Manga News and Information
October, 2006Los Angeles, CA (October 26, 2006) – Anime Gamers, the US flagship store of the Japanese hobby store chain Gamers, has teamed up with COSMODE magazine and Cosplay.com for the second annual cosplay photo shoot to take place at the Anime Gamers store on Saturday, November 4, 2006. Cosplayers will be photographed by Kyle Johnsen of Cosplay.com, and photos taken at the event will be showcased in the Cosplay.com photo gallery. Digital Manga, Inc. is hiring new licensing/guest relations for its publishing division:
San Francisco, CA, October 26, 2006 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies has selected Licensing & Promotions Latin America as its new representative for ZATCH BELL! and NARUTO in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. Licensing & Promotions Latin America represents King Features, Spellbound, Sulake, New Line Cinema and Rainbow among others. They will be an extension of VIZ Media within these markets and represent VIZ Media to local licensees, retailers and promotional partners. Shogakukan's Kotae wa Mitsu Volume 1 and Tokyo Flowchart Volume 1 were released today in Japan, at the same time, Yahoo! Comic also began distributing the two manga online in e-book format. This marks the first time manga is released both on and offline. Source: Manga Jouhou Los Angeles, CA, October 27, 2006 – 801 Media Inc., a sister company of Digital Manga Publishing, launched this past weekend at Yaoi Con 2006. The new publishing company will focus on edgier and more explicit yaoi compared to its sister Juné Manga. Opening with a suite party at Yaoi Con 2006, 801 Media Inc employees introduced participants to the new company with style. The company’s initial line-up of titles includes:
The Fullmetal Alchemist movie is facing an uncertain future in Brazil. Focus Filmes has announced that the premier date is still not certain, but the TV series DVD's Volume 4 and 6 will be released in January 2007. This will also be the month when Captain Tsubasa 2002 arrives in Brazil. MangaQuake is back for its third issue- and it's better than ever! Featuring a collection of strips from a few familiar names from previous issues, and some truly astonishing brand new talent. With stories of betrayal, inter species romance (…well sort of!) and Norse gods with traffic congestion problems- I think we can genuinely say that this issue, its 56 pages crammed to overflowing with fun and action- has something for everyone! And at the frankly laughable price of £2.50, you have NO excuse not to buy it! From Same Hat! Same Hat! comes a report of the Frankfurt Book Fair, as well as a detailed look at Dark Horse and their upcoming titles. Source: MangaBlog San Diego, California, Thursday, October 19, 2006. JAST USA, the leading publisher of Japanese PC dating-sim games in English, announced the immediate shipping of their newest title, Absolute Obedience. The interactive hardcore game for Windows, intended for adults aged 18 and older, is the second English-translated title for fans of yaoi (yah-OH-ee), meaning aesthetically beautiful male/male themes in Japanese animation, which is the fastest-growing segment of anime sub-culture today.
