On November 28th, a Kodansha employee, pretending to be a college student conducting marketing research, sent email surveys to Japanese manga bloggers to obtain "confidential" information on Japanese manga blogs. Kodansha has released an apology on their website stating that "this is an 'abominable act,' and the person responsible will be dealt with accordingly."

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Weekly Jump Reader's Journal reports that "throughout Jump's 40th anniversary year, the spine of each and every Jump issue will connect together to form one massive image to celebrate the anniversary."

Also, several new series are starting in Weekly Shounen Jump in December:

• Jump No.1 (12/3)
  - Psyren (PSYREN －サイレン－) by Iwashiro Toshiaki
• Jump No.2 (12/10)
  - K.O.SEN by Murase Katsutoshi
• Jump No.3 (12/17)
  - Muddy by Sho Aimoto
• Jump No.4/5 (12/25)
  - Shinritsu Mesopotamia Gakuen (私立メソポタミア学園) by Oe Shinichiro

A new medical manga titled Saijou no Meii (最上の命医) by Takashi Hashiguchi, mangaka of Yakitate!! Japan, will begin serialization in Weekly Shounen Sunday No.1 (12/5).

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From About.com:Manga comes an interview with Slam Dunk and Vagabond creator Takehiko Inoue. Also available is a photo gallery from Takehiko Inoue's mural painting event at Kinokuniya NYC.

Also available is an interview with Jason Thompson, manga editor and author of Manga: The Complete Guide, and his Top 10 Manga List.

Anime! Anime! reports that Toranoana, one of the biggest doujinshi retail chain in Japan, has launched an online stores that provides downloads of doujin manga, CG arts, doujin games and more. ANN has more:

The store gives dōjin creators the option of using Keyring PDF, a copy-protected version of Adobe's Portable Document Format standard. Most of the currently available manga and art collections sell for well under 1,000 yen (US$9.00), and many games sell for under 2,000 yen (US$18.00).

According to MangaBlog, Tokyopop will be shooting a a "mock-umentary" called Van Von Hunter in Maiden Quest (based on the Van Van Hunter manga) at this year's at NYAF:

TOKYOPOP is making movies at New York Anime Fest—on Saturday, December 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Manga Panel Room 1A24, TOKYOPOP will be filming "Van Von Hunter in Maiden Quest," a hilarious mock-umentary based on the three-volume manga series "Van Von Hunter."

Del Rey Manga has announced its New York Anime Fest schedule:

Friday, Dec 7

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Del Rey Industry Panel
Manga Panel Room

The team from Del Rey Manga is on hand to dish out some exciting new manga announcements and updates on what you can expect from your favorite publisher through 2008 and beyond. Plus all the usual fun of the Del Rey Q&A. Join Dallas Middaugh (Associate Publisher), Mutsumi Miyazaki (Director of Licensing & Acquisitions), Tricia Narwani (Editorial Associate), Ali T. Kokmen (Marketing Manager), and April Flores (Publicity) for a panel packed full of more fun than should be allowed!

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A 18-page sneak peak of Go! Comi's latest featured title, Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger, can be found here.

Also, to celebrate the release of Japan Ai, Go! Comi is giving away an autographed copy of the title at NYAF, go here for more detail.

Last but not least, Go! Comi's NYAF schedule can be found here.

From MangaCast comes a list of rumored new Go! Comi licenses, which were listed on Amazon.com:

• Kurogane Communication by Katou Hideo & Takuma Tomomasa
• Bogle by Taira Shino & Ichiju Yuko
• Three in Love by Mizuki Shioko
• Yggdrasil by Mutsuki Lay
• CROSS x BREAK by DUO BRAND
• Song Of The Hanging Sky by Toriko Gin

However, a comment by Go! Comi's David Wise states that "There is ABSOLUTELY no truth to these rumors. And it is POSITIVELY untrue that we will be announcing these or any other licenses at our panel at the New York Anime Festival on December 7th at 5:00 PM in room 1A24. That's a week from Friday at 5 o'clock. Room 1A24. But you'll get nothing out of me!"

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Last week, Toei Animation's president and COO Yosuke Kobayashi and director Kaz Yamashita visited Brazil. The two talked with specialized press, and Papo de Budega was present during the occasion.

One of reasons of the visit is to review the Brazilian and Latin American anime distribution scene. The company wants to give more attention to countries around the region. Their focus is on free TV (broadcast), instead of cable TV.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending November 25th:

• #89 - Fruits Basket, Volume 18 - Tokyopop - (Last week: #67)
• #92 - Naruto, Volume 24 - Viz - (Last week: #77)
• #146 - Naruto, Volume 22 - Viz - (Last week: #103)
• #149 - Naruto, Volume 23 - Viz - (Last week: #107)

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