Japanese readers recently noted similarities between Naka Gomura's manga Megabaka, serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shounen Magazine's January 11th Special Issue: Magazine Dragon, and other popular series such as Death Note, Air Gear and MPD-Psycho.

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In the latest issue of his Flipped column, David Welsh interviews Eijiro Shimada, Editor-in-Chief of Kodansha's Morning and Morning 2, as well as chief judge of Kodansha's Morning International Manga Competition.

The deadline for the second round of Kodansha's International Manga Competition is December 31st. The official site and the rules can be found at http://e-morning.jp/mimc/

Visitors can read the two second prize winning works in English at the following link:
http://e-morning.jp/mimc/story/nigiri_e.html
http://e-morning.jp/mimc/story/vefurrin_e.html

Also, reviews of winning works can be found here:
http://e-morning.jp/mimc/result/english.html

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 ??????????????????) 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 (??????????????????????????????) by Oe Shinichiro

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

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A few months ago Kodansha announced its plan to discontinue Comic BonBon.

An official announcement has been posted by Comic BonBon's editorial department announcing the future of the titles serialized in the magazine:

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Canned Dogs reports that Star Ocean 2 character designer Koio Minato has written a post on his website criticizing Kodansha's Shounen Sirius magazine:

In his BBS, he says that he wants to quit working with Shounen Sirius. He explains that after he submitted the art early and having corrected the colours 4 times over for print, they had a miscommunication in the Kodansha offices which created very big printing miss when printing the cover for his manga, causing the colours to become bland and make the design look weird.

Although the original post from Koio Minato has been removed, a screenshot can be found here.

Chuosha is reporting that Takuya Fujima's Negima!? neo, an alternate retelling of Ken Akamatsu's Mahou Sensei Negima!, will begin serialization in Magazine Special No.2 (1/18) after it ends in Comic Bom Bom.

Fujima Blog reports that Negima!? neo by Takuya Fujima, an alternate retelling of Ken Akamatsu's Mahou Sensei Negima!, will stop serialization after the suspension of Comic Bom Bom (a few months ago, Kodansha announced the suspension of Comic Bom Bom). However, the report also mentions that the manga may be moved to a new magazine. Official announcement regarding the manga's future will appear in the last issue of Comic Bom Bom (11/15).

Jump SQ's official website has announced that the Shiki horror fantasy novels by Fuyumi Ono will be adapted into a manga series by Ryu Fujisaki (mangaka of Hoshin Engi). The new manga will start in Jump Square's January 2008 issue (12/4).

The light novel Maid Deka by Yuji Hayami (author) and Kiyotaka Haimura (illustrator) will be adapted into an online manga. The new manga, drawn by Michiko Usami, will begin serialization in FlexComix Blood on October 12, 2007.

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