December, 2006

According to this press release, Purrsia Press has recently completed the first issue of their manga-style anthology "U.K. Manga":

Independent comics publisher Purrsia Press has just completed issue #1 of their brand new manga-styled anthology, "U.K. Manga". It is a collection of short original comic stories directly from Britain's vastly growing underground dojinshi set. This includes material by international fan-favorite artist "Foxy", and Rising Stars Of Manga winner Emma Vieceli.

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New York, NY - December 8, 2006 - The trailers have been submitted, the voting has ended and the anime community has spoken. The winning team of Kaneva and Central Park Media’s Otaku Invitational is Twilight Musuko with their trailer for Revolutionary Girl Utena, The Movie.

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On December 6th, Yoyogi Live Animation Co., Ltd. (Yoyogi, Shibuya Ward, President - Ryoich Ishikawa, Capital - 40 million yen, 40 employees) petitioned for the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and on the same day received the Preservation of Assets Order from the Tokyo District Court.

Established in May of 1978, Yoyogi Live Animation managed the anime school Yoyogi Animation Gakuin (代々木アニメーション学院), which had over 6000 students in its 13 different branches of study. Yoyogi Animation Gakuin, one of the largest anime schools in Japan, has earned great recognition for its honorable history, positive scores, and the large number of graduates. The animation school has raised numerous anime creators within its Anime department, as the Imaging, Game Creation, and Show Business departments. The revenue of the school was reported to be approximately 7,700 million yen in April 1998.

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Broccoli Books has announced a new manga series:

- Murder Princess by Sekihiko Inui, Dietrich Seto (Editor), Satsuki Yamashita (Translator)

Some other titles where also hinted at in Broccoli's Newsletter:

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ILEX books address a host of technical and creative issues, and offer easy-to-follow, jargon-busting texts by renowned experts in each field. With stunning graphics and beautiful photography, ILEX books guarantee to smooth the way for digital creatives.

To follow is a list of titles, written by industry experts, available from ILEX for the Spring 2007 season.

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Create Your Own Graphic Novel

Full colour graphic novel format throughout

ILEX is pleased to announce the release of Create Your Own Graphic Novel. Available from October 2006, this book is in a stunning graphic novel format – each page has been constructed and illustrated using the digital techniques that the book describes.

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An interesting video from YouTube of professional manga reading in Japan.

According to People's Daily Japan, Beijing Film Academy has introduced a new category, Nihon Taishi Prize (Japan Ambassador Prize) to its Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award. The prize was awarded to the head of the Japanese Embassy's Public Relations and Culture Department, who attended the award ceremoney on December 3rd.

With over 50 years of history, the Beijing Film Academy is the most prestigious film school in China. The Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award was established 8 years ago to promote creativity and production of animations.

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From TeleRead comes an article on how a "rumored Amazon Kindle E Ink reader, subsidized by e-book sales, [may] threaten the $350 Sony Reader."

MangaCast points out that the winners of the 2006 Seiun (Nebula) Awards have been announced (also included is a list of the nominees):

Best SF Manga:
- Onmyouji by Okuno Reiko/Yumekura Baku (Winner)
- Savage Garden by Nishigawa Rousuke
- Kaguya Hime by Shimizu Reiko

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RICHMOND, CA December 6, 2006 -­ Wondering what to give friends and family this holiday season? Infinity Studios, LLC adds to the excitement of the Holidays with the Editor's Picks for December! These manga/manwha titles are sure fire stocking stuffers and will bring smiles to all this season. Get them for friends. Get them for family. But most importantly, get them for yourself!

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Aduld manga publisher Icarus Publishing has announced two new titles:

- Blue Eyes 4 by Tohru Nishimaki
- Afterschool Sex Slave Club by Tuna Empire

TOKYOPOP's Best-Selling Manga Fruits Basket Reaches Two Million Books in Print with Latest Release

Los Angeles, CA (December 6, 2006) – TOKYOPOP, the leader of the Global Manga Revolution, is proud to announce that the company's hottest manga series, Fruits Basket, created by Natsuki Takaya, has reached two million books in print with the release of Fruits Basket Volume 15, in stores now.

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According to listings found on Amazon.com, the following titles have been licensed by VIZ Media:

- Ichigo 100% by Mizuki Kawashita
- Pretty Face by Yasuhiro Kano
- Togari by Yoshinori Natsume
- Yurara by Chika Shiomi
* Amazon.com lists the author of Pretty Face as Joseph Kanon, which is a mistake.

Panini Comics Brazil will be releasing Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow in Brazil this December. The format of manga will be 13 x 18 cm, with approximately 176 to 192 pages a volume.

Source: Papo de Budega

Two of the largest Japanese search engine, Yahoo! Japan and Infoseek Japan, released their top 10 search terms for anime and manga in 2006. publish 2006 top search terms for Anime and Manga.

While Death Note took the first place in Yahoo's list thanks to the popularity of its manga, anime, and movie, it is worth noting that Pokemon, a project which Yahoo participated in, was not listed. In the overall ranking, Pokemon ranks at #48, while Death Note is at #50, so in reality Pokemon has a higher ranking than Death Note. Another interesting trend is that 6 of the 10 spots were taken by Weekly Shonen Jump titles.

Infoseek's list is a little different compared to Yahoo's, with titles like Eureka 7 and Fate/stay night that are aimed at an older audience making the top 10.

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MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog.

MangaCast points out that DramaQueen's RUSH site has launched a new blog called RUSH Blog. Also new is a manga title by Lynsley Brito called Venom Fang.

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ICv2 has announced its second annual ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference, which will take place at next February's New York Comic Con.

(LOS ANGELES, December 4, 2006) - The popular harem comedy manga Aoi House comes to life like never before in Seven Seas Entertainment's first-ever flash anime music video. With animation by the company's own flash animator extraordinaire Jonathan Talas (No Man’s Land: The Flash Anime, Diva v. Poe: The Flash Storybook), and set to the heavily downloaded Aoi House Theme Song - "Itsumo Futaride," Aoi House: The Music Video brings the iconic characters and slapstick visuals of the Aoi House manga to life like never before.

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The recipient of the 2006 Zoooka Manga Prize was announced on November 17th. The Zoooka Manga Prize, hosted by Takarazuka University of Arts and Design and supported by Mainichi Shimbun, was established in an effort to search for new manga artists. This year the award received 482 applications from both home and abroad, 18 works from three categories were chosen: the public category, the university and vocational college category, and the junior and senior high school category.

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From Sake-Drenched Postcards comes a special feature titled "Hentai Manga Gears Up for World Exposure," which takes a look at the hentai manga culture. Also included are interviews with various hentai manga artists:

- Manga Artist Interview Series (Part I) - Toshio Maeda
- Manga Artist Interview Series (Part II) - Takeshi Oshima
- Manga Artist Interview Series (Part III) - Rui Hashimoto

Bangkok, Thailand - Decemeber 2, 2006 -- MovieSeer has formed a partnership with TOKYOPOP, leader of the Global Manga Revolution, obtaining exclusive rights to distribute a catalogue of more than 60 TOKYOPOP properties on mobile networks across Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore, it was announced today. TOKYOPOP manga wireless content will be available in various forms, including graphic images, audio and video contents, and games.

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