Manga News and Information
JapanKodansha's 2nd Morning International Manga Competition (M.I.M.C.) has announced the results of its initial screening, 31 works are selected, the final results will be announced in April. A recent issue of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan Economic Times) ran an article on the 2008 Manga Taisho. According to the article, winners of the 1st "Manga Grand Prize" will be announced at the end of March. The planning committee constitutes of staff from the manga sections of the "big 4" book retailers. The award was created through volunteering of professional manga fans. 76 commissioners in the Selection Commission were selected as "reliable manga readers" from various fields by the planners. The qualification requirement of a manga for the award states that the manga needs to have "at least 8 volumes of tankoubon were published, with at least 1 volume was published in 2007." Introducing Otaku culture in Akihabara to the world HimeyaSoft USA has started the English version of AkibaBlog, which introduces "Otaku" culture in Akihabara, since February 14, 2008. Site URL: http://en.akibablog.net/ This is a translated version of AkibaBlog, originally written in Japanese by Mr. Geek.. He talks about "hot" news in Akihabara, one of the most popular subculture cities in Japan. The Japanese version of AkibaBlog, which has 20 million page views a month, is one of the most famous blogs in Japan that talk about Otaku information. AkibaBlog and HimeyaSoft USA get together this time and try to become world's leading information source of Otaku culture. ANN reports that a lawyer named Masatoshi Uchida is accusing Hideo Iura's manga Bengoshi no Kuzu of plagiarizing a novel he once wrote:
Via: MangaBlog Top 10 manga (2/13) according to Tohan:
Additional Rankings: Media Factory's monthly manga magazine Comic Flapper is celebrating its 100th issue by relaunching the magazine with all-new content, featuring series from several famous mangaka in the next few issues: March (100th) issue (2/5):
April issue (3/5):
Who do you think was the busiest mangaka in the history of Japanese manga (meaning, I suppose, in the history of the entire world)? Tezuka or Ishimori, Yokoyama or Akatsuka or Mizuki? Comic Techno, a monthly magazine from Deleter that contains doujinshi information and useful manga-drawing techniques, will cease publication after the release of issue 172, on sale 3/15. According to Deleter, one of the reason behind Comic Techno's discontinuation is due to the skyrocketing price of oil and other goods. Source: Ultimatum Canned Dogs is reporting that Core Magazine, one of the biggest adult manga publisher in Japan, is currently looking for blogs to review their newly released products:
According to the AoD forum, fliers distributed at Shueisha's Jump Festa 08 indicate Shueisha's plan to release Shaman King Perfect Edition, a re-release of Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King that will feature a never before seen ending. ANN has more: |
Manga Zombie
Finale: Panelosophy
An ongoing conversation about the philosophy behind manga both in the U.S. and abroad. Manga Ranking
Monthly charts of comparative manga rankings based on aggregate online sales listings from Matt Blind. |
The 
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
