Now That's What I Call Anniversary!
Happy 150th Anniversary to Sapporo
(NOTE: This post references Sapporo ⭐ and uses the company as a case study. This post contains links to Sapporo's webpage. Must be 21+ 🦅 to read this post. Thanks.)
~ Storytime ~
So, I am working part-time as a cashier at a liquor store, and this happened a few days ago...
I greeted my customer, a 30-something dude, and I started scanning when this tall boy stopped me in my tracks. I had to halt the transaction and stare really hard at the can. (Good thing there wasn't a line.) My fascination wasn't because of the brand (more on that in a second). It was all due to the design.
A realistic manga rendering of some adventurer? Is this a manga reference or collaboration?
I thought as I examined the can. I thought it was a manga collaboration or reference to Vagabond. (Before you throw tomatoes at me, no I have never read Vagabond. It was just the closest reference I had. It looked that similar to me.) Dude McBro was nonplussed and not very enthused. I don't think he mangas because I let my mask down and went full weeb for a second.
In fact, Dudebro claimed that he hadn't noticed the design before I pointed it out to him. He just wanted a tall, cold Sapporo to drink after a long day. And, you know what? Fair. Still, it bummed me out. (The mountain of times people doesn't read or pay attention, just going by rote or simply not caring, is high. The amount of people that also don't have their I.D. or just want to argue with me over company and state law is also very high and infuriating. It's enough to fill a manga a la Bookseller Honda-San.) Clearly, Bro wasn't the target audience for the awesome illustration on the can, but hopefully, my enthusiasm inspired him to look a little closer when he got home and maybe scan the QR code.
Now, I'm not a fan of Sapporo beer. In fact, I'm not a fan of beer in general. They all taste the same to me—horrible. (The exception so far is Lindemans, which means I should keep trying lambic fruit beers.) However, I am a fan of packaging, labels, and advertising, and this is the second time Sapporo's got me. Last year, Sapporo released 22oz cans with a very cool Year of the Snake design rendered by tattoo artist Tokyo Hiro. I had to have one.
Per Sapporo's site, here's what the Year of the Snake design means:
2025’s Wood Snake is associated with being cool-headed, creative, thoughtful and wise. The two snakes circling the packaging with respective closed and open mouths symbolize the end of an old year and the beginning of the new, while the eight vibrant peonies flowers represent good luck.
So, what about the serious-looking man on the can? Well, that man is Seibei Nakagawa, and he is the man who created Sapporo in 1876 at the age of 29. Yes, 1876. Turns out, 2026 marks Sapporo's 150th anniversary, and this is the design the company went with to celebrate, but wait. There's more! Sapporo shares its founder's epic story as a vertical, scrolling manga, complete with spot color and motion graphics. Up-and-coming artist Hiroki Ishizawa drew the manga. The manga is best viewed on mobile and can be read here. If you are a Sapporo fan (or a fan of design) and pick up the can in-person, you will see a QR code. The QR code will direct you to the manga. I highly recommend just checking out the manga. It's really dramatic and neat! And, when you're done checking out the manga, you can check out the video too. (Sadly, not anime.)
*Based on company survey (lol)
Hey, do you know who else is celebrating a big anniversary this year? Now, the company isn't celebrating 150 years. It's only celebrating 40 years of operating in the US of A, licensing and distributing manga (and anime) in English to the masses.
Yep, Viz.
A joint venture between Japanese publishing giants Shueisha and Shogakukan, Viz Media LLC was founded on July 2, 1986 in San Francisco, California by Seiji Horibuchi. If you care to know more about this guy and the history of how VIZ Media LLC came to be, you'll have to read the Wikipedia article on the company (or find a more reliable source) for that information because Viz. Can't. Be. Bothered. (Unlike Sapporo.)
I've poked around the viz.com website, and I can't find that type of information. So far, Viz has released a blog post (first published on July 21, 2026?), a dedicated page (called Vizcore), and a YouTube video (uploaded July 31, 2026). The blog post contains nothing of value besides a list of Viz's greatest hits from each decade. The blog post also contains the YouTube video and a link to the Vizcore page.
The YouTube video is sappy and too long. It makes me want to vomit. Seriously, what were they trying to do here? Win an Oscar?! They're no Disney. (Shout out to Disney's Once Upon A Studio.) In a nutshell, the video is a coming-of-age story following a little girl's fandom of Viz-published books from childhood to middle-age. Along the way, she shares her passion for reading Viz-published manga with her friends, her spouse, and finally, her teenager.
