A manga adaptation of singer Eikichi Yazawa's autobiography Nariagari, titled Nariagari: Yazawa Eikichi Monogatari (成り上がり 矢沢永吉物語) (drawn by Sho Kitagawa), began in Kadokawa Shoten's Comic Charge No.3 (1/15).

Also, Tohru Fujisawa, mangaka of Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO), will begin a new series titled Anhapi-! (Unhappy!) (アンはぴっ!) in Comic Charge No.5 (2/19).

Two new one-shots Ginga -Nagareboshi Gin- Special Chapter (Part 1) (銀牙－流れ星 銀－ 特別編 (前編)) by Yoshihiro Takahashi and Metaborika (めたボリカ) by Yuzuki Hikaru, will appear in Shueisha's Business Jump No.5 (2/1).

Two new series, Alice no 100℃c (アリスの100℃c) by Chizuna Nakajima (mangaka of Iinari! Aibration) and Yakuza Girl ~Blade Shikake no Hanayome~ (ヤクザガール ～ブレイド仕掛けの花嫁～) by Okuma Yu-go, will begin serialization in the April issue of Akita Shoten's Champion RED (2/19).

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According to Moon Phase, Kozue Amano's manga Aria will come to an end in the April issue of Mag Garden's Comic Blade (2/30), with chapter 60 being its last chapter.

Also announced is that as part of Tunasima Sirou's Jinki: Extend revival project, Jinki -Shinsetsu- will begin serialization in the May issue of MediaWorks' Dengeki Moeoh.

In early July, Production I.G. announced its plan to acquire manga publisher Mag Garden on December 1st, 2007 through a stock swap.

Production I.G. has been experiencing a steady decline in profit for the last three and a half years. Last week Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan Economic Times) interviewed the president of Production I.G., Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, about the merger of the two companies and their business strategy.

Below is a translation of a part of the interview:

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The official site of Mag Garden's Comic Blade Avarus (the magazine that will replace Comic Blade Masamune) has been launched. According to the site, any manga in the current magazine that ends with "to be continued!!" will continue to run in Avarus. The first issue of Comic Blade Avarus will be released on 9/15.

A new bi-monthly seijin manga magazine called Buster Comic (NSFW) from TI Net was launched on 7/24.

The second issue of Take Shobo's seinen magazine, Comic Marble, was released on 7/20. It has been confirmed that the magazine will go on a quarterly release schedule, with the third issue coming out in October 2007.

Also, a new seijin manga magazine from Core Magazine called Comic Hotmilk will debut on 8/27.

Source: Ultimatum Tidbits

Japanese anime studio Production I.G. has issued a press release announcing that it will acquire manga publisher Mag Garden on December 1st, 2007 through a stock swap.

Production I.G., which currently owns close to 15% of Mag Garden shares, plans to acquire the remainder with one Mag Garden share being exchanged for 0.5 shares of Production I.G. As a result Mag Garden will be delisted from Tokyo Stocks Exchange's "Mothers" Market.

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My Work is Animation! by Atsuko Ishida, one of the finalists in the 9th Japan Media Arts Festival, will end in the September issue (7/30) of Young King OURs.

Also, a new manga titled Faireal Garden by Minene Sakurano will start in the September issue (7/30) of Comic Blade.

Source: Ultimatum Chat

According to PEACH-PIT's latest weblog entry, due to the recent trouble and sudden suspension of Rozen Maiden, volume 8, the manga's final volume, will carry only chapters 41 to 43 and contains no extra artworks.

Source: Canned Dogs

According to Mag Garden's official website, the bi-monthly shounen/seinen manga magazine Comic Blade Masamune will receive a makeover after the release of its combined early-mid summer issue on June 15th. On September 15th, the magazine will be relaunched as Comic Blade Avarus.

Some titles will continue their serialization on Avarus, and some will be moved to other magazines. More information will become available on the September issue of Comic Blade, on sale July 30th.

2007 marks the 5th anniversary of Mag Garden's shonen/seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Blade. To commemorate the special occasion, Mag Garden completely revamped Comic Blade's homepage. Also, the April issue of Comic Blade came with with special commemoration playing cards.

Akiba Blog has put together a post featuring covers of all all 60 issues of Comic Blade released since the magazine's Launch in early 2002.

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A manga adaptation of Production IG's anime Sisters of Wellber has begun serialization in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade. The art is drawn by Naruse Takami, who won last year's Comic Blade NEO award for most promising artist.

Source: Animaxis