From Tokyopop comes an interview with Tachibana Higuchi, mangaka of Gakuen Alice:

When did you start drawing manga? Was your progress fast? Tell us about your career as a manga artist.

I first submitted a manga story a while after I graduated from high school. Up until then I was studying for the entrance examinations for the Art University, and as part of that, I sometimes drew manga and four-panel strip comics for fun.

[...]

From BdZoom comes the top 15 "Bandes Dessinées" (French-style comic books) for the week ending 1/20:

1. Lanfeust des étoiles (7)
2. Les Schtroumpfs (26)
3. W.E.S.T. (3)
4. Astérix (12)
5. XIII (19)
6. XIII (18)
7. La quête de l'oiseau du temps : avant la quête (2)
8. Les femmes en blanc (29)
9. Ric Hochet (74)
10. Les naufragés d'Ythaq (5)
11. Le chat (14)
12. Lou ! (4)
13. Kaamelott (2)
14. Kid Paddle (11)
15. Le donjon de Naheulbeuk (4)

Daily Yomiuri Online takes a look at the "fujoshi" culture in "THROUGH OTAKU EYES / 'Boys love' a vicarious escape for girls.":

Fujoshi is a pejorative Japanese term referring to women who are fans of manga and novels that feature romantic relationships between men--as a fantasy.

Fujoshi readers love the subgenre of comics and novels called "BL" (boys love) or "yaoi"--the abbreviation of "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi," meaning "no climax, no ending, no meaning."

Shinbunka has posted the Amazon Japan top 100 publisher sales rankings for 2007. Below are the top 5:

1. Kodansha
2. Shogakukan
3. Shueisha
4. Kadokawa group (excluding MediaWorks and Fujimi Shobo)
5. Shinchosha

Source: Canned Dogs

According to Canned Dogs, Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter will resume serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump No.14, on sale 3/3.

From Blazedent comes an interview with Takeshi Miyazawa, a Canadian born comics artist who recently moved to Japan to pursue a career in the Japanese manga market:

BlazedEnt (BE): You left Spider-Man loves Mary Jane to write comics in Japan. How is that going so far? Please give us an update.

Takeshi Miyazawa (TM): That's correct. I moved here at the end of 2006 and spent a year making connections and meeting other artists. It's an important initial step that I made sure to thoroughly cover through 2007. I'm currently working with a writer and providing art while, at the same time, working on personal projects as back up just in case. It's been fun.

Via: MangaBlog

The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending January 27th:

• #135 - Naruto, Volume 27 - Viz - (Last week: #152)

From MangaCast comes the Diamond Previews for February 2008, which provides information on new U.S. releases for April/May 2008.

A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of January 30th 2008:

• ComicList: ComicList for 01/30/2008
• MangaCast: New Manga Release List ~ Jan 30, 2008
• Manga Recon: Weekly Recon, 1/30/08

According to Muhyojo, Kazurou Inoue's Ai Kora is coming to an end in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday No.9 (2/6).