News

Wholesale distributor Cold Cut announced that it has added yaoi manga publisher DramaQueen to its lineup:

This week, we have added a new publisher to our lineup: Dramaqueen Books! Formed in 2004, Dramaqueen has primarily focused on publishing yaoi and b/l manga, but has also published all-ages fantasy as well as heterosexual adult manga. With several books already published, Dramaqueen has an ambitious publishing schedule for 2007. Cold Cut has recently added a dozen new books from Dramaqueen to our catalog, and we will be adding several more in the months to come!

Source: Icarus Blog

According to Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine wbesite, Yukipon No O Shigoto by Kazuhiro Azuma will be adapted into a drama, and will debut on April 1st. Yukipon No O Shigoto won the 31st Japanese Cartoonists' Association Award New Face Award in 2002.

Banbix has announced a new line of toilet paper featuring manga drawings and 4 panel comics by manga artist Mitsuru Yaku. The toilet paper, called "Food Toipe", is available in sets 50 rolls from the Banbix website for 8,500 yen (approximately $74).

Source: animeOnline

Soon after celebrating MangaBlog's 2nd anniversary, Brigid Alverson finds herself featured in Digital Strip's latest comic strip.

Monthly comics top 10 in the U.S. according to PWCW.

  1. Bleach, Volume 17
  2. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Volume 2
  3. Absolute Boyfriend, Volume 3
  4. Tsubasa, Volume 12
  5. Bone: Rockjaw Master of the Eastern Border.
  6. Loveless, Volume 4
  7. Astonishing X-Men: Torn, Volume 3
  8. Buso Renkin!, Volume 4
  9. Full Metal Alchemist, Volume 11
  10. Fables: Wolves, Volume 8

topZassosha's manga magazine PUFF is known by many fans as one of the definite study guides for those who appreciate manga. Every year, PUFF holds a special manga award feature called "Manga Best Ten," where readers vote for their favorite manga of the year, some even call this award the "Manga Oscar."

The winners of the 2006 Manga Best Ten were announced in the April issue of PUFF (2/28). Below are the winners of the long/short stories award:

Long Stories

  1. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya [Hana to Yume / Hakusensha]
  2. Gintama by Hideaki Sorachi - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
  3. Bleach by Tite Kubo - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
  4. Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa - [Monthly Shonen Gangan / Square Enix]
  5. xxxHOLiC by CLAMP - [Weekly Young Magazine / Kodansha]
  6. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
  7. D.Gray-man by Katsura Hoshino - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
  8. Kyo Kara Maoh! by Temari Matsumoto - [Asuka / Kadokawa Shoten]
  9. Honey and Clover by Chika Umino - [Chorus / Shueisha]
  10. Saiyuki Reload by Kazuya Minekura - [Comic Zero Sum / Ichijinsha]

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The Suginami Animation Museum announced on March 4th that over 100,000 admission tickets have been sold since its opening in March 2005, proving proving itself to be a special tourist spot representing the anime and manga world. The museum also celebrated its 2nd anniversary on the same day.

topAccording to a page from a Kodansha sales order, Koji Kumeta's Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will be be adapted into an anime TV series. *Note that there has been no official announcement of an anime adaption from Kodansha as of now.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 2005, is about a depressed teacher whose attempts to commit suicide are constantly foiled by his 32 equally troubled students.

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According to AoD, several Media Blasters manga, including Apocalypse Zero and Baron Gong, will most likely be discontinued:

From the look of it, Apocalypse Zero, Baron Gong Battle, Pilgrim Jager and Kamunagara all appear to be dead titles with no new movement forward on new volumes. Eiken, which is selling well and getting reprints, is in limbo with no new volumes acquired. Their yaoi titles appear to be where the movement will be going forward but they also indicate to expect news on other non-yaoi titles as well.