In the latest installment of the Ninja Consultant podcast, "Show #58 - Manga Zombie and a Manga Panel at MoCCA", the NC crews introduce Udagawa Takeo's Manga Zombie and read its preface. Check it out!

From Active Anime comes an interview with Megumi Uhde, founder of the new fan run convention Zuiichi that takes place on August 3rd:

[AA] What is Zuiichi?
[MU] Zuiichi means "elite" or "foremost" in Japanese. The event focuses on all of the best things in fandom, and with the venue and cuisine, we thought it appropriate. The focus for this year's Zuiichi is trifold - Anime, Lolita and other Japanese fashion, and Joss Whedon. As we grow, we'll incorporate more of the random fandom into the Dreamland fold.

Plus the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Kawaii Kon & Sakura-Con, contests & more in episode 64!

GRIMES, IA, April 11, 2008 – Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Gonzalo Ferreyra - the vice president of sales, publishing and home video for VIZ Media – to episode 64 of ANIME TODAY.

In this new interview, Ferreyra discusses how anime and manga are interconnected, plus the challenges and opportunities that arise when both anime and manga components of a series are available in the same market.

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From Daily Yomiuri comes an article on how Daisaku Tsuru, an assistant cultural anthropology professor at Toyama University, is creating a manga titled Nacun that focuses on the "mystery of life, with the sea in Okinawa Prefecture as its background.":

Tsuru debuted as a mangaka in 2006 with Nacun, a series that has been carried in Afternoon, a monthly magazine published by Kodansha Ltd. Nacun is based on Tsuru's own experience of having researched fishing culture on an isolated island in Okinawa Prefecture for a total of six months while at graduate school.

Gardena, CA, April 11, 2008 - Now in the US for the first time in its complete form, DMP is proud to present Tatsuo Yoshida's masterwork. Painstakingly restored and collected into a hardcover, 2-volume set in celebration of Speed Racer's 40th anniversary, Speed Racer Mach Go Go Go introduces these beloved characters to readers new and old. Join Speed Racer, Racer X, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim in this face-paced thriller of action and intrigue.

Included in this special edition set is an introduction by the voice of Speed Racer, Peter Fernandez! Peter Fernandez will be on hand at the DMP booth at New York Comic Con to autograph what critics are calling one of the best archival collections published to date.

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BERKELEY, CA - APRIL 11, 2008:

Embark on a journey to the freaky, deviant, and cool world of Emily the Strange, along with Rob Reger, the mastermind behind the beloved cult icon, at New York's Comic Con 2008. Publishing leader Dark Horse Comics is delighted to present unexpected happenings, exciting news, and an all-around, fascinating Emily experience for the media and fans alike.

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In the latest installment of Flipped, David Welsh interviews Aurora Sales and Marketing office's Michael Perry to talk about the young publisher's origins, strategy and philosophy:

DAVID WELSH: Aurora is the North American arm of Ohzora, a Japanese publisher. Could you explain how that relationship works? Will Aurora exclusively publish translated works from Ohzora, or will you be working with other publishers as well?

MICHAEL PERRY: Aurora Publishing, Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Ohzora Publishing, Co. To simplify that, it means that we are the American office of Ohzora Publishing, come to bring manga to America. We keep a close relationship with our parent company and have people at Ohzora Publishing that solely look to license manga for us to translate into English, which I believe would answer your next question: we do publish from other companies.

Dark Horse is pleased to announce the addition of Blood+ to its ever-growing line of translated prose and manga. This already established work has found a new life and audience in the animated TV series airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Anime Block. Blood+ will also soon make its slilver screen in a live-action theatrical film produced by William Kong (House of Flying Daggers; Hero; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) slated for a 2009 release.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending April 9th:

• #82 - Naruto, Volume 28 - Viz - (Last week: #52)
• #116 - Fruits Basket, Volume 19 - Tokyopop - (Last week: #65)
• #144 - Vampire Knight, Volume 4 - Viz - (Last week: #210)

Also, Comicsnob posts the weekly online manga sales rankings:

• Manga Top 500: Week Ending 6 April
• Manga Top 50 Series: Week Ending 6 April
• Publishers' Scorecard: Week Ending 6 April
• Manga Midlist 500: Week Ending 6 April

24 Hour Complimentary Shuttle Service for Hotel Attendees

Anaheim, California (April 10, 2008) ‹ Attendees registered as guests within the official Anime Expo® 2008 Hotel Room Blocks will be able to access the 24-hour complimentary shuttle service which will provide transportation from all official convention hotels to this year's Anime Expo® 2008 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.

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From the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha interviews Daniel Pink, author of a 160-page manga about career advice titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

Also available is an article that look at a collaboration betweem Viz, Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King) on a new manga series titled Ultimo, which will begin serialization in Shueisha's Jump SQ. II.

Finally, PWCW has the April Comics Bestsellers.

