Recently the head editor of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, Masahiko Ibaraki, published a column on Nihon Keizai Shimbun called "25 Years of Me and Shonen Jump." In the column, Ibaraki talks about his life for 25 years as the editor-in-chief of Shonen Jump.

The Reminiscence of My 25 Years with Shonen Jump
- by Masahiko Ibaraki: Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump

I joined Shueisha in 1982 and was appointed to the Shonen Jump editorial department. Shonen Jump is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and I've been spending 25 years in the same place.

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ANN reports that the winner of the 2008 Manga Taisho (Manga Grand Prize) have been announced, and the winner is Gaku by Shinichi Ishitsuka:

Unlike many other manga prizes which are chosen by the editors of the manga publishers themselves, the Manga Taisho nominating committee is dominated by the bookstore staffers who are in charge of their respective stores' manga. The awards are also limited to works to published last year with eight or less volumes to promote relatively newer works.

From du9 comes an interview with mangaka Igarashi Daisuke:

With his fragile line, his magical stories and the nostalgia for a lost Japan, Igarashi Daisuke is one of the authors revealed by IKKI magazine, the experimentation laboratory of Japanese publisher Shôgakkan. Of course, defying all expectations, Igarashi Daisuke (a short but energetic and decided fellow) will answer in an incredibly fast flow of speech the questions of this bewildered interviewer. An encounter, in record time.

According to a post from Negima mangaka Ken Akamatsu's blog, limited editions of volume 23 - 25 of the Negima manga will come bundled with the Negima OAV:

The anime will be by Shaft again and it'll be based on the manga version of Negima this time.

Source: Canned Dogs

Dyin' for Dayan (Dai-On)

Akido Ikeda's international sensation Dayan is finally available in the United States! The mischievous cat Dayan has already captured the hearts and minds of Japan, spawning over thirty books, a theme park, museums, and stores dedicated entirely to the fictional world where he resides, Wachifield! Discover the phenomenon this spring with the first four books, published by Dark Horse in handsome hardcover.

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Plus spring break in Japan, Rocket K, Japanese 101, contests & more in episode 63!

GRIMES, IA, March 28, 2008 - Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Dallas Middaugh - associate publisher for Del Rey Manga - to episode 63 of ANIME TODAY.

In this new, two-segment interview, Middaugh discusses his career in the publishing industry, the start of Del Rey's manga imprint, the state of the North American manga industry and its relationship with manga fans, Del Rey's upcoming collaboration projects with Marvel Comics (X-Men and Wolverine) and Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas), and what Del Rey Manga has in store for in 2008, including Faust and the launch of Fairy Tail, a new title from Hiro Mashima (Rave Master).

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From the Daily Yomiuri comes an article titled "Manga sniper gets a shot at television" that looks at how the anime adaptation of Takao Saito's Golgo 13 will be aired for the first time to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original manga:

The manga by Takao Saito and his production company, Saito Pro, has been adapted for a live-action movie twice and an animated film once but, surprisingly, it has never been serialized as a TV anime.

Trading Markets is reporting that this year's Tokyo Anime Fair saw record number of exhibitors:

A record 289 animation production houses, toymakers and other companies and groups are exhibiting this year, including 79 from overseas, which is 24 more than last year.

Also, according to the Hollywood Reporter, this year's crowd was 7% larger than last year's:

Registrants at one of the world's largest anime events, staged at the Tokyo Big Sight venue, numbered 12,325, up from the 11,523 recorded a year ago.

The Earth Times has more on the event.

ANN is reporting that Shogakukan plans to celebrate Sho-Comi's 40th anniversary by making 4,000 pages of manga from 400 series available on Yahoo! Comic Japan for free:

The lineup includes Yuu Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, Fuyumi Soryo's Boyfriend, Chie Shinohara's Red River, Kotomi Aoki's Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru, Kazuko Fujita's Rising!. The website is also hosting a free online version of Shojo Comic with new installments added on the 5th and 20th day of every month. This free online "magazine" includes a side story of Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru.

According to ICv2, Tokyopop has licensed a new seinen manga from GTO mangaka Tohru Fujisawa titled Tokko. The first volume of Tokko will be released in July.

In the latest issue of PWCW, Brigid Alverson interviews Buzz Dixon and Marlon Schulman, the duo behind the Christian manga publisher Realbuzz Studios.

Also, Manga Life's David Rasmussen has an interview with Seven Seas' Adam Arnold.

Via: MangaBlog

Rome, March 12th 2008 - The TAB Manga

Digital video is proud to announce the release of a new software belonging the TAB product family: the TAB Manga, a software designed to create mangas and animations from start to finish.

With the TAB Manga it is possible to draw characters and backgrounds, and use them to compose mangas -- by arranging panels and text balloons -- and animations -- by creating drawing sequences and moving elements around.

