MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (02/03) according to Toranoana, compiled by Akiba Blog.

On January 23rd, Director Katsuhiro Otomo and actor Joe Odagiri attended a public meeting during the preview event of the live-action movie Mushishi. Mushishi is based on a popular manga title by Yuki Urushibara (the pen name of Yuki Yoshiyama) that is currently serialized in Afternoon. The manga has sold over 2.9 million copies, and was nominated for the Kodansha Manga Award in 2006.

Director Katsuhiro Otomo (known for anime films such as Akira) adapted Mushishi into a live-action movie after his 16-year break. The movie was screened twice during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah under the title Bugmaster (23-24th January), and all tickets were sold out. Offers for the rights to distribute the film overseas are rushing in from the U.S, Australia, Korea, and various other countries (10 total). A number of press came to the preview event, some audience even stood to watch because they couldn't buy reserved seats. Mushishi will appear on the screens in Japan on 24th of March.

Cinema Leaf has posted an interview with Katsuhiro Otomo and Joe Odagiri, who played the role of Ginko (the main character of Mushishi).

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Gokusen, a popular josei manga by Kozueko Morimoto, will be ending in YOU No.5, on sale 2/15.

Gokusen follows the story of Yamaguchi Kumiko, the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss, who tries to become a high school teacher. The manga was adapted into a drama in 2002, and later an anime series in 2004.

Celsys has announced plans to release around the world "Comic Surfing Global Partners Program" (PDF), a cell phone manga software that allows people to read manga on their cellular phone. Different versions of "Comic Surfing" will be released in different parts of the world, which include Asia, Europe, and North America.

Source: ANN

Police Japan has published an article commenting on Leiji Matsumoto's accusation of J-Pop Singer Noriyuki Makihara plagiarizing Galaxy Express 999 lyrics. In the article, Matsumoto was quoted saying both Gundam and Star Wars were inspired by his works.

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An event called "A Half Century Of Shojo Manga" was held on January 31st as part of a commemorative exhibition held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Japan Media Art Festival. The event featured speeches from four popular shojo manga artists: Moyocco Anno, Keiko Takemiya, Watanabe Masako and Machiko Satonaka.

Source: ANS

Japanese fans recently pointed out similarities between Rin Yoshii's manga Switch and photographs from the November 06 issue of the fashion magazine Sweet. This week the editorial department of Cookie (the magazine Switch is serialized in) sent out a letter confirming the plagiarism. As a result Switch will be dropped from Cookie, Rin Yoshii's two other series, Kurabeyou mo Nai Hodo ni (So Incomparable) and silent summer snow, will also be temporarily suspended to be checked for possible plagiarized content.

The images in question appeared in 2007 Issue 1 of Shueisha's Cookie magazine, some comparison can be seen here:

The apology letter from the Cookie Editorial Department:

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Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. Fruits Basket vol.22
2. Tenjo Tenge vol.16
3. Kimi ni Todoke vol.3
4. Ookiku Furikabutte vol.7
5. Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu vol.6
6. Zipang vol.27
7. Soul Eater vol.8
8. Detective Conan vol.56
9. Mahou Sensei Negima! vol.17
10. Air Gear vol.16

Nikkei.net reports that the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), the organization that manages music copyright, along with 16 other similar organizations, are planning to create a centralized database for "art," "photography," "scenarios" and "manga."

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