Forty years ago, anime fandom in America lived in comic shops, traded VHS tapes and photocopied fan guides. Today, anime films dominate the global box office, streaming platforms aggressively compete for audiences, and manga drives blockbuster franchises that influence fashion, gaming, music, and internet culture itself.

VIZ’s own history tracks that transformation almost perfectly — from the analog discovery era of the 1980s to today’s algorithm-driven fandom economy where series are streamed, clipped, and lived online. In celebration of this 40-year trajectory, we’re revisiting our biggest hits spanning across four decades. From now through November, we’ll be highlighting each decade’s most notable manga and anime series, starting with the beginning, the 1980s.

1980s – The Analog Era 
The 1980s marked the beginning for VIZ, when discovering manga and anime was an endeavor that felt more hands-on, with new series being found through printed pages, VHS tapes, and shared recommendations. It was a time of bold lines, vibrant colors, and unmistakable 8-bit charm.

This was when VIZ first helped bring these stories to a new audience, laying the foundation for a manga and anime fandom that would grow for decades.

Ranma 1/2 (2-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1  

Banana Fish, Vol. 1

Ranma 1/2, Set 1

About VIZCORE

VIZCORE is a carefully curated collection that showcases not only VIZ’s best-selling titles, but also the landmark works that have shaped the company’s history, growth, and legacy.

These titles embody VIZ’s identity as a trailblazer and market leader in the international manga and anime landscape. Culturally, these are the stories that generations of passionate fans have grown up reading and watching–titles that have defined anime and manga fandom and left a lasting mark over four decades of publishing.

See the complete VIZCORE collection here.