ShoPro named as Naruto licensor

ShoPro named as Naruto licensor
anounced on 2005-02-15 14
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SHOPRO ENTERTAINMENT NAMED
MASTER LICENSOR FOR JAPANESE PHENOMENON, NARUTO

TV TOKYO Corporation And Shueisha Inc. Appoint ShoPro Entertainment To Represent TV, Home Video And Merchandising Rights In North America And Latin America For
Much Anticipated Ninja Hit, Naruto

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (February 15, 2005) ShoPro Entertainment, Inc. which recently announced its upcoming merger with VIZ, LLC to form one of the entertainment industry's most innovative, comprehensive manga and animation licensing and publishing companies, announced today that it has secured from worldwide licensors, TV TOKYO Corporation and Shueisha Inc., the television, home video and merchandising rights to Naruto for North America and Latin America. The appointment of ShoPro Entertainment as Master Licensor was facilitated by TV TOKYO Medianet, the licensing arm of TV TOKYO.

ShoPro Entertainment, the San Francisco based affiliate of ShoPro Japan, plans to introduce a dynamic roll-out strategy that will leverage the strong manga and entertainment brand into a broad licensing and marketing program. Narutos television broadcast partner and key licensing partners will be determined shortly.

We are ecstatic about Naruto! It is a great privilege to be bringing such an outstanding property to the Americas, said John Easum, Senior Vice President of ShoPro Entertainment. Naruto became an explosive hit in Japan after it was first launched in Shueishas Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1999 and it continues to be an enormous success. Naruto has also established a very large American fan base through the US manga series published by VIZ. We anticipate a huge success.

First introduced into the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999, Naruto quickly became Japans most popular ninja manga. In 2000, Naruto was expanded into a series of graphic novels and is currently in its 26th volume, with nearly 49 million copies sold in total in Japan. Weekly Shonen Jump, published by one of Japans largest publishers, Shueisha Inc., is considered the worlds most successful comic magazine with over 3 million copies printed weekly in Japan alone.

Since 2003, the Naruto series has been serialized in the US edition of the monthly Shonen Jump, and published as a graphic novel series by VIZ, LLC. At retail, Naruto consistently ranks as one of the top graphic novel titles in the US and one of the most popular titles serialized in SHONEN JUMP. The manga has also been published in most major markets in Europe and Asia to great success.

Targeting tweens and teens, the Naruto animated series, produced by PIERROT CO., LTD. debuted in Japan in October 2002 on TV TOKYO and quickly established itself as one of TV TOKYOs highest rated animated series. Today, Naruto is considered one of the most popular animated series in Japans history and has achieved immense success not only as a manga and TV title, but also in the realm of licensed categories such as toys, trading card games and video games.

The story of Naruto takes place in another world where ninjas are the ultimate power. In the village of Konohagakure live some of the stealthiest and most respected ninjas in the land. But 12 years prior, Konohagakure faced a fearsome threat - a nine-tailed fox demon, which terrorized the village and caused massive destruction before it was finally defeated. The Hokage, the village leader and most powerful ninja, was able to subdue the fox by sealing its soul inside the body of an orphaned baby boy. Now that boy, Uzumaki Naruto, has grown up to become a ninja-in-training, learning the art of ninjutsu with his classmates Sakura and Sasuke. The trio of student ninjas study under the instruction of their teacher, Kakashi. With Kakashi, the group faces a series of dangerous and daunting tests and challenges. Through their adventures, the young ninjas learn the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, creativity, ingenuity, and right vs. wrong.

The key characters are Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto, shunned by the village because he bears the taint of the fox demon imprisoned within him, is a rascally orphan who has grown into an attention-seeking troublemaker. Although his preoccupation with playful pranks leaves him struggling to graduate from Ninja Academy, he's determined to become the next Hokage. Sasuke, the top student in Narutos class, comes from the prestigious Uchiha clan. Sasuke is driven by a secret desire to win revenge against a mysterious person who wronged him in the past. And the smart and studious Sakura is
the brightest of Narutos classmates, but she is constantly distracted by her crush on Sasuke. She hopes to some day win Sasukes heart&if Naruto doesnt get in the way.

About ShoPro Entertainment/VIZ LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, ShoPro Entertainment and VIZ, LLC recently announced their upcoming merger to become one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. The new company, whose name will be announced shortly, will be owned by three of Japans largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shogakukan Inc., Shueisha Inc. and Shogakukan Production Co., Ltd. (ShoPro Japan).

