From Weekly Jump Readers' Journal comes an article feature titled "WSJ Illustrated Guide: pt. 3 (1985-1989)," Part 3 of a 6-part series of articles that look at important Shonen Jump serializations, with a focus on titles that were adapted into anime.

In the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha and Ed Chavez interviews Kio Shimoku, mangaka of Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Also available is an article by Calvin Reid titled "Tor Books, Seven Seas Together at Last," which looks at Tor Books' joint venture with manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment.

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Top 10 manga (1/09) according to Tohan:

1. To-LOVE-Ru (7)
2. Koukou Debut (High School Debut) (10)
3. Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar (14)
4. Mx0 (7)
5. Fullmetal Alchemist (18)
6. Ookiku Furikabutte (9)
7. Shin Say Hello to Black Jack (3)
8. Eensy-Weensy Monster (2)
9. One Piece (48)
10. Sengoku (15)

Additional Rankings:

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Kouji Kumeta is known for the manga Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which was adapted into an anime last year and is currently serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shounen Magazine.

In chapter 118 of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Kumeta wrote:

"if Jump SQ shows intention to collaborate, I may consider creating a new fantasy manga for it."

Since then, rumors and discussions about a new Kumeta manga on Shueisha's Jump SQ have been steadily heating up.

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Ichijinsha's Comic Yurihime, a successor publication to Sun Magazine's Yuri Shimai, has always been an "add-on" magazine to Ichijinsha's own ZERO-SUM.

Starting with Comic Yurihime Vol.11, onsale 1/18, Comic Yurihime will finally become its own magazine.

To celebrate, Comic Yurihime's editorial department has planned various treats. Aside from special covers and a "Petit Yurihime" booklet that will come with Comic Yurihime Vol.11, there will also be special collaboration series between Comic Yurihime, Comic Yurihime S and Yurihime Wildrose.

Source: Akiba Blog

ChinaNews is reporting that "special interest" manga are becoming increasingly popular in Taiwan, a place formerly dominated by shounen and shoujo manga. Not only are these "special interest" manga being used as teaching material, they're also creating a new market of adult manga readers:

According to World Journal, manga like Kami no Shizuku (a manga about wine) and Nodame Cantabile (a manga about music) were highly praised by the press, and became so popular that was they were constantly out of stock.

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ANN reports that Seven Seas president Jason DeAngelis has confirmed two new acquisitions made by Seven Seas:

• Inukami! by Mamizu Arisawa and Mari Matsuzawa
• Kuro Majo-san ga Touru!! (novel) by Hiroshi Ishizaki

From Bookslut comes an interview with librarian and recent Eisner Award judge Robin Brenner, who authored the book Understanding Manga and Anime last summer. Also included is Robin Brenner's list of the top 10 manga of all time.

Source: ANN

Jari Chevalier from Living Hero writes in to announce that Living Hero will be conducting an interview with Dan Pink, who recently announced his intention to write a career guide manga titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need, towards the end of February:

I'm writing to you and others in advance to give you a chance to participate in the formation of the interview questions. Just type your question into the question box widget on the right column of the page.

TangognaT reports that Nominations for Cybils, a "Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards," have been announced. One manga, Yotsuba&! Volume 4 by Kiyohiko Azuma, was nominated in the Elementary/Middle Grade category.

Via: MangaBlog