VIZ MEDIA PARENT COMPANY SHUEISHA INVESTS IN JAPANESE PUBLISHER SHOGAKUKAN’S LICENSING AND MERCHANDISING SUBSIDIARY TO FORM NEW PARTNERSHIP – SHOGAKUKAN-SHUEISHA PRODUCTIONS CO., LTD.

New Entity Will Help Streamline Operations And Increase Flexibility To License Titles For Global Manga And Anime Markets

San Francisco, CA, June 19, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that one of its parent companies, Japanese publisher Shueisha, Inc., has made an investment in Shogakukan Production Company Ltd., the licensing and merchandising subsidiary of Japanese publisher Shogakukan, Inc., another of VIZ Media’s parent companies. ShoPro will be renamed Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd.

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In 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 Canned Dogs, Yasuhiro Kano's Mx0 and Mizuki Kawashita's Hatsukoi Limited are both coming to an end in upcoming issues of Weekly Shonen Jump.

However, Weekly Jump reports that several new series are starting as well:

#25 (19/05)
Shimabukuro Mitsutoshi / Toriko (New Serie)
To Love (Pc)

#27 (02/06)
Hamada Kôsuke / Basket Mono (New Serie)

From ManagCast comes an article titled "Jump & Fujoshi - The Mangacast Special" that looks at the relationship between the fujoshi culture and Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump.

Shueisha will be launching a new monthly manga magazine on May 1st. The magazine, temporarily titled Monthly Young Jump, is a special issue of Weekly Young Jump.

Currently 4 serialization have been revealed:

• Karē naru Shokutaku Bangaihen by Funatsu Kazuki
• Juujika no Majutsushi by Okazaki Kei
• SINfinity by Sasaki Takumaru
• Hideyoshi de Gozaru!! by Tanaka Kanako

Source: Muhyojo

From the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha interviews Daniel Pink, author of a 160-page manga about career advice titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

Also available is an article that look at a collaboration betweem Viz, Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King) on a new manga series titled Ultimo, which will begin serialization in Shueisha's Jump SQ. II.

Finally, PWCW has the April Comics Bestsellers.

Recently the head editor of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, Masahiko Ibaraki, published a column on Nihon Keizai Shimbun called "25 Years of Me and Shonen Jump." In the column, Ibaraki talks about his life for 25 years as the editor-in-chief of Shonen Jump.

The Reminiscence of My 25 Years with Shonen Jump
- by Masahiko Ibaraki: Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump

I joined Shueisha in 1982 and was appointed to the Shonen Jump editorial department. Shonen Jump is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and I've been spending 25 years in the same place.

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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).

ANN reports that Shueisha has launched Ultra Jump Egg, an online spinoff of its Ultra Jump manga magazine:

The website has begun serializing the first manga installments of Rabian Ekusutasu by Toshiki Inoue (Galaxy Angel anime) and Mario Kaneda (Girls Bravo), Neko-Kyuu9 by Kaishaku (Steel Angel Kurumi), Hana-Yome Han by Yukimaru Katsura (Air, Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~), 9-Shinohara's manga adaptation of Ishio Yamagata's Tatakau Shisho to Koi Suru Bakudan light novels, Saikyō Mahō Shōjo Akira by Rco Wada, and Bunka-bu o Ikutsu ka by F4U.

Canned Dogs is reporting that PEACH-PIT's Rozen Maiden made a brief re-appearance in the latest issue of Shueisha's Young Jump:

Peach-Pit has made a surprise appearance in Young Jump in this week's issue with a one-shot comic called Shoujo no tsukurikata (How to make a girl) about how Shinku was made. [...] It isn't officially serialized in the magazine yet, but there is a note at the end of the comic that says that they will be having a big announcement in next week's issue.

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