ShoPro Entertainment/ VIZ is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America and a global licensor of Japanese animation. The new company offers an integrated product line including magazines such as SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT, graphic novels, videos, DVDs, audio soundtracks and develops and markets animated entertainment starting from initial production, television placement and distribution, to merchandise licensing and promotions for audiences and consumers of all ages.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=851

take that narutards!

oh my, well if "The Internet's Most Trusted Anime News Source" said so, then it MUST be true

i wonder what would Aone do this being licensed by ShoPro.. knowing Anbu and their stand on licensing.. i hope Aone would still continue

Not surprised at all, especially being licensed by a Viz subsidiary.

Thank god Viz got it. Anyone else would have killed it.

oh well had to happen sooner or later, just glad viz got it(or at least a viz subsidiary) before lets say 4 kids did

Quote:

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Originally posted by: Kagemane_no_Jutsu
Thank god Viz got it. Anyone else would have killed it.

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I hope they use Viz's technique translations.

VALENTINE SKILL.

THE EVIL EYE!

I hope they don't screw up the names like they did in the translated manga.

"As Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura prepare for the journeymanexam......."

But yeah... I hope Aone still subs.... cause thats all I have is the A-A versions... so it would be rather awkward to start keeping a different subber's versions....

Yeah, I can see it being murdered and a half, probably airing on WB (right before Yugioh)

I really do hope Anbu Aone keeps subbing.....those are the only ones I watch!

I just hope some one continues to sub it anyone I dont care who.
but if you think about it only Aone and DB are the one who are up to date with it

this will be intresting, i wont ever watch it on TV or whateverr, however if teh DVDs are good ill grab them

what im most intrested in is whats gonna happen to teh fansubbers. IM Naruto is WAY to popular to be dropped all together, if aone or DB decide to drop it IMO someone will pick it up

I went to AnimeOne's channel on Irc. I think you'll all be happy by their topic.
* Sakaki- changes topic to 'AnimeONE .: Releases: GSD 17 [5132DD8C] AMG 06 [8737D9AA]Recruiting: Translators & QC'ers @ #aone-recruit BT: http://a.scarywater.net/aone/, http://bt.point-blank.cc/, http://www.gotwoot.net/torrents.php XDCC: http://xrl.us/aonex OR http://aone.anime.biz.ly/ ask about Naruto = BAN!! Not Dropped!'

I went to Anbu's channel and their was nothing about Naruto being dropped but seeing as how they drop licensed anime, I think they will and AnimeOne will do it themselves.

Quote:

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Originally posted by: NarutoMaster
I went to AnimeOne's channel on Irc. I think you'll all be happy by their topic.
* Sakaki- changes topic to 'AnimeONE .: Releases: GSD 17 [5132DD8C] AMG 06 [8737D9AA]Recruiting: Translators & QC'ers @ #aone-recruit BT: http://a.scarywater.net/aone/, http://bt.point-blank.cc/, http://www.gotwoot.net/torrents.php XDCC: http://xrl.us/aonex OR http://aone.anime.biz.ly/ ask about Naruto = BAN!! Not Dropped!'

I went to Anbu's channel and their was nothing about Naruto being dropped but seeing as how they drop licensed anime, I think they will and AnimeOne will do it themselves.

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thats good to hear, i wonder if itll be IRC only release or will they still put it up on BT

Wait a minute I can speak spanish is there someone subbing in spanish?
Oh yeah I wander if DB will realese something tomorrow

if they dont, then its will officially be(IMO) the end of the world(b/c the world sucks as it is), if they do, then we just dodged a bullet

Of course. It isn't licensed. I truely hope Viz doesn't ruin it, if it's true. I would've bought Naruto if I was rich

Well..if that's true what aone said then cool, as long as they continue to sub it. T_T .. as for viz..I think their dubbing sucks (i.e. Inuyasha)..and the translations used in shonen jump suck too..so bet they would use those in the anime... thoug Viz is better than 4 kids...(man...buying Naruto DVD's then would be expensive...3 eps per DVD most likely)

Crap aside from ANBU & AonE, the only other subber lately has been the DB, which I can't watch cause I don't have the right codecs. What happened to the other subbers? I mean there were other good and ok ones out there and now they are gone.

And yes, an IRC release only would be great.