VIZ Media To Welcome POKÉMON Manga Creators To 2016 San Diego Comic-Con Int'l

Hidenori Kusaka And Satoshi Yamamoto Will Make Their

First-Ever North American Appearance At The Nation’s Preeminent Annual Pop Culture And Comics Convention

San Francisco, CA, April 11, 2016 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces that it will welcome the creators of the POKÉMON ADVENTURES manga (graphic novel) series—Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto—for a very special, first-ever professional appearance at the 2016 Comic-Con International. POKÉMON ADVENTURES is published in English exclusively by VIZ Media.

Comic-Con International is one of the nation’s largest comic book, science fiction and pop culture events, and will take place July 20^th–24^th at the San Diego Convention Center, in San Diego, CA. VIZ Media will be located in Booth 2813. Complete details on Comic-Con are available at: www.comic-con.org.

POKEMON Artist Satoshi Yamamoto

Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto are scheduled to make a series of appearances throughout Comic-Con. The pair will meet fans at the VIZ Media booth for signings and participate on a POKÉMON panel event alongside VIZ Media editors. Other exciting POKÉMON activities will be detailed soon.

“It’s a tremendous honor to welcome Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto as special guests for the 2016 Comic-Con International,” says Beth Kawasaki, Senior Editorial Director for Perfect Square. “We know fans of all ages will be very excited for the opportunity to join in the fun as POKÉMON celebrates its 20^th Anniversary and VIZ Media celebrates its 30^th Anniversary this year.”

Hidenori Kusaka writes and Satoshi Yamamoto creates artwork for POKÉMON ADVENTURES, where fans’ favorite Pokémon game characters jump out of the screen into the pages of this action-packed manga! The creative duo have developed several series within the POKÉMON ADVENTURES universe including Pokémon Adventures, Pokémon Adventures: FireRed & LeafGreen, Pokémon Adventures: Emerald, Pokémon Adventures: Diamond & Pearl/PLATINUM, Pokémon Adventures: HeartGold & SoulSilver, Pokémon Adventures: Black & White and POKÉMON X•Y. They are currently working on the twelfth and thirteenth story arcs, POKÉMON X•Y and POKÉMON ΩRUBY αSAPPHIRE.

In addition to writing manga, Hidenori Kusaka also edits children’s books and plans mixed-media projects for Shogakukan’s children’s magazines. He uses the Pokémon Electrode as his author portrait.

Satoshi Yamamoto began drawing VIZ Media’s POKÉMON ADVENTURES in 2001, starting with volume 10. Yamamoto’s favorite manga creators/artists include Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon), Yukinobu Hoshino (2001 Nights), and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). He loves films, monsters, mysteries, punk rock music, and livin’ the good life. He uses the Pokémon Swalot as his artist portrait.

POKÉMON is one of the most successful international entertainment franchises of all time. More than 275 million POKÉMON video game titles and over 21.5 billion Pokémon Trading Cards have been sold in more than 74 countries in addition to substantial publishing and merchandise sales. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor for a wide variety of POKÉMON home media releases including animated series and films and also publishes a variety of POKÉMON manga graphic novel series including Pokémon Adventures, Pokémon Adventures: FireRed & LeafGreen, Pokémon Adventures: Emerald, Pokémon Adventures: Diamond & Pearl/PLATINUM, Pokémon Adventures: HeartGold & SoulSilver, Pokémon Adventures: Black & White and POKÉMON X•Y.

For additional information on POKÉMON and other anime/manga titles published by VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Established in 1986, VIZ Media is the premiere company in the field of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing. Along with its popular digital magazine WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, DRAGON BALL, SAILOR MOON, and POKÉMON, VIZ Media offers an extensive library of titles and original content in a wide variety of book and video formats, as well as through official licensed merchandise. Owned by three of Japan's largest publishing and entertainment companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is dedicated to bringing the best titles for English-speaking audiences worldwide.

Learn more about VIZ Media and its properties at www.VIZ.com.