Manga News and Information
March, 2008ICv2 has an article that looks at Tokyopop's arsenal of videogame manga, including the Warcraft, Starcraft and Kingdom Hearts franchise. Also revealed in the article is that Castlevania: Curse of Darkness by Kou Sasakura, a 2-volume series based on Konami's Castlevania franchise, will be released by Tokyopop this September. Top 10 manga (3/12) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: Nation's Largest Convention Welcomes Famed Pokemon Director Anaheim, California (March 12, 2008) ‹ Famed director Masamitsu Hidaka is the first addition to the hottest line up of Anime Expo® 2008 Guests of Honor 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. Canned Dogs (via Muhyojo) has news of Kodansha's plans for celebrating Weekly Shounen Magazine's 50th anniversary: Popular mangaka Moyoco Anno (Hataraki Man, Happy Mania) announced on her blog that she will be taking a rest from work due to health problems, and that all of her work other than Ochibisan will be put on hiatus. According to this Mainichi report:
Source: Mainichi Shimbun San Francisco, CA (March 10, 2008) -- eigoMANGA and AsianWeek Produces The Anime Street Pavilion At The Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration In San Francisco's Japantown. The Anime Street 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 performances, an anime theme runway fashion show featuring original anime clothing lines from Japanese and Bay Area fashion designers, anime cosplay masquerade, as well as additional features from the Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration. Japanese BL publisher Libre Publishing will be launching a new manga magazine called Kurofune ZERO on May 28th. Source: Ultimatum SAN JOSE, CA - March, 2008 - DrMaster Publications has announced the impending release of three new titles, Mamoru the Shadow Protector by Sai Madara & Taro Achi, Nephylym by Rei Kusakabe, and Feng Shui Academy by Haruka Shouji. Adult manga publisher Icarus Publishing has released the first issue of its digital manga magazine Comic AG...for free. The magazine is available through BitTorrent. Mainichi Daily News has an article on how a 66-year-old doctor who served as the inspiration for the manga Dr. Koto Shinryojo will "carry on working after spring this year, despite reaching retirement age, thanks to support from local residents." The Guardian has an article on how manga is influencing a wave of new Chinese designers. The Star Online reports that eateries in Japan where customers and waiters role play themes from manga, particularly BL manga, are becoming increasingly popular. Unique Subjects And Genres Ranging From Action Adventure And Romance To Vampires And Horror To Be Offered San Francisco, CA, March 11, 2008 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its plans to launch nine eagerly awaited new manga (graphic novel) series in the Second Quarter of 2008. AHN is reporting that legislation is being drafted in Japan, under international pressure, to ban possession of child pornography. However, the, "the prohibition reportedly exempts manga comics and animated film." The Guardian has more:
From TH.Yu diary, online diary of artist TH (Tim) Yu, comes a gallery of photos taken at Manhua! China Comics Now, one of the UK's largest festival of Chinese culture launched by CHINA NOW, in order to "explore Manhua - the powerful narrative art form of comics and graphic novels in China." Celebrating its soon-to-be 1,000th post and 1,000,000th visitor, yuri blog Okazu has announced two contests, the 1 Million Visitor Art Contest and the 1000th Post Contest. From Manly Manga and More... comes the German Manga Top 15 for January/February 2008 based on charts released by Egmont Manga & Anime (EMA) and Carlsen. Readers can now vote for Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga 8 - People's Choice competition. Voting ends at 6pm on March 14, 2008. Winning entries will appear in the upcoming issue of Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga this July:
Via: About.com:Manga Canned Dogs is reporting that several new series will begin serialization in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday: INTERNET Watch is reporting that Yahoo! Japan has made 45 chapters of the Doraemon manga available online for free to promote the upcoming movie Doraemon: Nobita to Midori no Kyojin Den.
The list of nominees for the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens has been updated, and several manga can be found on the list:
Readers can nominate their own titles here. Source: MangaBlog Main Event Audience Member to Win Trip to Japan Anaheim, California (March 7, 2008) ‹ Think you got what it takes to be the next AX Idol? Thousands will audition for the most coveted singing and voice acting contest at the nation's largest Anime/Manga convention and win amazing prizes! Anime Expo® 2008 will be held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. More information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org. Torrance, Calif. March 7, 2008 - Celebrating the HARUKA: Beyond the Stream of Time – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Premier and Director Aki Tsunaki's attendance, Bandai Visual USA announces the details of HARUKA related events, activities and show exclusives at Sakura-Con 2008. Director Tsunaki will be present at the HARUKA events starting with the Industry Reception Dinner on Thursday, March 27. Schedules for HARUKA related events are as follows: theOtaku has launched the new "Version Vibrant" of its website:
MangaCast reports several new licenses from DMP:
A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of March 5th 2008: Dark Horse will make publishing history with the release of the first volume of this critically acclaimed manhwa series in a new weekly online publishing program. Shaman Warrior is a dramatic fantasy series with a kinetic style that will appeal to fans of Blade of the Immortal and Vagabond! From the desert wastelands emerge two mysterious warriors, master wizard Yarong and his faithful servant Batu. On a grave mission from their king, they have yet to realize the whirlwind of political movements and secret plots which will soon engulf them and change their lives forever. When Yarong is mortally injured, Batu must fulfill a secret promise to leave Yarong's side and protect his master's child. As Batu seeks to find and hide the infant, Yarong reveals another secret to those who have tracked him down to finish him off–the deadly, hidden power of a shaman warrior! |
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. |
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
