VIZ Media Acquires Online Rights to Anime Series

SAN FRANCISCO, August 14: VIZ Media has acquired the
download rights to the anime series Bleach
from TV Tokyo and Shueisha and is planning to offer 20 episodes of the show in
both the dubbed and subtitled versions via direct2drive.com and totalvid.

Bleach is based on
the best-selling manga by Tite Kubo, also published in North America by VIZ
Media. Broadcast on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, the anime series follows the adventures of Ichigo,
a teenage student who acquired his powers from a powerful supernatural Soul
Reaper, and now dedicates his time to protecting the innocent and helping
tortured souls find peace.

“We are excited to announce we have acquired the
download-to-own and download-to-rent rights to Bleach,” said Daniel Marks, the senior VP of strategy and
business development for VIZ Media. “Broadband delivery of anime content serves
as a compelling counterpart to traditional formats such as DVD. We will
continue to respond to the growing demand for high quality content on digital
platforms.”

Bleach is the newest
addition to VIZ Media’s stable of anime content for digital delivery. Earlier
this year, the San Francisco-based publisher, animator and licensor of Japanese
content acquired the download rights to Death Note, marking the first time a well-known Japanese anime
property had officially been made available for download while still airing on
Japanese television.