Udon Entertainment has announced its plans for this year's Anime Expo:

Members of UDON will be at the Manga Entertainment booth area all weekend long. Meet some of the UDON Crew in person, get sketches or autographs and buy exclusive UDON comic sets, art books, posters and art prints.

In celebration of Tantei Gakuen Q (Detective School Q)'s TV series premiering on July 3rd, the popular detective manga from Seimaru Amagi and Fumiya Sato (the duo behind Kindaichi Case Files) has resumed serialization in issue 30 of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine.

The manga, which began serialization in Shonen Magazine in 2001, originally ended in 2005.

A round up of Anime Expo 2007 news, reports, and more from around the internet, updated constantly, so you don't have to look for them.
*Manga-related reports only

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Advanced Media Network has posted the complete transcript of JAST USA's English dating-sims panel at this year's Anime Expo.

MangaBlog and Yaoi Suki both point to several new licenses from Aurora Publishing and its yaoi imprint Deux:

Aurora Publishing:

• Flock of Angels by Shoko Hamada
• Nightmares for Sale by Kaoru Ohashi

Deux:

• Hate To Love You
• I Shall Never Return by Kazuna Uchida
• Spring Fever by Yugi Yamada

ANN reports that DMP has announced a few new acquisitions at Anime Expo 2007:

• Family Complex by Mikiyo Tsuda
• Flamboyant (artbook) by Hakua Ugetsu

Also mentioned is that DMP plans to release a restored two-volume set of the Speed Racer manga.

Go! Comi has announced the following new licenses during today's Anime Expo:

• A Wise Man Sleeps by Mick Takeuchi
• A.I Revolution by Yuu Asami
• Angel's Coffin by You Higuri
• Cy-Believers
• Kamisama Kazoku (God Family) by Yoshikazu Kuwashima

It has also been revealed that Go! Comi's "Project X" will be something called O-Play.

From Advanced Media Network comes an in-depth report of Seven Seas at this year's Anim Expo, also included is a brief interview with Seven Seas' Adam Arnold and Jason D'Angeles.

Via: MangaBlog

With the D1 Grand Prix coming to Singapore next year, The Electric New Paper has published an article looking at how how the Japanese racing legend Keiichi Tsuchiya in turn influenced the racing Initial D, which in turn helped promote the once obscure sport.

Wired Blog (via Newsarama) reports that a life-sized (18 meter high, 70 ton) Gigantor statue will be built in Kobe, Japan. The 135 million yen project, expected to be completed in the spring of 2008, will serve both as a memorial to the birthplace of the late Gigantor creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama, as well as celebrate the revitalization of the Kobe after the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Itai News reports that a 19-year-old murderer who killed a mother and her one-year-old daughter back in 1999 may have been affected by Doraemon, according to the testimony given by the defendant. animeOnline has a brief translation:

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Broccoli Books announced at Anime Expo 2007 that it will be releasing a new World of Disgaea artbook based on Disgaea 2.

Also confirmed is the release of the first Disgaea novel.

Source: MangaCast

Mita Norifusa's Dragon Sakura ended in issue 30 of Kodansha's Morning, which was released on June 28th.

Boku no Shokibo na Seikatsu by Fukumitsu Shigeyuki will end in Morning No. 31, on sale July 5th.

Also, two light novel series will be adapted into their own manga series in the September issue of Media Work's Dengeki Comic Gao!:

• Alison, written by Keiichi Sigsawa and illustrated by Kohaku Kuroboshi, will be adapted into a manga series by Hiroki Haruse.
• Toradora!, written by Yuyuko Takemiya and illustrated by Yasu, will be adapted into a manga series by Zekkyou.

Source: Ultimatum Talk

The result of the first Internation Manga Award was announced on June 29th. The winner is Lee Chi Ching, a 43-year-old artist from Hong Kong.

Lee Chi Ching's winning work, Sun Tzu's Tactics (Known as The Art of War in China - Chinese Title: 孫子兵法; JP title: 孫子攻略), is a historic series that portrays the life of the famous Chinese military strategist.

The three runners-up went to Kai from Hong Kong, Malaysia's Benny Wong Thong Hou and Madeleine Rosca from Australia.

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Seven Seas has announced several new licenses at this year's Anime Expo:

• Dance in the Vampire Bund by Nozomu Tamaki
• In God's Arms (Kamisama no Ude no Naka), by Yonezo Yamada

Yuri manga:

• First Love Sisters
• Voiceful

New novel licenses were also announced:

• Kage Kara Mamoru
• Zero no Tsukaima
• Avalon
• The Pirate and the Princess

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Eichi Shuppan announced at this year's Anime Expo that it plans to bring the popular Japanese cosplay magazine Cosmode to the U.S. The distribution will be handled by Broccoli International USA. The first issue is planned to be released in October this year.

Source: ANN

According to Gaming Today, the second closed beta of the upcoming MMO third person shooter Manga Fighter is now available on FileFront. Users need to first register before downloading the closed beta client.

Manga Publisher Go! Comi has relaunched their website:

We loved our little website, but we knew it was time to "level up." We figured, "If we're going to do this anyway, why not go from a cozy little house -- to a great biiiiig mansion with room for all our fans?" And so the grand plan was born!

Via: MangaBlog

The first issue of Hobby Japan's "new" novel magazine Charano! has been released. A manga adaptation of Kujibiki Yuusha-sama by Shimizu Fumika (author) and Ushiki Yoshitaka (illustrator) began serialization in this issue. The new manga is titled Kujibiki Sisters and is drawn by the same illustrator of the light novel.

Also, the official site of Charano! has opened at www.hobbyjapan.co.jp/hjbunko/charano/.

Source: LightNovel.org

From the Hankyoreh comes an article titled "Korean comic books win over European fans," which looks at how Korean manhwa are becoming increasingly popular among European fans:

Europe occupies up to 40 percent of the overall export market for South Korean comic books, the industry estimates, becoming the biggest market, followed by the U.S. and Asia with 30 percent each.

Via: Journalista

Long Awaited Debut Of Unique Action Crime Drama Will Delight Fans

San Francisco, CA, June 29, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, announced the highly anticipated DVD release of the anime series DEATH NOTE™ today at Anime Expo 2007. The latest addition to the SHONEN JUMP™ Home Video line is rated T+ for Older Teens and makes its debut in stores on November 20, 2007. The DVD features four original and uncut episodes with English dub and Japanese with English subtitles for $24.98.

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When Shueisha announced in February the suspension of Monthly Shonen Jump, it was also mentioned that a new magazine will be created to take Monthly Jump's place. According to Weekly Jump Readers' Journal, the new magazine will be called Jump Square (Jump SQ). The first issue will be release on November 2nd, and will follow a monthly release schedule with new issues released on the 4th of every month.

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In celebration of its 1,000th post, otaku blog ikimashou.net has announced a new anime/manga/figurine contest.

Also, from the blog Riuva comes an article that analyzes the trend, philosophy and development of otaku blogs.

The anime/otaku social networking site animeOnline as launched a new forum.

Also available for downloads are episodes of Trinity Blood, Kiddy Grade and Rumbling Hearts: Kiminozo from Funimation for $1.99 each.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, JUNE 6, 2007– In conjunction with the special exhibition Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga, the Asian Art Museum presents Blast Off!, a manga (Japanese comics), anime (animation), and pop culture convention that will captivate all ages and inclinations, aficionados and amateurs alike. Featuring a vast array of engaging programs—all FREE with museum admission—the museum-wide extravaganza promises to educate and excite the whole family.

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