The One Punch Man Phenomenon Rides High Amongst Licensees
Paris, February 13 — Paris-based Viz Media Europe, leader in Japanese Entertainment content in Europe, has been handling the One-Punch Man license. An important number of licensing partners are joining in to launch news products.
« One-Punch Man is a strong potential license which has already received a warm welcome from the public. We are very glad to build upon this success in partnership with leading licensees in Europe, in order to deliver quality products to the fan base. » Aâdil Tayouga, EMEA Licensing and Retail Manager at Viz Media Europe
A great success amongst licensees
In the next months, several ranges will be released,
launching popular products. Viz Media Europe will partner
with numerous major market players in Europe: Abysse
Corp will develop a range of textile, bags, accessories and
tableware, while Semic, Just Toys,
Tsume and Sakami will focus on
the toys, collectibles and statues.
Stationery, a very popular category
will be handled by GB Eye and Kazé.
Viz Media Europe is thrilled with the
reach and the success of the One
Punch Man license on a global level:
A hit not only in Japan, but also in
Europe and all the way to America!
One-Punch Man in figures
Started in 2009, the webcomics has
been viewed more than ten million
times. It has then been released
by one of the biggest publishers,
Shueisha, that sold more than
seven millions copies in Japan. In
2015, the series goes global with
the creation of an animated series.
In Europe, the manga sales have
reached 583,000 copies; and in
France only there have been more than 12,000 copies
of the anime sold in two months and more than 3.6
million views on Anime Digital Network. Bandai recently
announced that a new season is already planned for 2018.
An action-driven superhero series, an off the wall concept
Saitama only became a hero for fun, but he's become so
strong that even his mightiest opponents are taken out
with a single punch... which kind of bores him. With his
apathetic superhero, One-Punch Man succeeded to reach
a new public that does not read or
watch manga on a regular basis.
For starters, the original author,
One, wants to stay anonymous
and publishes the webcomics for
free. It has become hugely popular
in Japan and has been adapted
in manga by Yūsuke Murata as
well as in an animated series (12
x 26' episodes) by Bandai and
the Madhouse studio. Some of
the many strengths of the series
include an off the wall humor that
is distilled along the story as well
as a scenario that keeps on twisting
the customary rules of the genre.
What's next?
Viz Media Europe is planning
to showcase the One-Punch Man
riveting license during major
B2B and consumer events
in Europe: Kazachok (the biggest French licensing fair),
Salon del Manga (Barcelona), Japan Expo (Paris)...
