Exclusive cover and feature on the sizzling new anime series

HOUSTON, August 30, 2007--Newtype USA, the top anime magazine in North America, leads off the fall anime season with a blast of beautiful characters, romantic entanglements and political drama with its exclusive cover and feature on The Story of Saiunkoku. Already a hit with both male and female viewers, Saiunkoku takes its royal setting and infuses it with enough modern drama and action to satisfy all kinds of fans--and Newtype USA has the scoop on what makes it so special!

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The latest post from the Broccoli Books Blog is hinting at a few new manga licenses, although no names were given, the blog did mention there will be one Boysenberry title, one moe/tsundere title, and one Disgaea-related title.

Via: Giapet.net

Okazu reports that pre-registration for Yuricon's 2007 "Yurisai" event is about to end soon.

Also, the Yurisai Poster and Fanfiction Contests is going to end soon as well. The theme of the contest is "Fairs and Festivals".

Source: Okazu

Grounded Angel by Johnny Lowe and Steve Horton is currently available on WOWIO for free download:

"The demand for Grounded Angel on WOWIO is unprecedented," says Steve Horton, publisher and co-creator of Grounded Angel. "Our download total has been staggering, and it's extremely nice that we're able to compensate every member of the team in a meaningful way for the first time. Chapter 7's story has extra pages and ends the story of Gloria in a shattering conclusion. Check it out!"

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• A new series from Kei Toume titled Momonchi (ももんち) will begin serialization in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits No.40 (9/3). The series originally appeared in Big Comic Spirits as a one-shot in in 2006.

• Also, the manga adaptation of Ookami to Koushinryou (狼と香辛料), drawn by Koume Keito, and a manga adaptation of the PSP game Wild Arms XF (WILD ARMS XF (ワイルドアームズ クロスファイア)), drawn by Karin Suzuragi, will start in the November issue of Dengeki Maoh.

• Yu Yagami's Those Who Hunt Elves (エルフを狩るモノたち), which originally ended in 2002, will once again be serialized in Dengeki Gao (November issue, 9/27).

• A new manga titled Itadakitsu! (イタダキッ！) by Junji Uenishi will begin in Evening No.19 (9/19).

• Miharu♥Rising (美晴♥ライジング), a new baseball manga by Ootani Jirou (mangaka of Shimokita Glory Days), will start in Young Sunday issue 40 (9/6).

Kodansha has posted the results of the 1st Morning International Manga Competition (M.I.M.C.):

Grand Prize Winner ($5,000):

• Kage no Matsuri by Rem (art) and Bikkuri (story) from the U.S.

Second Prizes ($2,000):

• Nigiri Supahero by Liou Ming Law from the U.K.
• Vefurrin by Hwei-Lin Lim from Malaysia

Official commentary is available in both English and Japanese. Anime! Anime! has also posted a report, and ANN has a report in English.

Source: Eigo de! Anime & Manga

VANCOUVER August 30, 2007 - The 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (CAEAA) has announced its decision to move their Elans Awards Show to February 2008. The exact date will fall before the Oscars and will be announced in September.

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ANN reports that the playwright Natsu Onoda will be adapting three of Osamu Tezuka's World War II themed manga, Daishogun Mori e Yuku, Sei Naru Hiroba and Tenteke March, into a play titled Trees and Ghosts:

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An announcement was made in the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump (No. 40) that Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter will resume serialization in Shonen Jump No. 45 (on sale October 6th).

Hunter x Hunter went on hiatus in early 2006. In early July, fans petitioned for the return of HxH through a special service website called Letters to the Chairman. In early August, a source from 2ch leaked the news that HxH will be returning "sometime in October."

Also announced in Jump 40 is that volume 24 of Hunter x Hunter will be released on 10/4.

Source: Ultimatum Tidbits

According to an article from Spiegel Online, a pair of manga-styled virtual police (a man and a woman) will be used by the Chinese government to "patrol" internet user's screen.

According to public officials, this will help remind users on the internet that they're being watched and to not break and laws. The virtual manga cops will be put to work on September 1st on 13 Chinese internet portals:

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The New York Magazine is offering more manga previews on its online Comics Page. This preview offered this time Undertown, a World Manga from Tokyopop written by Jim Pascoe and drawn by Jake Miles.

Source: ANN

Top 10 manga (8/29) according to Tohan:

1. Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Volume 20
2. Hataraki Man, Volume 4
3. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 17
4. Bokura ga Ita, Volume 12
5. Air Gear, Volume 18
6. V.B. Rose, Volume 10
7. Zipang, Volume 31
8. Nagasarete Airantou, Volume 11
9. Hana Yorimo Hana no Gotoku, Volume 5
10. Ryuuroden: Kuriuran Nakahara Saga, Volume 1

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MediaWorks has announced (PDF) a new seinen magazine titled Dengeki Kuro Maoh. The new magazine, a special issue of Dengeki Maoh, will be released on September 19th and will be published on a quarterly basis. The circulation of the magazine will be 80,000 issues, and will focus on manga, anime and novels for young men. One of the new series starting in this magazine will be a new Shakugan no Shana manga.

