Viz Media LLC has been a long time rock in the North American anime and manga industry. Titles like Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, and Dragonball have all helped keep the titan afloat despite major setbacks that seem to strike out each year. Viz Media is known for publishing kid and teen friendly titles, so it comes as somewhat of a surprise that they are currently seeking an editor specifically for the yaoi/BL genre. For those who don't know, yaoi is a term English speakers use to define male homosexual content that typically involves erotic situations of widely varying degrees of graphicness. The BL stands for Boys Love.

It seemed possible, given the squeaky clean track record Viz has in regards to mature content if we're not counting Black Lagoon and Biomega, that this posting may have referred to manga involving homosexual romance devoid of erotic content. However, it specifically states that, "Knowledge of yaoi/BL genre and market, and ability to work on adult-oriented materials A MUST." There is little room for interpretation, but again, due to the nature of the yaoi/bl genre, the graphic nature of such "adult-oriented materials" may be nothing more than suggestive dialogue and titilating imagery.

What this means for Viz Media's future publication choices is left to speculation. It's possible this is an attempt to corner areas of the manga market left previously untouched by Viz to make up for losses in teen and young adult entertainment. The anime and manga industries in North America have been suffering losses for the past few years, the reasons for which are as divergent as they are complex. You can check out the job posting here.