ADV Manga

About

Click on the image above to view the
archived ADV Films website.

ADV Manga was the manga publishing division of A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc., announced at Anime Expo 2003, and formally launched that August.¹

A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (ADV) was founded in August 1992 by Matt Greenfield and John Ledford with ADV Films, licensing and distributing anime titles for a North American release.²

The ADV Manga division was borne from ADV’s desire to capitalize on the then-growing North American manga market. Due to their strong roots in the anime market at the time, ADV Manga initially focused on publishing the manga series of anime titles licensed by ADV Films. In the formal press release, co-founder Ledford stated, “Our cross-promotional capability is key to the traction we’ve already developed in the licensing market. We’re able to reach consumers and potential consumers through our anime division, the monthly magazine Newtype USA, and via The Anime Network as well; the synergy is extraordinary.”

A major factor in the failure of ADV Manga was the January 2004 statement by co-founder Ledford, claiming that ADV Manga had “licensed over 1000 individual volumes of manga and manhwa for North American release.”³ Many of these licenses would never be publicly announced, and, of those that were, few made it to publication.

Due to the impact of the 2008 recession, ADV ultimately ceased operations in September 2009, and sold their assets to different companies. ADV Manga seemed to have been discontinued prior to the closure.⁴