Manga News and Information
February, 2008The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending February 24th:
Storefront highlights boys' love anime, manga & more! GRIMES, IA, February 28, 2008 - Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. continues its 20th anniversary celebration with the launch of YaoiAnime.com (http://www.yaoianime.com), a new "boutique" powered by the RightStuf.com anime superstore that showcases boys' love anime, manga and merchandise.
I received a note to the effect that George Akiyama might have been even busier. Thank you, V Hayashida-sama and Sugaya-sensei. Certainly, George Akiyama's 1970 was really something. I've put things in order using the George Akiyama's Hidden Room site for reference. CHINA NOW, the UK's largest ever festival of Chinese culture, launches the first ever exhibition in Britain to explore Manhua - the powerful narrative art form of comics and graphic novels in China. Manhua are poised to become the next global cross-media phenomenon, spinning off into films, television, animation, games, toys and more. The exhibition will take place between 7 March - 11 April at the London College of Communication. The exhibition explores 19th Century Picture Story Traditions, the Modern Manhua Masters, Hong Kong's New Wave movement and China's Next Generation of artists. Top 10 manga (2/27) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: From StarWars.com comes an interesting comparison of various manga adaptations of Star Wars. Source: Icarus Blog ANN reports that the Canada Border Services Agency has recently banned (PDF) a number of adult anime manga:
Anime and manga retailer Right Stuf has launched a new BL-oriented portal called YaoiAnime.com:
ANN is reporting that Shogakukan and Kodansha are collaborating on a new bi-weekly magazine titled Conan & Kindaichi to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Sunday and Weekly Shonen Magazine:
Dark Horse has posted preview chapters of Park Joong-Ki's Shaman Warrior online:
Source: Mecha Mecha Media U.S. manga publisher Infinity Studios has announced that it will make its titled available online:
Comix Talk has an interview with Seven Seas' senior editor, webmaster and writer Adam Arnold. MangaBlog's Brigid Alverson interviews Matthew Reidsma, author of the diary comic High Maintenance Machine. In "Takemiya the teacher," The Star Online talks to Keiko Takemiya, creator of Kaze to Ki no Uta. A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of February 27th 2008: San Francisco, CA -- eigoMANGA and AsianWeek Produces The Anime Pavilion At The Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration. The Anime Pavilion celebrates the otaku (anime fan) culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anime fans all over the Bay Area are invited to an exciting day-long programming line-up of live Japanese rock (jrock) performances, an anime theme runway fashion show featuring original anime clothing lines from Japanese and Bay Area fashion designers, an anime cosplay masquerade, as well as additional features from the Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration. Explosive 3D Ninja Combat Headed for Stores Today LOS ANGELES - February 26, 2008 - TOMY Corporation and D3Publisher of America, Inc. (D3PA), publishers of interactive entertainment software, today announced that NARUTO™: Ninja Destiny for the Nintendo DS™ handheld system has shipped to retailers nationwide. Featuring stunning, cinematic techniques and the original orange-clad ninja, the fighting game promises vibrant 3D battles that are true to VIZ Media's hit animated TV series NARUTO. DEMON PRINCE: CHILDREN OF GAIA AVAILABLE NOW February 25, 2008- New graphic novel publisher Dimensional Manga is proud to announce their first release Demon Prince: Children of Gaia, Volume One, is available nationwide this week. Dimensional Manga will release the entire series in 14 volumes with 1-5 released this year. Story of Two Women Searching For Love And Meaningmidst the Hustle and Bustle of Tokyo A Box Office Hit In Japan San Francisco, CA, February 26, 2008 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced a pair of new theatrical runs scheduled for New York and Los Angeles of NANA, a live action film directed by Ootani Kentarou and based on the best-selling shojo manga (graphic novel) series by Ai Yazawa. NANA will screen in Los Angeles, March 21-27 at the IMAGINASIAN CENTER and then in New York, April 4-10 at the IMAGINASIAN THEATRE. Press screenings for both locations are also planned and theater information follows at the end of this release. Iranians and Israelis, Americans, Russians and Chinese, Europeans and Africans Gather to Say a "Good Word" Hod Hasharon. Israel, February 25, 2008. BuzziNews is the world's first and only online journal reporting exclusively in cartoons. Cartoonists come together from around the world and communicate their positive message to a global audience. The portal has been online for 3 months and has already attracted world-renowned illustrators from 18 countries who have sent in their cartoons. Earlier this month, a lawyer named Masatoshi Uchida accused Hideo Iura's manga Bengoshi no Kuzu of plagiarizing a novel he once wrote. Now Mainichi Shimbun reports that Hideo Iura and Shogakukan are denying the alleged copyright violation:
Country's Mix Of Western And Asian Culture Creates A Growing Demand For Diverse Titles San Francisco, CA, February 22, 2008 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its continued global expansion with a new distribution agreement with Madman Entertainment to offer a wide variety of Shueisha manga (graphic novel) series to the burgeoning market in Australia and New Zealand. Shueisha Inc., is one of Japan's largest publishers and is a parent company of VIZ Media. Lunia Is Now Commercially Available ATLANTA & BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay for merchandise" model for online video games in China, announced today that its CDC Games International (CGI) business unit has launched Lunia, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the popular manga-style comic art form, for commercial availability in North America. In "SOFT POWER, HARD TRUTHS / Manga magnate aims to redraw San Francisco," Yomiuri Shimbun talks to Seiji Horibuchi, founder of Viz Media:
From About.com:Manga comes an interview with graphic designer and author Chip Kidd and Batman memorabilia collector Saul Ferris about the "secret origins" of their Fall 2008 artbook/comics collection, Bat Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan. The top 15 manga (January - February 2008) in France according to BdZoom:
From BdZoom comes the top 15 "Bandes Dessinées" (French-style comic books) for the week ending 2/20:
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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. |
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ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
