A deal between two of Viz Media’s parent companies could result in streamlining of manga licensing for the American market. Leading Japanese manga publisher Shueisha, one of Viz Media’s corporate parents, has made an investment in ShoPro, the licensing and merchandising arm of Shogakukan, another leading manga publisher and parent company of Viz Media.  ShoPro will now be renamed Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions and the new entity should enable streamlined internal operations and provide more flexibility and timeliness in developing titles for overseas markets.

Founded in 1967 ShoPro has handled a number of properties related to Shogakukan manga and anime properties, including Pokemon, Doraemon, Inuyasha, Hamtaro, Detective Conan, and Megaman.  As a result of Shueisha’s investment, the new company will be able to handle properties related to manga from both Shogakukan and Shueisha.

Hidemi Fukuhara, the CEO of Viz Media, noted that “The formation of Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions by two of our key parent companies will undoubtedly speed the licensing process of future properties.”