Go! Comi has posted a 15-page preview of its upcoming manga Train + Train volume 1.

The Beat has confirmed the licensing of Apollo's Song (by Tezuka Osamu) from Vertical:

New York-based independent publisher Vertical, Inc. has announced it is publishing its third Osamu Tezuka property in June 2007. Apollo’s Song will be published as a single-volume graphic novel at approximately 500 pages in length and will follow the same design format as the award-winning classic Buddha, and the runaway hit Ode to Kirihito. Apollo’s Song will have the same trim size as well as an obi-band mini book jacket just like its two American predecessors, and will be published as a trade paperback.

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Japanese Studies K.U.Leuven's blog Japanese Popular Culture has posted an article regarding the drafting of a new classification system for new manga collections.

According to this press release, Purrsia Press has recently completed the first issue of their manga-style anthology "U.K. Manga":

Independent comics publisher Purrsia Press has just completed issue #1 of their brand new manga-styled anthology, "U.K. Manga". It is a collection of short original comic stories directly from Britain's vastly growing underground dojinshi set. This includes material by international fan-favorite artist "Foxy", and Rising Stars Of Manga winner Emma Vieceli.

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On December 6th, Yoyogi Live Animation Co., Ltd. (Yoyogi, Shibuya Ward, President - Ryoich Ishikawa, Capital - 40 million yen, 40 employees) petitioned for the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and on the same day received the Preservation of Assets Order from the Tokyo District Court.

Established in May of 1978, Yoyogi Live Animation managed the anime school Yoyogi Animation Gakuin (代々木アニメーション学院), which had over 6000 students in its 13 different branches of study. Yoyogi Animation Gakuin, one of the largest anime schools in Japan, has earned great recognition for its honorable history, positive scores, and the large number of graduates. The animation school has raised numerous anime creators within its Anime department, as the Imaging, Game Creation, and Show Business departments. The revenue of the school was reported to be approximately 7,700 million yen in April 1998.

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Broccoli Books has announced a new manga series:

- Murder Princess by Sekihiko Inui, Dietrich Seto (Editor), Satsuki Yamashita (Translator)

Some other titles where also hinted at in Broccoli's Newsletter:

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An interesting video from YouTube of professional manga reading in Japan.

According to People's Daily Japan, Beijing Film Academy has introduced a new category, Nihon Taishi Prize (Japan Ambassador Prize) to its Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award. The prize was awarded to the head of the Japanese Embassy's Public Relations and Culture Department, who attended the award ceremoney on December 3rd.

With over 50 years of history, the Beijing Film Academy is the most prestigious film school in China. The Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award was established 8 years ago to promote creativity and production of animations.

Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. 20th Century Boys vol.22
2. Fullmetal Alchemist vol.15
3. Initial D vol.34
4. Bokura ga Ita vol.11
5. Koukou Debut vol.7
6. Oooku vol.2
7. One Piece vol.44
8. Red Diamonds Eleven
9. Real vol.6
10. Oh My Goddess! vol.34

From TeleRead comes an article on how a "rumored Amazon Kindle E Ink reader, subsidized by e-book sales, [may] threaten the $350 Sony Reader."