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Bandai Entertainment Leads with Most Nominations Followed by Viz Media, Geneon Entertainment, Bandai Visual and FUNimation Entertainment

Anaheim, California (March 27, 2008) ‹ The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the overseeing body of the nation¹s largest anime/manga convention (Anime Expo®), announced the SPJA Industry Award finalists for 2008 at the SPJA Symposium held at Tokyo International Anime Fair held within Tokyo Big Sight¹s Special Theatre 2(Thursday; March 27, 2008; 16:30-18:00-Tokyo time). More information can be found on the website www.spja.org.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending March 23rd:

• #34 - Fruits Basket, Volume 19 - Tokyopop - (Last week: #112)
• #39 - Naruto, Volume 28 - Viz - (Last week: #26)
• #149 - Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 16 - Viz - (Last week: #334)

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Special 32-Page Sampler Edition of Nation's Most Popular Manga Anthology - SHONEN JUMP Magazine To Feature NARUTO, BLEACH and SLAM DUNK

San Francisco, CA, March 26, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its participation as a Gold Level Sponsor in the 2008 Free Comic Book Day, taking place May 3rd. VIZ Media is producing a special edition (rated "A" for All Ages) of SHONEN JUMP Magazine (rated 'T' for Teens) to be distributed for free at participating stores nationwide.

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Song Siren to Perform at Nation's Largest Convention

Anaheim, California (March 26, 2008) - The new Japanese "It-Girl", television celebrity, blogger, voice actress and illustrator Shoko Nakagawa ("Shokotan" as her fans call her) joins the hottest line up of Anime Expo® 2008 Guests of Honors for the highly anticipated 2008 convention July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org.

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MangaCast's Ed Chavez will be attending this year's Tokyo International Anime Fair as one of its panelist discussing "the Anime Fan's State of the North American Anime Business":

Like many fans of visual media I have my share of opinions on the state of the anime business. A good chunk of those thoughts are more directed at what happens overseas than what NA fans are doing. Luckily I was asked by the moderator for contributions to the discussion, so maybe we will talk a bit about the JA scene and the history of the American anime fan as well.

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A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of March 26th 2008:

• ComicList: ComicList for 03/26/2008
• MangaCast: New Manga Release List ~ March 26, 2008
• Precocious Curmudgeon: Upcoming 3/26/2008

Coming in on the heels of Newtype USA's cancellation arrives PiQ, ADV's new entry into the magazine industry. Boosting content that reaches out to a broader audience, PiQ leaves the anime-focused style of Newtype for a wider spectrum of content including video games, comic books and popular television series.

"The primary goals of PiQ are to share and celebrate the love we have for these particular forms of entertainment with our readers, as well as shine a light on those often-overlooked projects, artists, creators and studios throughout the entertainment world." - PiQmag.com

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Top 10 manga (3/26) according to Tohan:

1. Nodame Cantabile (20)
2. Fullmetal Alchemist (19)
3. Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (23)
4. Ahiru no Sora (19)
5. Fairy Tale (9)
6. Hajime no Ippo (83)
7. Konjiki no Gash!! (32)
8. Air Gear (20)
9. Minami-ke (5)
10. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi (28)

Additional Rankings:

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Comics Worth Reading is reporting that Tokyopop is giving anyone who participates in its Tokyopop Dreaming prose competition a free copy of Tarot Cafe and a piece of key art from The Dreaming.

Also, Tiamat's Anime and Manga Reviews has some news on Seven Seas' relationship with distributors, and problems they're facing by switching from Diamond to Tor/Macmillan:

We agreed to end our distribution through Diamond at the end of December 31, 2007, and as of January 1st, 2008, Tor/Macmillan became our "Vendor of Record" as it's called in the industry. [...] However, Diamond informed us they would not release most of our back stock to Tor until the end of February, since they were still accepting returns until then, and didn't want to make two separate and substantial shipments to Tor's warehouse.

Via: MangaBlog

From Manga Recon comes an interview with Christy Lijewski, artist of Tokyopop's RE:Play, and Tokyopop editor Tim Beedle:

PCS: How do you respond to fans who feel the term "manga" should only be applied to Japanese comics? Where do you see RE:Play fitting into the current comic market?

Christy: I think they're over thinking things to be honest. I mean, so many manga magazines and publishing labels in Japan are called "Comics" and no one there seems to go, "This isn't a comic!" I don't see why we see the word "manga" here and have to go, "This isn't manga!"

Now available for order & free download, shipping in April 2008

GRIMES, IA, March 25, 2008 - Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to announce the Spring 2008 edition of the Right Stuf Anime Catalog is now available for free download at RightStuf.com (http://www.rightstuf.com), as well as pre-order, and it will ship in April 2008.

This new edition of the catalog features an exclusive interview with Kaoru Mori, the creator of EMMA: A Victorian Romance - in anticipation of Nozomi Entertainment's summer DVD release of the series' anime adaptation - as well as the answers to fans' questions about the production of the English-language dub for The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye.

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Phoenix, AZ, March 26, 2008 - Yaoi Jamboree, the new yaoi fan convention this summer in Phoenix Arizona, announces their first three guests of honor.

Yaoi Jamboree is pleased to announce the first guests for the June 20th to 22nd Yaoi Jamboree convention. As mentioned in previous announcements Yaoi Jamboree is hosting popular Japanese mangaka, as well as global yaoi creators.

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New Feature Film Based On Popular Action Manga And Animated Series to Have a Limited Domestic Theatrical Release

San Francisco, CA, March 24, 2008 – 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 secured the license from TV Tokyo Corporation, Shueisha Inc. and Dentsu Inc. for BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY in the Americas, Europe and Oceania. The feature film, which will be aimed primarily at teens and older teens, will have a limited theatrical release in major cities throughout North America this summer with the DVD release to follow winter 2008. Subsequent details will be released in coming weeks.

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