Manga News and Information
November, 2007From MangaCast comes "Part II: Issues around Publishing (A)," part 2 of a series of articles that looks at the world of manga in Indonesia. Top 10 manga (11/21) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: From Icarus Publishing's blog comes a preview (NSFW) of the adult manga coming out in February 2008, based on Diamond Previews for December (Shipping in February 08). Incredibly Strange Manga Part 2 Trauma Style: Origin of the Trauma Style
Moon Phase reports that the love/comedy light novel series Kanokon by Katsumi Nishino (story) and Koin (art) will be adapted into an anime. The light novel is currently being published by Media Factory, with a manga version drawn by Rin Yamaki serialized in Comic Alive. According to Ichijinsha, the seasonal manga magazine WARD will become a bi-monthly magazine starting with the 2007 Winter issue (Vol.19). According to this press release, software developer Voice Bank, together with Digital Manga Association Japan, will has announced at the International Comic Artist Conference in Hong Kong its plan to deliver manga to Apple's iPhone and iPod under the name "Digital Manga Project":
From ICv2 comes an analysis of Diamond Comic Distributors' October sales:
Also, MangaBlog provides its own look at the data, as well as a list of manga from the Top 100 Graphic Novels chart. The Brazilian manga and anime blog Papo de Budega has been relaunched at papodebudega.com. Three-Disc Set Includes Engraved Tin, Soundtrack and Host Of Extras And Will Receive Dynamic Multimedia Retail Promotion San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2007 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that it has teamed with Trans World Entertainment Corporation, one of the largest specialty music and video retailers in the United States, to launch a special holiday retail campaign utilizing web, print, broadcast and related multimedia to promote the release of a new three-disc Deluxe Edition of NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW. Best Selling Manga About Wheelchair Basketball To Be Released Domestically In 2008 NEW YORK, NY, November 20, 2007 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, announced the upcoming 2008 release of Takehiko Inoue's basketball manga comic, REAL, last night at a special in-store event attended by the acclaimed artist/creator to inaugurate the new Kinokuniya Bookstore in Bryant Park, New York City. Inoue is also the creator of the mega-hit masterpieces SLAM DUNK and VAGABOND. Event attendees got a sneak peek at original wall art in the Kinokuniya store illustrated by the artist featuring some of his best-known characters. NEW YORK, NY (November 12, 2007) - Yen Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA that is dedicated to graphic novels, will publish its first BL (Boys Love) romances that feature adult males starting in Fall 2008. Obtained from the Japanese publisher Houbunsha and created by the talented Lily Hoshino, additional BL titles will be published throughout 2009. "We are pleased to support this market that has such a dedicated fan base." said Kurt Hassler, Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press. Murotani Tsunezō: Trauma manga brought to you by the king of educational manga
"I don't talk about this very often, but I actually died once...Astral projection, is it? Well, I was floating in space, and all behind me it was pitch dark. It was just like being in hell." (Interview in QJ magazine #14) After his (temporary) death, Murotani Tsunezō went on to draw a series of hellish works based on his hands-on research, the two most outstanding being 'Hell Boy' (Jigoku Kun) and 'Doll Hell' (Ningyo Jigoku). The backgrounds in 'Hell Boy' are especially striking, and they couldn't get much blacker. They really do seem to bear witness to time spent in the underworld.
An official announcement has been posted by Comic BonBon's editorial department announcing the future of the titles serialized in the magazine: In "Meeting Mangaka, part one," Del Rey Manga's Dallas Middaugh talks about his experience meeting with various mangaka, including Rumiko Takahashi:
Also available is a preview of Del Rey's upcoming manga Aventura by Shin Midorikawa. Los Angeles, CA (November 7, 2007) - Boysenberry Books, the boys' love branch of Broccoli Books, is proud to announce that they have acquired the license and publishing rights for Cigarette Kisses by Nase Yamato. Originally known in Japan as Kuchibiru no Yukue, Cigarette Kisses is a standalone boys' love graphic novel that is filled with intense drama within a steamy love triangle. Los Angeles, CA (November 7, 2007) – Boysenberry Books, the new boys' love imprint from Broccoli Books, has a new website, http://www.boysenberrybooks.com, launching today. The website will contain constant updates about upcoming boys love titles. Also contained within the site is information on released books and their authors. "This launch reflects on the popularity of boys' love within the manga industry. After attending Yaoi Con, we have reconfirmed that boys' love is a permanent genre in North America," states Shizuki Yamashita, Director of Operations of Broccoli International and managing editor of Boysenberry Books. "We wanted to create a place so our fans can have an easily accessible way of getting information about our boys' love titles." From Manga Jouhou comes an interview with Hope Donovan, editor of Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga competition:
Massively Popular Series Is The Latest VIZ Media Animated Title To Be Offered By Direct2Drive San Francisco, CA, November 16, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the availability of the NARUTO animated series for digital download in the U.S. on Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment's premiere digital retail store. Episodes of the series debuted sequentially beginning on November 15, 2007 with episodes costing $1.99 each; fans may go to http://www.direct2drive.com to download the first 25 episodes. The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending November 11th:
Also, Comicsnob posts the online manga sales rankings: A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of November 14th 2007: From Heisei Democracy comes a timeline of recent events involving adult manga and doujinshi in Japan:
Via: Icarus Blog Top 10 manga (11/14) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: theOtaku reports that a Japanese man major debt problems was caught trying to steal over a 100 volumes of manga from a bookstore in Tokyop:
Publishers Weekly has posted a list of its print magazine's "Best Books of 2007." Three manga appeared in the list's "PW's Best Comics 2007" category:
Also, in the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha interviews IDW's editor-in-chief Chris Ryall regarding the publisher's entry into the U.S. manga market, while Ed Chavez reports on the growth of the new online manga translation service MangaNovel. |
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. |
A few months ago Kodansha 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
