Manga News and Information
June, 2007Nymphet (Kodomo no Jikan) creator Kaworu Watashiya has posted on her blog her thoughts on the recent cancellation of Nymphet in the U.S. japanator has a translation of the post:
The official website of Otaku USA has been launched at www.otakuusamagazine.com. The year is 12,090 A.D., and what little is left of humanity has finally crawled out from the ashes of war and destruction. From the darkness of fallout, mutants and a race of vampires known as the Nobility have spawned. They rule the weak with no remorse. Once bitten by a Nobility, one is cursed to become a member of the undead. Villagers cower in fear, hoping and praying for a savior to rid them of their undying nightmare. Vampire-D.com brings you the latest information on the new manga to be released in November 2007. And for those that can find the secrets to the website, only the "nobility" are allowed access... According to Moon Phase, the light novel series Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu by Akiyama Mizuhito (author) and Komatsu Eiji (illustrator) will be adapted to a manga. The manga is scheduled to start serialization this summer in the seinen magazine Dengeki Maoh, and will be drawn by Kanno Touko. Source: LightNovel.org From ICv2 comes a 2-part interview with VIZ Media's Vice President of Sales Gonzalo Ferreyra and Director of Retail Marketing David Rewalt, who talk about Viz's aggressive release schedule of Naruto, and its impact on the manga and anime markets. Mainichi Daily reports that two of the three men arrested last month for illegally distributing manga on the P2P application Winny have been charged with with copyright law violations. The third person, a 17-year-old college student, could also face criminal charges as an adult. Via: Journalista Monthly comics top 10 in the U.S. according to PWCW.
Ivrea Publishing will be releasing in Argentina two manga from Argentine artists. Automatik Kilombo by Sergio Colonel and Casa de Brujas (Witches' House) by Patricia Leonardo. Source: Papo de Budega Top 10 manga (6/06) according to Tohan.
Additional Rankings: "I am the Death God, and I will curse you and watch you die, let's see if you still have the courage to confiscate Death Note." A telephone message received by an official at Lanzhou city, Gansu Province on May 31st. After some investigation, it was determined that the call was made by a middle school student using the school's public phone. According to the officials at Lanzhou city, they received around 6 threatening phone calls from middle school students on May 30th (and many more throughout the month) in response to the recent confiscation of Death Note. PWCW's Kai-Ming Cha interviews Seven Seas's Jason DeAngelis, who talks about the recent controversy surrounding the cancellation of Nymphet. Via: Icarus Blog From Icarus Publishing's blog comes a preview (NSFW) of the adult manga coming out in August 2007, based on Diamond Previews for June (Shipping in August 07). According to Comic Book Resources, Tokyopop announced at this year's Book Expo of America that it plans to release an English version of the popular Japanese magazine Gothic Lolita Bible in early 2008. Publishers Weekly and animeOnline has more. Via: AoD ICv2 reports that Yen Press has announced two new titles: - Y Square by Judith Park Yen Press's Kurt Hassler also explained Yen Press' plan on dealing with sound effect translations, and mentions that Yen Press plans to release over 50 graphic novel in 2008. Papo de Budega reports that JBC Publishing has announced that it will release Gravitation (グラビテーション) by Maki Murakami in Brazil this week. Source: Papo de Budega According to Chuosha, with only 5 issues released, JC Shuppan's adult manga magazine COMIC CROSS (コミッククロス) will cease publication on June 2nd. The magazine was launched in October 2006. Comic Cross will be succeeded by Comic Manten. Also, Core Magazine released the first issue of its new adult manga magazine Comic Mega GOLD on May 25th. According to tokyojupiter.blog, the July issue of Shojo Beat has news that Arina Tanemura (Full Moon o Sagashite, Shinshi Doumei Cross) will appear at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, taking place from July 26th to July 29th. Via: MangaBlog ICv2 reports that Diamond Comic Distributors has, for the first time, released its annual sales figures:
The nominees for the 2007 Harvey Award are out. Two manga appeared under the "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" category: Abandon the Old in Tokyo and Ode to Kirihito. Ode to Kirihito is also the only manga nominated for the 2007 Quills Awards under the Graphic Novels category. Source: MangaBlog MangaBlog points out that Comixpedia has posted an interview with artist Sonia Leong and writer Lloyd Prentice about Aya Takeo, their latest webcomic.
Anthologies and Magazines 2006-2007 One addendum to the previous report: The report neglected to include two new publications that were starting at the end of 2005. The Monash Caulfield Anime Club in August 2005 premiered their first issue of Animaverick, Australia's first homegrown anime magazine covering anime, manga, and J-pop in the land down under. Across the Indian Ocean west of Australia, the company Xvolve Publishing premiered the first South African publication called Otaku Magazine. As of this time, both publications are only available in their host nations. Recently a survey conducted in China on consumer's opinion regarding leisure and entertainment asked the following question: Do you like to enjoy Japanese manga and anime during our leisure time? Nearly 60% answered "I love manga" or "I like manga." Only a small group of people answered "I don't like manga" and very few answered "I hate manga." "Whatever" is also a popular answer. CB Games reports that Manga Fighter, a Manga-Styled Massively Multiplayer Online Shooting game, has entered its closed beta phase. However, new information can still be found on Manga Fighter's website. Although some manga series will be temporarily serialized in Shonen Jump after Monthly Shonen Jump cease publication, Mahou Tsukai Kurohime will be serialized on the website of the "new magazine" (that will replace Monthly Jump), and the author of Kurohime will serialize a new manga on the "new magazine." The first volume of Otaku USA has been released, and Heisei Democracy has a review (Via Icarus Blog). While reading Otaku USA, don't forget to check out Ed Chavez (MangaCast)'s "Japan's 24-hour Content Delivery System." |
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. |
We're now six months into 2007 and there have been a lot of news about new anime publications hitting retailers. From Isaac Alexander comes a brief overview of news from last year from where the 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
