Manga News and Information
April, 2007The Tezuka Cultural Awards official site has been updated with the nominees for the 11th Osamu Tezuka Culture Award. Eight manga have been nominated for the award, they are:
The winners will be announced on May 10th. Go here for last year's winner. From MangaCast comes the translation of a new article from Takeshi Ishizawa, a Japanese who have spent a long time living in Indonesia. The article, "MangaCast: Depth of Japanese Mangas - Asia in Comics 2004: Comics by Asian Women," looks at a symposium titled "Asia in Comics 2004: Asia Joryu Manga no Sekai" (Comics by Asian Women) held by Japan Foundation in February 2004. MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking (04/29) in Japan according to Toranoana, and the weekly BL Doujinshi ranking (04/21) in Japan according to Toranoana's BL specialty store Princess Side. From the LA Times comes an article titled "Mad for stories born as manga" that looks at manga-based light novels in the U.S.:
Via: MangaBlog Gentosha has re-launched its online manga magazine Genzo in the CD-ROM format. Genzo will be distributed by Gentosha through CD-ROM every month, free trial of the magazine will also be available on Genzo's website. The June issue of Monthly Shonen Jump came with another letter from its Editorial Department regarding the suspension of Monthly Jump. The letter also contains more information on the future of the magazine's serializations:
Due to its length, the article was broken down into several parts. In Part I, Araki talked about his past and motives. In Part II, Araki talked about his drawing style. In the third and final part, Araki answers questions presented by his audiences. *The questions (and Araki's answers) contain many references to Araki's works, some knowledge of JoJo and Araki's other series may be required. According to the latest issue of Ikki, Tetsuro Kasahara's manga about personalized mecha in space, Ride Back, will be adapted into an anime TV series. Via: ANN According to the latest issue of Gentosha's Monthly Comic BIRZ, PEACH-PIT's popular series Rozen Maiden will end its run in the July issue of Comic BIRZ. In January, rumors began circulating that PEACH-PIT is having a dispute with Comic BIRZ's editorial department over the serialization of Rozen Maiden. Later Rozen Maiden's serialization was suspended in the March issue of Comic BIRZ (released on January 30th). Source: Ultimatum Talk According to Young Animal's official website, Chika Umino, mangaka of Honey and Clover, will start a new serialization called "The Lion of March" this summer. Currently no other details are available. Source: Ultimatum Talk According to theOtaku.com, a manga store's guard was injured by a Japanese teenager when he tried to stop the boy from shoplifting:
According to mangaka Rino Fujii's recent blog post, the manga artist will be starting a new Clannad series in SoftBank Creative's manga magazine Comi Diji+. The series, titled Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de, will begin serialization in Comi Diji+ volume 8, on sale (6/21). MangaBlog points out an article from the Wanganui Chronicle, which reports that a mother in New Zealand recently asked a local library to restricted access to manga rated R13 and R16, such as CLAMP's Chobits:
Moetan, the popular English study guide from SansaiBooks, will be adapted into an anime TV series this July. The pre-site can be found at www.ink-chan.com Indian Catholic reports that manga-style illustrations are being used in a new vocations program from the National Office for Vocation of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. According to Fr. Paul Embery, Director of the National Office for Vocation: "We have chosen the Manga cartoons for the 2007 campaign, because we hope it will appeal to young people under twenty as well as people in their thirties. [...] Many of today’s priests and religious people say they first thought of their callings at the age of ten, sometimes even earlier." Source: Indian Catholic From Macworld comes an article that looks at how Japanese visual novels are not doing as well in the U.S. as Japanese manga:
Source: ActiveAnime San Francisco, CA, April 26, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the launch of NARUTO NATION™, a broad campaign that will bring an unprecedented increase in the frequency of publication of its wildly popular NARUTO™ manga series. The new comic release list for April 25th 2007 from ComicList, compiled by MangaCast. On the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending April 22nd, Tokyopop's Fruits Basket volume 16 ranks at #38. ICv2 has release its latest analysis on Q1 2007 manga and anime sales according to both Bookscan (bookstores) and Diamond (comics stores). Taken from the Top 50 Manga Properties, the top 10 ranked manga are:
For more information, see MangaBlog's analysis on ICv2's report. San Jose, CA, April 2007. Manga publisher DrMaster Publications has announced the release of Stray Little Devil, volume 4, an ongoing manga adventure series centered on Pam, a young devil-in-training trapped in a fantasy world where humans are mere myth. Hilarious, compelling, fast-paced with eye-popping artistic production, Stray Little Devil is sure to hit on all cylinders with manga fans. Prepare to enter a world where all the boys and girls are either sassy and angelic, or sassy and demonic. San Jose, CA, April 2007. DrMaster Publications Inc. has just announced the publication of Junk, volume 2, by acclaimed author Kia Asamiya, creator of works such as Silent Möbius, Martian Successor Nadesico, Steam Detectives and Dark Angel. San Diego, California, Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - JAST USA affiliate brand Peach Princess, the leading publisher of Japanese PC dating-sim games in English, announces the completion of production and immediate release of Yume Miru Kusuri :: A Drug That Makes You Dream. This interactive dating simulation game for Windows, intended for adults aged 18 and older, is the latest in Peach Princess's popular lineup of bishoujo games - games featuring beautiful women with whom the player can form meaningful relationships via choices taken throughout the story. ANN reports that Light novel author Mugen, best known for Midnight Magic, Maison de Galaxie, and Ash Maoh Fukkatsu!, passed away on April 19th at the age of 47 due to heart disease:
Manga top 10 according to Tohan. |
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. |
Hirohiko Araki (
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