The manga, titled Shakugan no Shana X Eternal song -Harukanaru Uta- (灼眼のシャナX Eternal song －遙かなる歌－), will be illustrated by Kiya Shii, and story will be based on the 10th volume of the Shakugan no Shana light novel.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending August 26th:

• #76 - Fruits Basket, Volume 17 - Tokykopop - (Last week: #34)
• #116 - Naruto, Volume 18 - Viz - (Last week: #0)
• #123 - Naruto, Volume 17 - Viz - (Last week: #0)
• #131 - Naruto, Volume 16 - Viz - (Last week: #0)

Several new titles have appeared on Amazon.com listed under NETCOMICS:

• Romance Papa by Yougran Lee
• Do Whatever You Want by Yeri Na
• Totally Captivated by Hajin Yoo

Another new title, Honey Senior, Darling Junior by Chifumi Ochi, appeared in the latest Diamond Previews.

Source: AoD

The accelerated publishing begins next week with NARUTO manga vol. 16, 17 and 18 ALL releasing on Sept 4th ($7.95 each)
AND -
every third vol of each month will get a sheet of 4 NARUTO stickers (while supplies last) (i.e. in Vol 18, 21, 24 and 27)

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AVEX famous J-Pop group "m.o.v.e" will perform this year on the Connichi for the first time ever. This will be also there first time performing in Europe.

m.o.v.e is a three person unit featuring: leader producer t-kimura, motsu (rap) and yuri (vocal). They made their debut on October 1, 1997 with their début song "ROCK IT DOWN". With this release, m.o.v.e tried their hand at underground style- mixing dance music with digi-rock taste. They showed motsu's quality as a rapper, yuri's strong and powerful vocal presence and t-kimura's unique approach to sound. That was the moment they established a view of their own world.

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San Francisco, CA - (August 29, 2007) – eigoMANGA is pleased to announce an all new full color manhwa (Korean comic book) 64 page publication, "PALBOT And Mr. Kim Come To America". This publication will be available on store shelves September 15, 2007.

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MangaLife is currently looking for new manga reviewers:

Our goals for 2008 and beyond are to be *the* major internet resource for manga reviews and to post them daily, and to achieve this we're looking for a couple of new reviewers to join our established team. You need to have an enthusiasm for manga and a clear writing style, able to communicate what's good and bad about each book you look at concisely and with clarity.

Canned Dogs reports that the November issue of Comic Gum will come with a special Sena★Sena supplementary booklet.

Sena★Sena is a project from the otaku blog Senaka Otaroad, where many popular artists work on medias involving the blog's mascot Senaka-chan. For more info visit here.

From now till November 2007, Viz will be giving away a Naruto prize pack once a week, with the grand prize being a trip for two to the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.

Source: MangaBlog

From Heisei Democracy comes an article titled "Doujinshi, Obscenity, and Japan's Imperiled Freedom of Speech," which takes a brief look at the history doujinshi and obscenity laws in Japan:

In the light of the recent arrest of a doujin artist on obscenity charges we take a look back at the past five years in the history of free speech regulation and litigation vis a vis drawn pornography in Japan. We examine the current state of affairs and speculate as to the fate of the free speech right enshrined in article 13 of Japan's constitution, one that now seems to rest on a very fragile footing indeed.

Manga cafes in Japan are becoming a place of refuge for the poor who can't afford to live in their own home or a hotel. According to Mainichi Shimbun, a recent survey conducted by the government revealed that the number of homeless people who lives in Internet and manga cafes has reached about 5,400:

Those in their 20s form the largest age group, followed by people in their 50s. The figures highlight employment problems that are affecting middle-aged and elderly people as well as those in their 20s.

Via: MangaBlog

• Konami's OAV and TV anime Sky Girls (スカイガールズ) was adapted into a manga in the October issue of Kodansha's Monthly Magazine Z (8/25). Also began in the same issue was a manga titled Hakokan Younin Burai-cho Himegami (箱館妖人無頼帖 ヒメガミ) by Nozomu Tamaki.

• A manga adaptation of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダムOO) will begin the December issue of Monthly Magazine Z (10/26), a preview will be made available in the November issue.

• Two new manga, Ray Sweeper (レイスイーパー) by Narumi Kakinouchi (creator of Vampire Princess Miyu) and Lieutenant-Scarlet (ルテナン・スカーレット) by Takao Ukyo (Original story by Ryoe Tsukimura), will start in Jive's Monthly Comic Rush November issue (9/26).

• A new manga titled Tobaku Haouden Zero (賭博覇王伝 零(ゼロ)) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, who won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1998 for his manga Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji, will begin serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine issue 40 (9/5).

• Ramen Tenshi Pretty Menma (ラーメン天使 プリティメンマ), a fictional game from the Genshiken manga, will be adapted into a real manga, and will start serialization in the November issue of Media Factory's Comic Alive (9/27).

• The official site for the adult manga magazine Comic Hotmilk has opened at http://www.coremagazine.co.jp/hotmilk/

theOtaku points out that in a recent article from Variety about new anime licenses, the writer refers to the anime as "manga" due to the fact Manga Entertainment has "manga" in its name, and owns the domain Manga.com.