Animerica

Animerica

Volume 1, Issue 2 of Animerica (April 1993)
Categories	anime, manga
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	45,000 (2004)
Publisher	Viz Media
First issue	November 1992
Final issue	June 2005
Company	Viz Media
Country	United States
Based in	San Francisco, California
Language	English
Website	http://www.animerica-mag.com
ISSN	1067-0831

Animerica was a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993 cover date. The magazine originally featured articles and reviews on manga, anime, and related media, as well as manga preview chapters. In 1998, Animerica Extra was launched as a manga anthology which eventually focused specifically on shōjo titles. It was canceled in 2004.

Viz changed the magazine's format in April 2005, with the new magazine being three different free publications of the same name. One is advertising-oriented and created specially for distribution at anime and manga conventions while the other is more general in scope and with a version each for distribution through Waldenbooks and Borders stores. A similar version was later added for Best Buy stores. All three versions have fewer and briefer articles and a lower page count.

Animerica was one of the first professional anime and manga magazines released in the United States, and one of the most popular in the 1990s. In 2004, it had a circulation of 45,000 readers, but low sales and high competition from Newtype USA resulted in the essential cancellation of the original magazine and its reformatting as a free digest. 100 copies of the first issue of the free digest were sent to 1,000 Waldenbooks and Border stores.

Animerica was introduced in 1992 with the release of issue 0, a preview issue, in November 1992, with the first official issue following in March 1993. With Viz's connections to Shogakukan, the magazine was one of the first professional-quality anime and manga oriented magazine to be released in the United States. At the magazine's launch, it was co-edited by Seiji Horibuchi, Satoru Fujii, and Trish Ledoux. In 1998, Viz introduced a related magazine, Animerica Extra, which was its first monthly manga anthology. This secondary magazine was canceled in 2004. To celebrate the magazine's ninth anniversary, Viz launched a redesign of the magazine starting with the November 2001 issue that included a new cover design, a new logo, and an increased focus on news, reviews, and Japanese trends. Fold-out posters were also added to every issue. During 2002 the magazine was published in a square bound, full colour format without a manga serial that had previously been included. By 2003, the magazine had also doubled its initial page count.