Shogakukan released a new magazine under the Flower Comics imprint titled Rinka on 6/14. The new magazine serializes manga from popular shoujo mangaka such as Yuu Watase (creator of Fushigi Yuugi), Yumi Tamura (creator of Basara) and Chiho Saito (creator of Revolutionary Girl Utena).

Source: Ultimatum Chat

Three new series will start in the upcoming issues of Shueisha's Super Jump:

Super Jump issue 14 (6/27):
- Que Sera Sera by Hiroyuki Tamakoshi (Boys Be..., Gacha Gacha)

Super Jump issue 16:
- MissCan☆Scandal by Nobuto Hagio

Super Jump issue 17:
- Kaitai Shingo by Tai Itou

Also, a new series titled doubt by Yoshiki Tonogai (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Himatsubushi-hen) will begin serialization in the August issue of Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan (7/12).

Source: Ultimatum Chat

Top 10 manga (6/06) according to Tohan.

1. Naruto, Volume 38
2. Bleach, Volume 28
3. The Prince of Tennis, Volume 38
4. To-LOVE-Ru, Volume 4
5. 21st Century Boys Part 1
6. Letter Bee (Tegamibachi), Volume 2
7. Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (Muhyo to Rouji), Volume 12
8. Saiyuki Reload, Volume 8
9. Liar Game, Volume 1
10. Kimi ni Todoke, Volume 4

Additional Rankings:
- Weekly Top 10 (5/29-6/06) from Taiyosha
- Weekly Doujinshi Top 10 (6/09) from Toranoana
- Weekly BL Doujinshi Top 10 (6/09) from Princess Side

A new yuri magazine from Ichijinsha titled Comic Yuri Hime S (880 yen) will debut on June 18th. Yuri Hime S (Yuri Hime's sister magazine) is different from Yuri Hime Selections, a special issue of Yuri Hime that carries series from Ichijinsha's most popular yuri artists.

Tokyograph reports that a 2-part television drama of Kenji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen will be aired on August 10-11 in Japan:

Kiichi Nakai and Yuriko Ishida will star in the drama as the parents of the young boy Gen. The role of Gen will be played by 10-year-old Ren Kobayashi, who was chosen from a pool of 80 candidates.

Via: animeOnline

After 40 chapters, Welcome to the N.H.K. (NHK ni Youkoso!) finally came to an ended in the July issue of Shonen Ace. The manga, drawn by Kendi Oiwa, is based on the light novel of the same name from Tatsuhiko Takimoto.

On June 7th, the Kyoto Prefecture's local government investigated and labeled 13 loli manga as "harmful book."

The fact that manga containing excessive sexual content can be accessed by juvenile at common bookstores and convenience stores is regarded as a social problem in Japan. As a result, the Kyoto local government has decided to label manga containing inappropriate content involving elementary school girls, also there will be a meeting with the Juveniles Growth Planning Committee on the 15th to further discuss this matter.

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According to Yomiuri Online, a new manga featuring "Hard Gay" Razor Ramon will appear in the newly launched Comic Yoshimoto:

On June 19, Yoshimoto Kogyo, a major entertainment agency based in Osaka, will inaugurate Comic Yoshimoto, a manga magazine carrying 14 stories, including a human drama based on a scenario written by the agency's popular TV personality Shinsuke Shimada and a comedy featuring real-life comic duo Razor Ramon.

Via: Icarus Blog

On June 8th, the Osaka Prefecture Police Department (OPPD) Juvenile Section conducted a comprehensive investigation of 70 bookshops and convenience stores.

The goal of the inspection was to check the availability of Shoujo manga that were labeled as "harmful book" due to their excessive sexual contents. According to the report, the OPPD displayed special interest in shojo manga that contain excessive sexual contents that can't be seen on their covers.

Source: Jiji Tsushin

Tech On! reports that Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL) has announced a new system that can automatically create manga from blog entries and other texts based on symbols and registered keywords:

The system estimates the writer's emotions and makes up several pages of multiple-frame manga based on facial expressions written with symbols, the frequency of "!" and "?" appearances and pre-registered keywords.

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