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Column by Scott Green

VIZ Media has announced that it has licensed from Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) the Download to Own (DTO) and Download to Rent (DTR) rights for the United States for the smash hit DEATH NOTE anime series, currently airing in Japan.

The deal is significant because it marks the first time a well known Japanese anime property will be made legally available to domestic audiences for download to own while the title still airs on Japanese television. VIZ Media will seek to make the series available to consumers through a number of online providers in order to reach the widest audience possible.

DEATH NOTE, based on the Shueisha manga series of the same name, is currently one of the hottest anime titles in Japan. Published in North America by VIZ Media, it depicts the adventures of Light Yagami, an ace student with great prospects but who is bored out of his mind. All of that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to investigate, and he is soon hot on the trail of Light, who must now reevaluate his one noble goal.

The DEATH NOTE agreement is the latest in a series of moves by VIZ Media to make anime content available on a widespread basis via the web. Earlier this year, the company recently helped launch Toonami Jetstream, a joint venture with Cartoon Network that provides 24/7 broadband service and allows users to watch streamed episodes of a number of hit series like NARUTO, Samurai Jack and Megas XLR. Users are also able to watch full-length episodes of series like HIKARU NO GO, MÄR and THE PRINCE OF TENNIS that are not currently offered domestically.