The world of mangaka often produce fascinating stories. Some of them simply an interesting read, while others outright impossible. Some of these stories are true, while others are rumors that found their way into internet bulletin boards and became "real."

Gossips or not, these stories are nonetheless fun to read. Below is a translation of an article detailing some of these fascinating stories:

All the hot gossip here! - Secrets of the comic book artists exposed!

You are a comic book fan; you passionately love comics and see them as food for your soul. And just as you love comic books, you love their creators; you love them as much as your own parents and marvel at how they could have the energy and imagination to continue time after time to create such magic. The image of them in your mind is dazzling and heroic. At some point, however, the thought may have occurred to you 'comic book creators are real people too; beneath the veneer of fame, their lives share the same realities as ours.' Sometimes such an idea can come as a shock to you! It is these stories behind the storytellers that we will call 'gossip' here. So what is the gossip on their lives? Do you dare join us in digging up their secrets?

From this point it's going to get unflattering for some comic creators.

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Bleed your heart out post-valentine's day! Lunar Legend Tsukihime vol 6, Dark Edge vol. 10, and Divine Melody vol. 1, AVAILABLE NOW!!!

SAN JOSE, CA– February 2009 - DrMaster has just announced the publication of Lunar Legend Tsukihime volume 6 by TYPE-MOON & sasakishonen, Dark Edge volume 10 by Yu Aikawa, and a new fantasy shojo series by I-Huan, Divine Melody volume 1.

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A belated collection of links to this year's New York Comic-Con, courtesy of Isaac Alexander:

• New York Comic Con '09 - Day 0 in Tweets
• ANN: New York Comic Con
• CBR: nycc2009
• A Comic I Never Knew Existed
• NYCC 2009: Setup day photos

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Viz will be publishing Rumiko Takahashi's newest series:

VIZ Media and one of its parent companies- Japanese publishing giant Shogakukan have announced a BRAND NEW series set to debut from Rumiko Takahashi, one of today's greatest manga creators.

This is the first new original manga series from Takahashi sensei since her epic INUYASHA series ended in 2008. Shogakukan’s popular WEEKLY SHONEN SUNDAY manga magazine, which has featured Takahashi’s work since the early 1980’s, will be debuting the new series and VIZ Media will be publishing the manga series later in 2009!

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"One Out of a Hundred" centers around John Malloy's personal series of mixed-media works that explore drug side effects as a metaphor for consumer and media-driven culture's long-term effects on the human spirit. The originals for each piece include pen & ink, oil paint, and other media, and will be exhibited along with large-format, limited edition signed prints of the series. Limited edition prints of Malloy's comics "Queasy" [Image Comics], "Channel One", and rock-interview comics for the award-winning Lemon Magazine will also be on display, in addition to illustrations for the band Minus The Bear, I Heart Comix, and other magazines and publications.

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Top 10 Manga Volumes:

1. ↑272 (273) : Naruto 33 - Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2008 [1767.2] ::
2. ↑168 (170) : Naruto 32 - Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [1673.2] ::
3. ↑51 (54) : Naruto 31 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [1648.1] ::
4. ↑75 (79) : Vampire Knight 5 - Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [1598.7] ::
5. ↑146 (151) : Fruits Basket 21 - Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [1551.5] ::
6. ↑392 (398) : Bleach 25 - Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2008 [1536.8] ::
7. ↔0 (7) : Vampire Knight 3 - Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2007 [1463.4] ::
8. ↑13 (21) : Naruto 30 - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2008 [1459.4] ::
9. ↓-3 (6) : Vampire Knight 2 - Viz Shojo Beat, May 2007 [1411.8] ::
10. ↑86 (96) : Bleach 24 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [1406.2] ::

Top 10 Manga Series:

1. ↔0 (1) : Naruto - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2003 [100]
2. ↔0 (2) : Bleach - Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2004 [63.94]
3. ↔0 (3) : Fruits Basket - Tokyopop, Feb 2004 [59.95]
4. ↔0 (4) : Death Note - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2005 [55.72]
5. ↔0 (5) : Vampire Knight - Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2007 [48.88]
6. ↔0 (6) : Rosario+Vampire - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jun 2008 [40.14]
7. ↑4 (11) : Chibi Vampire - Tokyopop, Apr 2006 [37.47]
8. ↓-1 (7) : Fullmetal Alchemist - Viz, Apr 2005 [32.89]
9. ↓-1 (8) : Warriors - HC/Tokyopop, Apr 2007 [32.36]
10. ↔0 (10) : Ouran High School Host Club - Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2005 [28.1]

(commentary & full charts follow)

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Leading Publishing Sales Indicator Summarizes Last Year's Top Selling Titles And Features Multiple VIZ Media Titles Occupying 15 Of The Top 20 Spots

San Francisco, CA, February 4, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that hit manga (graphic novel) properties including NARUTO, DEATH NOTE, BLEACH and VAMPIRE KNIGHT dominated 15 of the Top 20 spots on the recently released list of Top 20 Graphic Novels for 2008. Nielsen BookScan, one of the publishing industry's leading sales indicators, publishes the list annually.

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According to the latest issue of Shounen Sunday, a new series by Rumiko Takahashi, mangaka of Ranma and Inuyasha, will debut in the spring. At the moment no title or plot were given.

Source: Rumic World

Banks are failing, the government is buying up assets and Americans everywhere are seeing their homes and businesses foreclosed upon in record numbers. Naturally, such dire events should accordingly trigger a series of reactions in the everyman: shock, dismay, anger/fistshaking and, of course, one nagging question: what is the economic fate of the American market for Japanese comic books?! Thankfully, I come armed with soapbox and Bookscan numbers in hand to answer that very question. Sit back and/or continue stuffing your mattress with dollar bills; it's time to take a look at a post-recession manga landscape.

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