From ANS:

An update on those Kara no Kyoukai illustrated paper shopping bags that were being passed out for free in limited quantities at Comiket 71. The items are now fetching 5,000 Yen apiece on Yahoo Auctions Japan. Other Kara no Kyoukai merchandise is also commanding premium prices with the news of the new movie.

Game company Idea Factory has announced a love-simulation Playstation 2 game based on Bisco Hatori's popular manga Ouran High School Host Club.

Source: Moon Phase

Apparel, costume and character merchandise manufacturer COSPA has announced new Dr. Slump (based on the manga by Akira Toriyama) themed t-shirts. The release of the t-shirt is part of the promotional effort for the release of the DVD-BOX "Dr.SLUMP Ararechan Nn-cha series" on March 23, 2007.

ANS reports that a new Leiji Matsumoto museum will be built in Kitakyushu. The museum is estimated for completion in 2009, and the redevelopment required is estimated to be several billion yen:

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Epoch will be releasing a limited edition Doraemon Air Cannon on March 3rd for 3,000 yen.

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Say Hello to Black Jack by Shuho Sato is a popular manga that began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Morning in 2002. The manga, based on Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, won the 6th Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Prize in 2002. After 13 volumes and over 10,000,000 units sold, Say Hello to Black Jack finally came to a stop in 2005.

Just when everyone thought Say Hello to Black Jack has finally ended, news came that the manga will resume serialization in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits under the title Shin (New) Say Hello to Black Jack.

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Manga Cast points out an interview from Japan's national broadcating network NHK with mangaka Moyoco Anno (Flowers & Bees, Happy Mania, Sakuran, Sugar Sugar Rune, and the most recent Hatarki Man). An English version of the interview can be found here.

MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog (NSFW).

Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, was one of the most talked about manga in 2006. With the popularity of the manga, successful movie adaptions, and an anime TV series, Death Note was ranked as the No.1 anime and manga search term on Yahoo! Japan in 2006.

In early 2006, a Japanese blog published an article (the entry was taken down, but a Chinese version can be found here) about a 24-page one-shot called The Miraculous Notebook (??????????????????) by Shigeru Mizuki, which was published in the magazine Comic Mystery in 1973. The story of the one-shot revolves around a magical notebook: when a person's name is written on that notebook, the said person dies. Sounds familiar? Below is a summary (with some pictures) of the one-shot:

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PEACH-PIT's manga Rozen Maiden is so popular that it is even read by Taro Aso, Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs. However, it seems the manga recently ran into some trouble with Comic BIRZ (the magazine it's serialized in).

Recently Rozen Maiden suddently went on hiatus in Gentosha's Comic BIRZ. PEACH-PIT's information website "Ohirome Calendar" states that "Our work has been suspended, if the editorial team decides to explain the situation, it will be in the next issue [of Comic BIRZ], until then we cannot disclose any details regarding the matter, it is very regrettable."

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