Readers can now vote for Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga 8 - People's Choice competition. Voting ends at 6pm on March 14, 2008. Winning entries will appear in the upcoming issue of Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga this July:

Get ready to vote on the future of manga! Whose star will rise the highest? It's up to you to decide - vote for your one favorite entry in the Rising Stars of Manga 8 People's Choice Award here!

Via: About.com:Manga

The list of nominees for the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens has been updated, and several manga can be found on the list:

• Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo, vol. 1
• Sand Chronicles, vol. 1
• Harukaze Bitter Bop, vol. 1
• