Manga News and Information
March, 2007  "I received a formal warning from Kodansha. As a result I have stopped the distribution of the Moyashimon tool. There is plan to distribute the tool again in the future." What is the Moyashimon tool? Moyashimon tool is a desktop tool based on Masayuki Ikagawa's seinen manga Moyashimon. The tool's only function was to animate the fungus and viruses found in Moyashimon on your desktop. The tool was pretty yet functionally meaningless; nonetheless, it was well received by others for its cuteness. In March, Kodansha, the copyright holder of Moyashimon, sent the creator of Moyashimon tool a warning letter requesting that the tool be taken down, or else it will be regarded as infringing Kodansha's copyright.
On March 29th, the Japanese UNICEF Association, ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), ECPAT Sweden and the Sweden Embassy held a meeting to discuss "the elimination of child pornography websites, how Sweden should handle this work and the responsibility of Japan." This symposium was held to discuss the process Sweden is taking to wipe out websites related to child pornography, and to raise people's interests and raise support for banning child pornography websites. During the symposium, the issue of simply possessing (not selling) child pornography, lolicon manga and animations was discussed. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Morning, Kodansha has released a new comic magazine titled Mandala. An "unprecedented" international manga magazine, Mandala contains 15 works by artists from 6 different countries: France, Italy, China, Korea, Singapore and Japan. According to Kodansha:
Works featured in Mandala include: On the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending March 18, VIZ Media's Naruto volume 13 ranks at #48, and Fullmetal Alchemist volume 12 ranks at #131.
The Reason I Quit My Job as a Manga Editor Part II There is a big difference between "what one likes to do" and "what one can do." I realized this when I first faced my own abilities and limits. Although you may say I'm using exaggerated languages, I was really shocked back then. I later changed my career because I believed that "what I like to do" equals "what I can do," which also equals "I am suited to what I like to do as a job." Houbunsha has opened the official website of its new manga magazine Comic Yell! at www.comicyell.com. According to the website, Comic Yell! is "a Shoujo manga magazine for boys," which, as many fans have pointed out online, is quite similar to Futabasha's Comic High!.
1) A pass case featuring Shakugan no Shana S artworks from Noizi Ito. A seminar titled "Manga to Anime: From Astro Boy to Spirited Away" will take place during the "Japan WOW!" Smithsonian event (March 31 to June 9):
Source: ActiveAnime According to a news post on Aurora Publishing's website, the manga publisher will release Chihiro Tamaki's Walkin' Butterfly later this summer:
Via: MangaCast MangaCast posts a press release from Broccoli Books, which states that the manga Coyote Ragtime Show from ufotable (story) and tartan check (art) will be released on June 27th: To see or not to see — shojo girls risk losing their image in Translucent Shizuka has problems. Not only is she an introverted girl, dealing with schoolwork and boys, but she feels invisible. In reality, she is victim to a disease that is making her literally translucent! Shizuka finds support with Mamoru, a boy who is falling for her despite her appearance, or lack thereof. Another friend, Keiko, suffers from the same illness and has turned completely invisible. Gardena, CA, March 30, 2007 - Juné by Digital Manga Publishing, one of the industry's most innovative manga licensing and publishing companies, is pleased to announce Satoru Kannagi as their industry guest for Anime Expo 2007 (www.anime-expo.org). According to Monster.com, Digital Manga Inc. is currently looking for a new Licensing/Guest Relations Assistant and a new Production Associate. MangaBlog reports that Yen Press has licensed Keiko Tobe's Hikari to Tomoni.... Hikari to Tomoni... is currently serialized in Akita Shoten's Missy magazine. In 2004 the work won the 8th Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Prize. Yen Press will release Hikari to Tomoni... in the U.S. under the title With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child. About to start his 40th year as a mangaka, Go Nagai talks to Mainichi Daily in an article titled "40-year veteran of ecchi manga Go Nagai says brains more fun than boobs." Inthe article, Go Nagai talks about his past, how he became what he is today, and his views on ecchi manga. Via: MangaBlog Anime UK News reports that British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was recently murdered by a Japanese hentai manga fan. According to investigators, the prime suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi, may have murdered Lindsay while playing out a scene from one of his hentai manga, as Lindsay, whose naked body was found buried in a bath of sand, was strangled to death after her hands and feet were tied with plastic cords: Reuters.jp has published an article on the popularity of manga in the U.K. Following the success of manga in France, Germany and the U.S., more and more people in the U.K. are starting to have a better understanding of Japanese manga. Manga such as Fruits Basket and Astro Boy are experiencing positive salesin the U.K., and works such as the Bible and Shakespearean plays are being adapted into manga. From MangaCast comes an article titled "Manga Magazines in Indonesia," which takes an in-depth look at the history of manga magazines in Indonesia, as well has descriptions of the various magazines and their respective publishers. Takeshi Miyazawa, a Canadian born manga artist who is currently in Japan, writes about a meeting with the editors of Wani Book's Comic Gum. The discussion reveals the editors' view on overseas manga markets and their view of foreign artists working in Japan. Via: MangaBlog Panini Comics Brazil has announced that it plans to release Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto in Brazil. Also, according to issue 42 of the magazine Wizmania, Panini will finally release Samurai Executor in Brazil this May, and Astro Boy later this year. Cartoon Network Latin America has recently acquired 52 episodes of the Naruto anime. Source: Papo de Budega Sometime between 7 - 11pm on March 20th, someone broke into Captain Tsubasa creator Yoichi Takahashi's office and walked away with 500,000 yen. The office is on the 2nd floor of a building in Katsushika, Tokyo. According to the report, when Yoichi Takahashi returned to his office at 11pm, he discovered the doors have been opened, and the 500,000 yen in his desk is no longer there. Fortunately no manga-related materials have been touched. Currently the police is investigating the theft. Source: Nikkei According to a post from Adam Arnold in the Seven Seas forum, the launch date of Seven Seas' new Light Novel imprint has been pushed back to the Fall of 2007:
Via: ActiveAnime According to a press release posted on MangaCast, Broccoli Books will be releasing Koge-Donbo's latest manga Kon Kon Kokon on June 13th, 2007. The new comic release list for March 28 2007 from ComicList, compiled by MangaCast. Manga Jouhou has posted a reply from Libre Publishing regarding the CPM/Be Beautiful incident. According to Libre, the license agreement CPM had with Biblos became invalid after Biblos filed for bankruptcy. CPM has since failed to establish a new license agreements with Libre Publishing: |
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. |
"Child pornography in manga and anime must be eradicated!" - 
It's a common practice nowadays to include free gifts with manga magazines in the form of posters or keychains. However, the latest issue of MediaWork's 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
