Manga News and Information
January, 2008From Blazedent comes an interview with Takeshi Miyazawa, a Canadian born comics artist who recently moved to Japan to pursue a career in the Japanese manga market:
Via: MangaBlog The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending January 27th:
From MangaCast comes the Diamond Previews for February 2008, which provides information on new U.S. releases for April/May 2008. A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of January 30th 2008: According to Muhyojo, Kazurou Inoue's Ai Kora is coming to an end in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday No.9 (2/6).
The original Newtype was launched in Japan by publishing company, Kadokawa Shoten, and named after a term in the Gundam universe for the next stage of human evolution. The first issue was for April 1985, released in early March of that year. A collection of images, columns and news made Newtype a hit, one that even to this day remains much the same magazine that attracted anime fans of the 80s. Since its debut, there have been a variety of Newtype spin-offs including one dedicated to older audiences and another for live-action Japanese media. A version of Newtype was also published in Korea in 1998 and continues to this day alongside its original Japanese predecessor. Moon Phase reports that the March 2008 issue (the first of a series of 20th anniversary commemoration issues) of Fujimi Shobo's monthly light novel magazine Dragon Magazine marks the magazine's 20th anniversary. An important Slayers announcement will be made in the April 2008 issue. Also, Dragon Magazine will become a bi-monthly magazine starting with the May 2008 issue. Source: LightNovel.org From Tiamat's Disciple comes an interview with Yen Press' Kurt Hassler and George Walkley, who talk about Yen Press (which recently renewed its official website), its future, and the manga market in general. Via: MangaBlog Top 10 manga (1/30) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: From Comix Talk comes an interview with rem, winner of Kodansha's 1st International Manga Competition, and Eijiro Shimada, the editor of the Morning 2 magazine. Also, The Star Online also talks to rem and Eijiro Shimada, as well as runner-up Lim Hwei Lin. Source: MangaBlog YaoiSuki has announced the Yaoi Press Suki 2008 Contest, a contest sponsored by Yaoi Press where the winner will receive "five books from Yaoi Press: fresh new editions of Yaoi Hentai 1 and 2, Desire of the Gods, Spirit Marked, and The Aluria Chronicles! [as well as] one of Yaoi Press's new parasols." New Episodes Of Riveting Supernatural Action Series To Debut In March San Francisco, CA, January 28, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that the 52-episode second season of the hit supernatural action animated series BLEACH is expected to begin airing on Saturday, March 1 on Adult Swim. Submissions for SPJA Awards Now Being Accepted Anaheim, California (January 28, 2008) ‹ The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the overseeing body of the nation's largest anime/manga convention (Anime Expo®), announces a call for submissions for the highly recognized and coveted SPJA Industry Awards. More information can be found on the website www.spja.org. "The SPJA Board of Directors are proud to stand behind the SPJA Industry Awards. It is a fantastic opportunity for the public to recognize titles and individuals that have made an major impact within the anime and manga industry during the past year," states Mr. Marc Perez SPJA Board chairman. Gardena, CA, January 28, 2008 – June Manga invites you to join the Mile High Club in All Nippon Airlines: Paradise at 30,000 Feet by Kei Azumaya! ANAL - All Nippon Air Lines – is a unique airline company. All of its employees are beautiful gay men. On top of that, relationships between employees, or even between passengers and employees, are highly encouraged! This is of course the premise for many hilarious situations and strange adventures both for them and for their passengers. "This is pretty much all the staff member's favorite title to work on this year," explains production manager Fred, "It has gotten us into all kinds of trouble with its somewhat controversial title!" Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. to distribute Septagon Studios’ debut comic book Scorn. (Toronto, 2008) Nicola Defina (President) of Septagon Studios Inc. and Philip Defina (Art Director) are pleased to announce that Diamond Comic Distributors will be carrying SCORN, Septagon's debut comic book. Japanese otaku/doujin shop Toranoana has released its 2007 Tora Annual Books Ranking. Below are the top 20 titles (out of 200):
Los Angeles, CA (January 25, 2008) – Broccoli Books is extremely proud to announce that they have acquired the publishing rights and license for the extremely popular manga series sola by Chako Abeno and the video game-centric manga series Honoka Level Up! written by Akiyoshi Ohta and illustrated by MATSUDA98. Kodansha's Kiss editorial department will be launching a special issue of Kiss titled Kiss PLUS. The first issue of the new magazine will be released on February 8th, 2008, and will be published on a bi-monthly basis. Kiss PLUS, like Kiss, will aim at female readers in their twenties and thirties. Manga publisher Ichijinsha will launch a new 4-koma (4-panel) manga magazine titled Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette Lite, a sister publication to Ichijinsha's other 4-koma magazine, Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette. The new magazine will be published on a monthly basis, with the first issue scheduled to be released on March 1st, 2008. The top 15 manga (December 2007 - January 2008) in France according to BdZoom:
Ritsu Miyako's Shinrei Tantei Yakumo is coming to an end in the March issue of Hakusensha's Bessatsu Hana to Yume. Also, a new one-shot from Kaori Yuki titled Camelot Garden will appear in the April issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume (2/26). MangaCast reports that adult manga publisher Icarus Publishing has licensed Yuzuki N Dash's Cheerful Eros Project manga (the title can be found on Icarus Publishing's "Retail Product Schedule/Order Code" page). Some samples of the manga can be found here (NSFW). From Channel NewsAsia comes an article titled "China eyes French comic book festival as springboard to Europe" that looks at how China is trying to break into the European graphic novel market through the Angoulême International Comics Festival and compete with established Japanese manga:
Three Of The Hottest Animated Action Series Sweeping North America Offered With Convenience, Flexibility And DVD Quality San Francisco, CA, January 25, 2008 – 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 three of its most popular and successful animated action series – NARUTO Uncut, DEATH NOTE and BLEACH – for digital download from Amazon UnboxTM, Amazon’s digital video download service. Amazon Unbox offers customers thousands of television shows, movies and other innovative video content from numerous studio and network partners from Hollywood and around the world. This service can be found at www.amazon.com/unbox.
Visit their online shop at: www.sweatdrop.com/shop |
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. |
When something has come to an end, it becomes an excellent time to take a moment and look back on where it started and where it's been. With the February release of the March 2008 issue marking the final English publication of 
Yukiru Sugisaki's 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