A few days ago, a shocking event took place in this otaku heaven that sent tremors throughout the otaku world - a maid was threatened, and subsequently molested, by a man. This incident is now being called "Maid Hunting," named after the controversial "Otaku Hunting" event that took place earlier this fall in Akihabara. According to reports, around 7:00pm on October 17th in front of the JR Akihabara Station, a 18 year old girl dressed as a maid (who was handing out flyers) was approached by a man. The man asked, "Are you a college student? Where do you work?" The maid was then asked to bring the man to the maid cafe she worked at. When they were climbing the stairs of the maid cafe, the man suddenly took out a small knife, and proceeded to forcefully molest the maid's lower body. Due to the amount of yaoi manga released in recent months, bookstore Books-A-Million has created a new "Mature Graphic Novel" subsection for all the "erotic" manga. According to Keromaru, the new adult subsection not only carries yaoi manga, but also smut, some seinen, and adult manga. Manga top 10 according to Tohan. Katsura Hibiki's latest BL novel, Mirage to Shakunetsu no Koi, published by Shinkosha under its Chocolat Novels Hyper label, was found plagiarizing the work of another author. This was pointed out by the author of the plagiarized novel as well as its readers, however, the author has asked to keep the name of the said novel from being released to the public. As a result, all of Katsura Hibiki's works have beem recalled, and her upcoming releases have been cancelled. Katsura Hibiki said in her apology that she regrets what she has done, and has decided to quit her job as a writer to show her regret. Broccoli Books is looking for a name for their new BL imprint. To submit a suggestion, either email editor@broccolibooks.com or post it in Broccoli Books' message board. The winner will receive a two-year supply of Broccoli Books boys love selection. Gardena, CA, October 24, 2006 – Juné by Digital Manga Publishing, America's largest yaoi publisher, wrapped up its 2006 convention at Yaoi Con 2006 October 20-22, 2006 with a slew of new title announcements and a few surprises for the attendees. The titles announced included: 1. Love Recipe by Kiriko Higashizato (LOS ANGELES, October 24, 2006) – Seven Seas Entertainment announced today the launch of North America's first ever "Yuri" line. Yuri is a genre of Japanese manga that focuses on girl-girl romantic relationships and is a category that has been all but overlooked by American manga publishers until now. Seven Seas will dub its new Yuri line of licensed manga: "STRAWBERRY." New York, NY (October 23, 2006) -- Former employees of Central Park Media and Be Beautiful Manga today announced the formation of Urban Alchemist, an independent clothing company dedicated to creating high-quality, original shirts and accessories for anime, video game, and comic book fans. Sweatdrop Studios presents two new anthologies this autumn - "Pink is for Girls" and "Blue is for Boys". The two books were created as a pair: one for girls and one for boys, where the stories are closely intertwined and explore the differences between shojo and shonen manga. San Francisco, California, 22nd October 2006. DramaQueen announced three new titles at YaoiCon 2006. During the industry panel at YaoiCon, DramaQueen gave the audience a sneak preview of three new titles that DramaQueen has acquired and will publish in 2007. DramaQueen acquired the following yaoi/BL titles: Recently a figurine of Saber (from Fate/stay-night) given away as a "hand-made collector's edition item" by a Chinese comic magazine called "Donghua Jidi" (Anime Base) became a hot topic of discussion in both China and Japan. The cause of the debates was the figurine's ugly appearance. Hakusensha, together with a yet-to-be-named Chinese publisher, will bring Natsuki Takaya's popular shojo manga Fruits Basket to mainland China. Following the footsteps of manga such as The Prince of Tennis, Inuyasha, and Dragon Ball, the release of Fruits Basket marks yet another large scale official release of a popular series in China. Fruits Basket will also become the first shojo manga with an official version released in China (bootlegged versions, on the other hand, are in abundance). Broccoli Books: Yaoi Press: June Manga: The 12th Salón de Manga de Barcelona will take place in Spain between October 27th - October 29th. The event will feature a diverse range of activities such as expositions, announcement of manga, anime, and magazines, the Spanish stage of the World Cosplay Summit, and competitions. Artists from the Japanese entertainment industry will also be appearing at the event: Hironobu Kageyama (singer of Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball Z, Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go WGP themes), Blood, Masakazu Katsura (Video Girl Ai, DNA, I's), Atsuko Nakajima (Character Design, Animation Director of Ranma, Urusei Yatsura, You're Under Arrest), Tachibana Higuchi, Hideshi Hino, Monkey Punch (Lupin III). According to Square Enix, Nagasarete Airantou by Takeshi Fujishiro will be adapted into an Anime in 2007. Nagasarete Airantou is currently serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan. |
Manga Zombie
Finale: Panelosophy
An ongoing conversation about the philosophy behind manga both in the U.S. and abroad. Manga Ranking
Monthly charts of comparative manga rankings based on aggregate online sales listings from Matt Blind. |
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
