The 1st of March 1993 marked the official launch of Animerica, a monthly magazine that would become one of the first professional-quality anime and manga publications released in the United States. Before this date, a very low print preview issue numbered 0 had been released in November 1992, serving as a test run for what was to come.
The magazine was co-edited by Seiji Horibuchi, Satoru Fujii, and Trish Ledoux, individuals who leveraged Viz's connections to Shogakukan to bring Japanese pop culture to American audiences. This early effort laid the groundwork for a decade of influence, establishing a platform that would eventually feature interviews with voice actors, reviews of anime and manga series, and serialized chapters from popular manga like X, Area 88, and Galaxy Express 999.
In 1997, a Japanese company named Redsun began using the domain name animerica.com to host an adult-oriented and hentai distribution website, leading to a legal dispute with Viz Media. The court ruled that the website was causing confusion with Viz's publication, but this confusion was primarily limited to American audiences, and it required Redsun to include a disclaimer on its website and all advertising.
The last monthly issue of the original Animerica was released with a cover date of June 2005, marking the end of an era. Subscriptions to the original magazine were replaced with subscriptions to Viz's Shojo Beat manga anthology, which had been launched in July 2005 to replace Animerica Extra.
In 2004, the magazine had a circulation of 45,000, with 80% of its issues bought via newsstands rather than by subscription. This number was a drop from previous years, due to greater competition from other magazines like Newtype USA, resulting in Viz's changing its format.