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Magazines published by Viz

Animerica (discontinued)
Animerica Extra (discontinued)
Manga Vizion (discontinued)
PULP (discontinued)
Shojo Beat
Shonen Jump USA

Criticism

Among the most common of criticism against Viz Media involves its policies of Western localization; readers familiar with original Japanese manuscripts have noticed severe liberalities with translations, as well as heavy art edits that are seen as detracting from a manga's quality. Numerous manga have several translation inconsistencies due to a frequent rotation of translators, and changes such as "panel swaps" from Japan's "right to left" reading format are maintained because Viz affirms such a format allows its products to be more accessible. Viz's staying popularity has not provided any incentive to change their policies, and little was done to appease reader complaints until TOKYOPOP emerged as a serious competitor between the years 2002–2004.

Additional complaints focus around Viz's strict policy of censorship; popular titles like Dragonball and its second part, which was renamed as Dragonball Z to avoid confusion were subjected to a strong degree of language simplification, and any instances of non-bloodless violence were edited out of the English language manga at the behest of angry parents. Much of this censorship occurred after the previously mentioned titles were published relatively unedited. Viz's argument was that the increased censorship (from a "T" for "teen" rating to an "A" for "all audiences") allowed it to distribute manga in more popular marketing venues (such as Wal-Mart) and to earn greater profits from the marketing of their titles.

When Shueisha became a joint owner of Viz Media in 2002, both Shogakukan and Shueisha began to exclusively release manga through Viz. There are a few exceptions; Shueisha originally licensed its adult-oriented manga to an affiliate, Raijin Comics; after Raijin Comics' bankruptcy, Viz created the "Shonen Jump Advanced" and "Viz Signature" brands to differentiate properties oriented toward older readers. Recently, Shueisha permitted DC Comics subsidiary CMX Manga to license Tenjho Tenge and Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne. These restrictions are controversial because Shueisha/Shogakukan's competitors (such as Kodansha) have been forced to split their titles between other licensors such as TOKYOPOP, Dark Horse or Del Rey.

Shueisha and Shogakukan's influence in Western markets puts pressure on other affiliated companies, like Hakusensha, to default to Viz Media (Viz holds all but four licensed titles from Hakusensha). This excessive control of the market is seen as a cause of Viz's unstable quality, typography, accuracy, and art cleanliness. However, with the rise of smaller companies, like CMX, Dark Horse, and specifically Del Rey (a partner of Kodansha), this advantage has been permanently curbed; TOKYOPOP now must struggle to remain competitive in the licensing market, while Viz suffers from no such limitation.

Recently, Viz Media has come under fire for their policies of "rotating" manga in their monthly magazine, Shojo Beat. Two titles, Kaze Hikaru and Count Cain were removed from Shojo Beat's monthly serial, on the claim that Viz "periodically switch out stories to keep the magazine fresh". Readers of the magazine question Viz's integrity, as this move forces them to purchase expensive manga volumes for discontinued titles, which are released at an extremely slow pace.