Kentarou Miura's Berserk will resume serialization in issue 2 (1/12) of Hakusensha's Young Animal after a break of over three months.

Update (2007-01-12): Please check the official rules page for the most up-to-date information.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its manga anthology Morning, Kodansha has announced a new International Manga Competition to look for new manga talents from around the world.

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On December 22nd the Japan Post Office announced the 5th stamp series of its "Anime Heroes and Heroines series." The new series will be based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, and will be released on February 23rd next year. Each stamp will feature characters from Evangelion. A sheet of stamps comes with ten 80 yen stamps.

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Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. One Piece vol.44
2. Bleach vol.25
3. Ahiru no Sora vol.14
4. School Rumble vol.15
5. Yotsuba&! vol.6
6. WORST vol.16
7. Eyeshield 21 vol.22
8. Fairy Tale vol.1
9. Hanma Baki vol.5
10. Hotaru no Hikari vol.7

Nihon Manga Gakuin (Japan Manga Institute) interviewed manga artist Nariko Enomoto in December 2006. Nariko Enomoto's hit title Sentiment no Kisetsu, an eight volume series that was serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits, tackles social issues from the views of women. The manga was later adapted into a TV drama. Enomoto is filled with the passion of creating manga in various fields, as she has also created various yaoi manga.

Date of Birth: November 5th, 1967

Blood Type: B

Favorite Things: I became interested in soccer after this year's World Cup, I watch the soccer games from overseas on Cable TV.

Favorite Manga or Mangaka: Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter X Hunter). I'm looking forward to his comeback.

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After ending in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 30 and having published its "final chapter" in Akamaru Jump, Masanori Morita's Beshari Gurashi will resume serialization in Weekly Young Jump issue 7, on sale January 18th, 2007.

On December 18th, Japan's largest online retailer Amazon.co.jp opened a new section on its website called "Otaku Store." The store, which specializes in anime, manga, games and figurine products, currently holds over 30,000 items. Otaku Store aims to increase sales of ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) products by providing a faster service for ACG fans.

It's worth noting that Amazon chose the word "Otaku," which has a negative connotation to Japanese fans, as the name of its store. One of the reason for such a name could be to attract more foreign shoppers. It remains to be seen whether the name of the new store will help drive sales for the new Japanese store.

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A second season of Zero no Tsukaima has been confirmed by the insert that came with volume 4 of the Zero no Tsukaima DVD, as well as the cover wrap of volume 1 of the manga and volume 10 of the original novel. The Zero no Tsukaima anime is based on the light novel of the same name written by Noboru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka.

There will be a meeting between JASRAC (Japanese Society for the Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers) and YouTube Executives.

Last week JASRAC sent YouTube a letter requesting the website to step up their anti-piracy regulations. YouTube responded by saying they plan on meeting the demands, and "will come to Japan to discuss these issues with [JASRAC]."

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Akiba Angels interviews Moe artist Houmitsu, the creator of the Neko-mimi series. Also mentioned is a tutorial from Houmitsu that illustrates how to create Anime-style drawing based on real photographic images (the tutorial took 18 hours to complete).