVD, and NEW PEOPLE goodies!) at VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE in San Francisco ! You can enjoy one screening, a fresh DVD, and NP goodies. DVD is available online at theVIZ Pictures online store, and at NEW PEOPLE the Store in SF! To get tickets for the screening tonight click here and watch this fabulously up close documentary on the big screen and take a copy home with you.
October 27th, 2009
Get into the Halloween spirit with Battle League HORUMO and the Yokai (Japanese Monsters and mischievous spirits) Exhibition at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco. What a combination of ‘kawaii’ and ‘kowai’!
Based on a novel by Manabu Makime, this film is a combat action comedy that will take you into a world with the breathtaking backdrop of Kyoto and bizarre legend of “Horumo.” DVD will be available early next year too!
On the way down to the theatre, you also can enjoy the special exhibition ofYokai University San Francisco Campus! Yokai are legendary creatures of Japanese folklore and we are displaying rare artworks of Shigeru Mizuki (Gegege no Kitaro) and Hokusai Katsushika’s artworks. Come learn about Japanese yokais this Halloween!
Battle League HORUMO is playing at VIZ Cinema, 10/23-11/5. Get tickets!
October 26th, 2009
