Shonen Gahosha will be releasing the first issue (December issue) of Monthly Young King on 10/19.

Hiroya Oku, mangaka of Gantz, will be working on a new series titled Me-Teru no Kimochi. The first chapter will appear in Young Jump No. 40, on sale 31 August.

Read More »

Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. Genshiken vol.8
2. Negima vol.15 Limited Edition
3. Hajime no Ippo vol.77
4. Pride vol.6
5. Beck vol.27
6. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Himatsubushi-hen vol.1
7. Kamen Rider - Spirits vol.10
8. Cat Street vol.5
9. Suna Dokei vol.10
10. Five vol.5

Detective Conan (Case Closed) will be made into a live-action J-drama later this fall. Shun Oguri will be playing the part of Shinichi Kudo, while Tomoka Kurokawa will play the part of Ran Mouri.

Source: Akadot

The cast of the new Death Note anime will be announced in Weekly Shonen Jump No.40. Mamoru Miyano (Wolf's Rain, Ouran High School Host Club) will provide the voice casting for Light, while L will be voiced by Yamaguchi Kappei (Ranma, Inuyasha).

Read More »

An Osamu Tezuka Print Exhibition will be held in the basement art gallery of Maruzen Okayama Symphony Building in Okayamashi, Japan. There is no entry fee, and the prints will be sold during the exhibition. Colored prints from over 30 series will be displayed, including Dororo, Black Jack, Phoenix, and more.

Shogakukan and Yahoo announced on 8/25 the largest Doraemon Tool Design Contest ever, the "Doraemon Magic Project". 12 entries will be picked from TV Asahi, Yahoo! net, and various children's anthology (such as Coro Coro Comic).

Winners will be announced on TV this winter, and the winning designs will be used in new episodes of the Doraemon TV anime next Spring. Second place winner will receive a "Doraemon Magical Car" from Toyota Noah.

Read More »

A novel version of Mitsuru Adachi's popular sports manga Rough will be released this summer in conjunction with the release of Rough the movie.

Gedo Senki was expected to be one of the best movies this summer, especially since it is the debut film of Hayao Miyazaki's eldest son, Goro. Everyone expected Gedo to make a good start. The reaction from the audience, however, was less than remarkable, and severe criticisms have been being posted on online forums.

Read More »

MoePre has an interesting analysis of the recent attempts by Shonen Jump to better market itself to the fujoshi* demographic.

*Fujoshi:

(1) Literally "rotten girl" (?????????). A pun, based on the homonymous term for women (?????????). Ironical self-description by readers of Yaoi/Boys Love. (Urban Dictionary)

(2) Pertaining to manga/anime, girls who like gays (translator)

translator's aside: it would help to have a basic understanding of otaku terminology such as fujoshi (explained above), yaoi/BL (explained in the article) and moe before reading this article.

Read More »