Now, this video is supposed to invoke nostalgia. You, the viewer, are supposed to connect with the video, and go, "Ah, yes. I remember getting into manga and reading some Viz-published works when I was young." However, this video does not do this for me, assuming, I'm part of the demographic Viz is trying to reach with this life highlight reel. In addition to vomiting, it makes me want to rage. I've seen this premise done much shorter and better. I've seen this premise done with less overly dramatic and royalty-free piano music. (Seriously? Quit it.)
Observe:
IAMS, the pet food company, literally decided to do the "A Boy and His X" trope to the best of their (well, the ad company's) ability. Formulaic but good execution. I felt something here. Yeah, I owned a dog, but even if I hadn't, I'd still find this commercial charming. If I had to pinpoint why I'm less annoyed here versus the Viz commercial, it would have to be that dogs are serious business. Manga is not.
Now, people can get attached to their collections and individual series and books. And yeah, manga has been used as a medium to tell serious stories (see Sapporo above). But on the whole? Reading and collecting manga is not that serious. It's supposed to be anything but. The painfully slow pacing and piano music is just so obvious screaming, "FEEL SOMETHING, DAMNIT!" I'm an Aquarius. It will take more than that to make me cry.
Okay. Let me take a deep, calming breath here.
Whoosah.
Maybe, I can forgive Viz for being uninspiring, predictable, and formulaic. Maybe, I can forgive Viz for making a boring video emblematic of what they have been doing for the last 5, 10+ years: being uninspiring, predictable, and formulaic. What I can't forgive? I can't forgive them for stuff missing from the video. Important stuff. Obviously not to Viz, but if you ask me, it's important stuff.
Out of the HUNDREDS of titles Viz has published over the years, the video only highlights FIVE. Three unique titles from the Shonen Jump line and two titles by the same author from Shonen Sunday. Screw everything else, I guess. Now, I love me some Rumiko Takahashi. She is my #1 favorite mangaka, hands down. So, of course, I loved seeing her work highlighted in the video. However, she isn't the only heavy hitter from Shonen Sunday and Shogakukan. The video spent way too long on people enjoying the same 5 books when the video could have spent that time on people reading more books across genres and demographics. Throw in some Shojo Beat, Viz Originals, Miyazaki, coloring and activity stuff, Splatoon, etc. How the fuck did they make an entire video without one shot of Junji Ito manga?!
Viz catering to their Shonen Jump fans is nothing new. They've been doing this for years. It's not a secret. I'm just tired of it.
When I think about how much this video cost to make (thousands, I'm sure), it makes me even angrier. That money might have been put to better use elsewhere. Merch, con stuff, something. Viz already makes man-on-the-street videos about manga at cons. Easiest video ever would be to go around and ask people about their favorite manga series from Viz's expansive library or maybe a favorite moment or memory while reading manga. String the best takes together, being mindful of diversity across people and the books they share (i.e. it shouldn't be a "shonen fanboy" showcase). (One of the best things about the Viz video is the diversity of people shown!) The video should be 5 minutes or less. Upbeat music only, and it better not step on the dialogue. Boom. Done.
Here's another video idea. Make a video of mangaka giving well wishes to Viz. The mangaka should be varied. Maybe they can hold up a one-of-a-kind illustration or a manga volume. This can be a short 2 minute or less video. Bonus video idea: maybe a few mangaka would be interested in doing some short silly videos.
Or, hey. Here's an idea... Make a fucking manga! Take a page from Sapporo, create a manga about the company's founding. Another idea, the manga could be an adaptation of the Vizcore video. Last idea, the manga could be an original idea, but that might be too much effort. So, story ideas aside, who should draw the manga? I think the manga should be drawn by a VIZ Original mangaka (cross-promotion and free advertising, duh), an up and coming artist, or a fan. If you go the fan route, there could be a contest. The winner gets to draw the 40th anniversary manga as their big debut along with a cash prize. Hell, at this point, I'm sure a fervent fan would whip up a nice 40th anniversary manga for free.
There's still a few months left to the year for Viz to do something really cool, but given how New York Comic Con is going to be the Naruto-Con, I'm not holding out hope. What can I say? Disappointing anniversaries are par for the course with Viz. Maybe they're saving their energy for their 50th anniversary in 10 years. Anyway...
Happy Anniversary, Sapporo. Here's to 150 more years.
Comments