Top 10 manga (4/09) according to Tohan:

1. Bleach (33)
2. Detective Conan (61)
3. Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (19)
4. Gintama (23)
5. Kimi ni Todoke (6)
6. Eyeshield 21 (29)
7. Fullmetal Alchemist (19)
8. Ouran High School Host Club (12)
9. Detroit Metal City (5)
10. BASTARD!! (25)

ANN reports that issue 18 of Kodansha's Morning magazine announced that Morning 2 will become a monthly manga magazine starting April 30:

The magazine had published eight issues on an irregular, but roughly bimonthly, schedule since September of 2006.

According to an announcement from AnimeOnDVD (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year) founder Chris Beveridge, AoD will be sold to Mania.com:

AnimeOnDVD is very much a community effort and I have a fantastic staff of volunteers who plug away at all manner of reviews and work within the forums. But at the end of the day, it comes down to what I can do with it. And I want to do a lot more with it which is why I decided to sell the site to the folks at Mania.com who I’ve known for several years now. Working with them, I and the entire staff will be taking this site into their larger platform where we’ll be heading up their anime and manga platform.

Also, AoD has now switched its forum software from FusionBB to vBulletin.

U.S. manga publisher Viz Media has won 2 categories in this year's Diamond 2007 Gem Award: "Manga Publisher of the Year" and "Manga Trade Paperback of the Year" (for volume 14 of Naruto).

Source: Icarus Blog

2008.4.8 – It's that time of the year again when school kids in Japan return to school beneath the showers of cherry blossom petals, and draw hearts on envelopes containing love confessions to their future sweethearts (a few heartbreakers too...but we're optimists here at Wacom). To celebrate this time of year, we'd like to invite anime and manga artists to illustrate your own anime/manga scene of your first love for the 2nd Wacom Anime/Manga Contest on the Wacom Community. Good luck!!

More info and online entry here:
http://www.wacom-asia.com/community/contests/anime2/index.php

Theme: "My First Love"
Awards: Grand Prize, Most Romantic Moment Award, Kawaii (Cute) Award

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Manga-Inspired Film Offers Realistic Portrayal Of Two Modern Women Searching For Love, Careers and A Sense of Purpose

San Francisco, CA, April 7, 2008 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced the release of the manga-inspired live-action film NANA on DVD set for tomorrow, April 8. The film, which features English subtitles, will have an estimated retail price of $24.98. The release follows a special week-run theatrical screening that began on Friday, April 4 in New York’s IMAGINASIAN THEATRE.

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Regular, Hotel Room Block and Reserved Seating Block Attendee Tickets
Available Now

Anaheim, California (April 7, 2008) ‹ Traditional Main Events (including Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Masquerade, Anime Music Video Contest, AX Idol, Charity Auction and concerts) are all accessible free of charge to registered attendees at this year¹s Anime Expo® 2008 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.

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From About.com:Manga its Q&A sessions featuring Chibi Vampire (Karin) manga artist Yuna Kagesaki from last weekend's Sakura-Con 2008 in Seattle.

In this transcript (from two Q&A sessions), Kagesaki-sensei talks about her life as a manga-ka, answers questions about the Chibi Vampire manga story and characters and her impressions of her American fans and the American anime con experience.

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From Canned Dogs comes an story about the troubles of Wakaki Tamiki, a Shounen Sunday manga artist responsible for series like Seikesshou Albatross. According Tamiki's latest blog post, he is extremely short on money at the moment, with less than 10,000 yen in his bank account:

He would have no money to pay the utilities bills, but he managed to get an advance from Shounen Sunday for the manga that's starting serialization in the next issue.

Kodansha has recently opened a comic portal website called Kodansha Comic Plus (講談社コミックプラス).

Source: Ultimatum

From IGN comes an article that looks at Japan's current independent manga scene:

The doujinshi market has gotten big enough in recent years that it serves as a sort of "minor league" for the professional manga ranks. Many well-known creators nowadays got their start doing amateur productions.

According to Active Anime, the 9th International Manga Summit will be taking place in Kyoto, Japan this coming September:

This year's summit theme called "Environmental Innovation", will attempt to pursue and inform society about environmental conservation through manga with three sub-themes focusing on Global Warming Prevention, Dietary Education, and The 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle).

Type-Moon has updated its official website with the announcement of a new project: Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Witch on a Holy Night.

The story will be based on an unpublished story written by Type-Moon co-founder Kinoko Nasu. For more background on the story, visit here.

According to the announcement, more information will be revealed in the TYPE-MOON Ace magazine and TECH GIAN June issue, which will be released on April 21st.

The Icarus Blog has posted responses to some questions asked by the fans regarding how the company worked. The questions answered include:

• How do you choose which books to license? What is the process behind it?
• Why don't you translate the sound effects?
• Why don't you do direct sales to retailers/distribute through ___ company?
• When is Blue Eyes 4 coming out!?