From ICv2 comes an interview with Del Rey Manga's Dallas Middaugh, who talks about the U.S. manga market, the upcoming manga releases, and Del Rey's future plans.

Del Rey Manga has launched its official forum as part of AoD's Official Forums:

We have a new addition to our Official Forums section today as we're now hosting the Official Del Rey Manga Forums. This will be linked from their site later today and provide a place for fans of Del Rey's manga and prose releases to talk with each other and with representatives from the company.

From theBookseller.com comes an article on Little, Brown Book Group's deal with Hachette Book's Yen Press manga in the U.K. The deal begins in September 2007 with 7 titles being released in the U.K.:

Little, Brown's science fiction and fantasy imprint Orbit will market the Yen Press list in the UK. Orbit business manager George Walkley said: "Orbit has been watching the development of the manga market closely, and we’re confident that in Yen Press we have found the ideal publishing partner.

Earn Some Points, Get Free Products from DLSite.com!

HERNDON, VA - August 6, 2007 - DLSite.com announced their recently added new point-based system. When registered DLsite.com users purchase a software product through DLSite.com English site, points will be awarded to that user depending on the amount of money spent.

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International Manga Awards runner-up Madeleine Rosca has posted the final part of her International Manga Award trip to Japan.

Daily Yomiuri Online has published an article looking at Japan Football Museum's Captain Tsubasa Exhibition that began on July 21st:

The exhibition, subtitled Everyone was once a Captain Tsubasa, displays enlarged copies of key scenes from the 26-year-long series, comments from professional players who were influenced by Captain Tsubasa and copies of the comic books translated into various languages including Italian, German and Chinese.

The new comic release list for August 3rd 2007 from ComicList, compiled by MangaCast.

A year ago we featured MangaCast on Backstage. A lot of things have changed since then, new faces can be seen among the crew, and rumors have been floating around regarding a MangaCast 2.0.

A year after the original feature, we caught up with Ed Chavez once again to discuss the past, present and future of MangaCast!

Read the full interview at MangaCast 2.0: Ed Chavez on the Growth and Future of MangaCast.

Also included is a small peak at the mysterious MangaCast 2.0 in the Layout section.

A new series titled Salaryman Trader Arashi by Mitsuru Sugaya will begin serialization in Comic Gumbo issue 30+31, on sale August 7th. The protagonist of this new manga will be Ishino Arashi, who also appeared in the manga Game Center Arashi by Mitsuru Sugaya, published by Shogakukan over 20 years ago.

Source: Canned Dog

According to Send2Press, Orange Lighthouse, Inc., in an exclusive partnership with Trend Pro, Inc., has just launched Ad-Manga.us. Ad-Manga.us is the U.S. division of Trend Pro's Ad-Manga program. The new division will offer manga contents for advertising to U.S. companies:

The Manga generation in the U.S. is growing quickly, and to attract them, and to inform them about new products and services, or to educate them on complicated matters, Manga is an effective tool and will open a new era for business advertising.

Source: Active Anime

KansasCity.com has an article describing how Kaplan and Tokyopop's effort in utilizing manga to help students prepare for SAT and ACT proves to be successful:

"Within the last year, we've seen student teachers including more and more graphic novels in their curriculum," said Kelly McNeal, an education professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. "We're living in a graphic world - this is highly appealing. Students will read it."

Source: Active Anime

The winner of this year's World Cosplay Summit has been announced. According to Anime! Anime! (via Giapet), the winner of this year's event, held in Nagoya, Japan, is the French team, represented by Isabelle Jeudy and Damian Ratte cosplaying as Tsugiri and Myoubi from the manga Alichino.

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Ultimatum Tidbits reports that the light novel series Ookami to Koushinryou by Isuna Hasekura (author) and Juu Ayakura (illustrator) will be adapted into a TV animation. The announcement can be found on the cover of the fifth volume of the light novel.

In June, Dengeki Online also announced Ookami to Koushinryou's adaptation into a manga (drawn by Koume Keito).

Source: LightNovel.org

From ANN's Carlo Santos comes an interview with Arina Tanemura, conducted during Comic-Con 2007. In the interview, Tanemura not only talks about manga, but also her love for the pop culture.

Daily Yomiuri Online has published a report on the TV dramatization of the manga Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa, and how the drama will be aired on August 10th to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima:

Monday will mark the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. So as not to forget what happened in World War II, Fuji TV will air Aug. 10 and 11 from 9 p.m. a two-night special drama, Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen), based on a manga featuring a little boy who survived the atomic bombing.

Letters to the Chairman is a service which delivers constructive requests to corporate chairmen in users' stead. If supporters of the request increase, action is taken by letter or by phone. Among the "letters" posted is one written to "The Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump", requesting the revival of Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter.

The Hunter X Hunter request for the Editor-in Chief of Shonen Jump stands out among a huge list of request-letters directed at restaurants and convenience stores. The HxH letter reads:

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The official website of Kodansha's new monthly magazine Shonen Rival is now available at http://www.shonenrival.com/. According to the website, the reason the magazine is called "Shonen Rival" is to show "the rivalry between the protagonist and his rivals. Also, when a boy matures, the concept of rivalry is indispensable."

Also mentioned is the 1st Shonen Rival Comic Grand Prix. The winning works will be serialized in Shonen Rival, and the grand prize winner will receive 3,000,000 yen.

From the blog Mideast Youth comes an article titled "Arabian Manga(stan) - Arab comics and Islamic 'culture'," which looks at the popularity and influence manga have in the Arab world.

Via: Giapet

The 2007 Hong Kong Comics Festival took place in Hong Kong last month. Although the organizers initially expected an attendance of around 550,000, over 560,000 fans showed up for the 5-day convention. Due to an unexpected rise in attendance, sometimes the convention stayed open until 11:30pm to accommodate special special events. According to the report, sales of tripled compared to last year.

Source: ZhongMan

Interview, Japanese sports, reviews and more in Episode 46!

GRIMES, IA, August 3, 2007 – Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Newtype USA Editor-in-Chief Gary Steinman and Executive Editor Chris Johnston to episode 46 of ANIME TODAY!

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ANN reports that Digital Manga will be releasing a book called the Pop Japan Travel: Essential Otaku Guide on August 15:

Based on the anime and manga tours of Japan that were pioneered by Pop Japan Travel, this English book will include maps and special features designed to help travelers.

Panini Comics has updated its website with information on its new licensed manga coming out in August, which include Bleach (13,7 x 20 cm), Princess Princess (13 x 18 cm), Count Cain (11,4 x 17,7 cm), Gantz (13 x 18 cm) and Vampire Knight (11,4 x 17,7 cm).

Source: Papo de Budega

BEVERLY HILLS, CA (August 2, 2007) -- The William Morris Agency (WMA) has signed TOKYOPOP, the #1 publisher of manga graphic novels in North America and largest supplier of manga entertainment in the world. WMA will represent TOKYOPOP's original intellectual property for film, television, digital, merchandising, and game development.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending July 29th:

• #88 - Naruto, Volume 15 - Viz - (Last week: #58)
• #111 - Bleach, Volume 20 - Viz - (Last week: -)

From Manga Punk comes an interviews with Patrick Macias, Editor-in-Chief of the newly launched anime/manga magazine Otaku USA.

Via: MangaBlog