KansasCity.com has an article describing how Kaplan and Tokyopop's effort in utilizing manga to help students prepare for SAT and ACT proves to be successful:

"Within the last year, we've seen student teachers including more and more graphic novels in their curriculum," said Kelly McNeal, an education professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. "We're living in a graphic world - this is highly appealing. Students will read it."

Source: Active Anime

The winner of this year's World Cosplay Summit has been announced. According to Anime! Anime! (via Giapet), the winner of this year's event, held in Nagoya, Japan, is the French team, represented by Isabelle Jeudy and Damian Ratte cosplaying as Tsugiri and Myoubi from the manga Alichino.

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Ultimatum Tidbits reports that the light novel series Ookami to Koushinryou by Isuna Hasekura (author) and Juu Ayakura (illustrator) will be adapted into a TV animation. The announcement can be found on the cover of the fifth volume of the light novel.

In June, Dengeki Online also announced Ookami to Koushinryou's adaptation into a manga (drawn by Koume Keito).

Source: LightNovel.org

From ANN's Carlo Santos comes an interview with Arina Tanemura, conducted during Comic-Con 2007. In the interview, Tanemura not only talks about manga, but also her love for the pop culture.

Daily Yomiuri Online has published a report on the TV dramatization of the manga Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa, and how the drama will be aired on August 10th to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima:

Monday will mark the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. So as not to forget what happened in World War II, Fuji TV will air Aug. 10 and 11 from 9 p.m. a two-night special drama, Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen), based on a manga featuring a little boy who survived the atomic bombing.

Letters to the Chairman is a service which delivers constructive requests to corporate chairmen in users' stead. If supporters of the request increase, action is taken by letter or by phone. Among the "letters" posted is one written to "The Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump", requesting the revival of Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter.

The Hunter X Hunter request for the Editor-in Chief of Shonen Jump stands out among a huge list of request-letters directed at restaurants and convenience stores. The HxH letter reads:

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The official website of Kodansha's new monthly magazine Shonen Rival is now available at http://www.shonenrival.com/. According to the website, the reason the magazine is called "Shonen Rival" is to show "the rivalry between the protagonist and his rivals. Also, when a boy matures, the concept of rivalry is indispensable."

Also mentioned is the 1st Shonen Rival Comic Grand Prix. The winning works will be serialized in Shonen Rival, and the grand prize winner will receive 3,000,000 yen.

From the blog Mideast Youth comes an article titled "Arabian Manga(stan) - Arab comics and Islamic 'culture'," which looks at the popularity and influence manga have in the Arab world.

Via: Giapet

The 2007 Hong Kong Comics Festival took place in Hong Kong last month. Although the organizers initially expected an attendance of around 550,000, over 560,000 fans showed up for the 5-day convention. Due to an unexpected rise in attendance, sometimes the convention stayed open until 11:30pm to accommodate special special events. According to the report, sales of tripled compared to last year.

Source: ZhongMan

ANN reports that Digital Manga will be releasing a book called the Pop Japan Travel: Essential Otaku Guide on August 15:

Based on the anime and manga tours of Japan that were pioneered by Pop Japan Travel, this English book will include maps and special features designed to help travelers.