Gentosha

Companies to collaborate on a wide variety of publishing and trans-media projects

San Diego, CA, July 24th, 2008 – Global manga giants TOKYOPOP and GENTOSHA COMICS have entered into a worldwide partnership to advance the cause of the manga revolution. Under the terms of the alliance, TOKYOPOP will provide sublicensing agency services (outside of Asia, France, and Italy) for GENTOSHA COMICS’s world-class library of manga hits, including titles like Gravitation, Lament of the Lamb, and Arm of Kannon. The companies will also pursue a wealth of co-development opportunities in the digital, film, and merchandising spaces.

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topIn April, Shueisha announced that PEACH-PIT's popular seinen manga Rozen Maiden, which was discontinued last year in Gentosha's Comic BIRZ, will resume serialization in Young Jump.

In accordance with Rozen Maiden's move to Young Jump, Shueisha will re-release the Rozen Maiden series under its seinen comic imprint Young Jump Comics.

The first volume of the new version of Rozen Maiden was released on April 28th, 2008.

According to posts on 2ch, PEACH-PIT's popular seinen manga Rozen Maiden, which was discontinued last year in Gentosha's Comic BIRZ, will resume serialization in issue 20 of Shueisha's Young Jump (4/17).

topKadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Beans Ace will become a bi-monthly magazine as of volume 10.

Also, with the release of volume 3 of Houbunsha's manga magazine Comic Yell! (11/10), the magazine will become a bi-monthly magazine. The magazine is mentioned by the publisher as a "pure and cute shoujo manga magazine for males."

The first issue of a new cat manga magazine titled Neko Mero! will be released by Gentosha Comics on October 16th, 2007. The magazine will be published quarterly.

Source: Ultimatum Tidbits

topVolume 8 of PEACH-PIT's Rozen Maiden came out on June 23rd. Due to the incidents earlier this year involving Rozen Maiden, volume 8 is barely over 90 pages (a regular volume of manga totals around 200 pages).

On June 24th, the mangaka duo PEACH-PIT posted a message on their blog apologizing for the rushed "ending" of Rozen Maiden. Below is a excerpt from the post:

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On June 22nd, Gentosha Comics will launch a new manga bunko called... Manga Bunko.

Manga published under this bunko include Masatsu Note Taimashin by Kikuchi Hideyuki (story) / Saito Misaki (art), Seimaden by You Higuri, Kodoku Experiment by Yukinobu Hoshino, Koibito Purei by Benkyo Tamaoki, and more.

Gentosha has re-launched its online manga magazine Genzo in the CD-ROM format. Genzo will be distributed by Gentosha through CD-ROM every month, free trial of the magazine will also be available on Genzo's website.

According to the latest issue of Gentosha's Monthly Comic BIRZ, PEACH-PIT's popular series Rozen Maiden will end its run in the July issue of Comic BIRZ.

In January, rumors began circulating that PEACH-PIT is having a dispute with Comic BIRZ's editorial department over the serialization of Rozen Maiden. Later Rozen Maiden's serialization was suspended in the March issue of Comic BIRZ (released on January 30th).

Source: Ultimatum Talk

topIn January 2007, rumors began circulating that PEACH-PIT, the duo behind hit titles such as DearS and Zombie-Loan, is having a dispute with the editorial team of Gentosha's Comic BIRZ over the serialization of Rozen Maiden. When the March issue of Comic BIRZ was released on January 30th, instead of a new chapter of Rozen Maiden, fans were greeted with the announcement of Rozen Maiden's suspension.

However, the announcement can only be found inside the magazine, so to fans who buy BIRZ just for Rozen Maiden, it was not clear that the March issue of BIRZ didn't carry their favorite manga. A Japanese law blog called Ahowota Law Student News explores this interesting situation, and goes on to ask the question: "Can a person legally claim fallacy and assert that the contract is invalid (Meaning he can return the magazine and get his money back)?"

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According to Nikkei News, starting in April, manga publisher Gentosha will begin offering manga online in 7 different languages. Also announced were plans to distribute its manga around the world in six different languages (Japanese, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Taiwanese). Currently Gentosha's planned line-up includes Gravitation EX, which is being released in the U.S. by Tokyopop.

Source: Manga Jouhou