Tokyopop has announced a Twelve Kingdom contest, the award is a free copy of The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow volume 1 and volume 1 of the Twelve Kingdom anime DVD:

All you have to do to enter is email your name, age and email address where we can reach you to popfiction@tokyopop.com by midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on April 30th.

Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. Bleach, Volume 27
2. Naruto, Volume 37
3. Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 10
4. Detective Conan, Volume 57
5. WORST, Volume 17
6. Eyeshield 21, Volume 24
7. Vampire Knight, Volume 5
8. One Piece Yellow Grand Element
9. Nana, Volume 17
10. Blue Dragon Ral Grado, Volume 1

Nihon Ki-in (Japanese Go Association) and the Go Shogi Life Corporation has announced a new event called the "Go Original Manga Grand Prize." The award accepts any manga that focus on the amusement and depth of the game Go. The winner of the grand prize will receive 1 million yen, and the winning work will be released as a tankoubon. The deadline is November 2007, the winners will be announced in March 2008.

Mangaka Shibayama Kaoru (43) passed away on April 14th due to heart failure. Shibayama Kaoru is known for his works such as Rival and Chara!, his current series, Mugen Shoujo Dreamer Angels, is serialized in the bi-monthly magazine Comic Valkyrie. Below is a statement from Shibayama Kaoru's editor regarding her death:

We had a meeting about Dreamer Angels on the 20th of last month, I still remember how he had so much passion for the next chapter. I think it's a shame that he was not able to finish Dreamer Angels. As for me, his editor, his death is a very sorrowful experience.

According to animeOnline, a Korean Manhwa exhibition will take place from April 21st at the Kawasaki City Museum:

The exhibit will continue through June 3rd and will feature manhwa artists such as Kim Dongwha (creator of A Story of Kisaeng and Bug Boy) and So-Hee Park (creator of Goong).

The first issue of Take Shobo's new seinen magazine, Comic Marble, was released on April 16th.

Japanese publisher Futabasha has re-launched the official website of its weekly seinen magazine Manga Action at www.webaction.jp.

In the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha takes an in-depth look at Aurora Publishing in "New Manga House Debuts This Summer."

Also featured on PWCW is an article by Brigid Alverson on the second anniversary of Viz Media's Shojo Beat magazine.

According to the latest entry on DramaQueen's news page, the release schedule of DramaQueen's BL anthology Rush will be once every three months instead of every two months:

Houston, Texas, 16th April 2007 Here at the DQ Shop we have been simply thrilled with the response to our pre-order sales, with the month of March being our most successful to date. For all those eagerly awaiting your goodies, the books will start to ship out next week and be shortly winging their way into your hands.

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Fumiyo Kouno's seinen manga Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms will be adapted into a live-action movie, opening July 28th. Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms won the Grand Prize at the 8th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2004 as well as the New Life Award at the 9th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prizes in 2005. The manga has been licensed in the U.S. by Last Gasp.

Source: Manga Jouhou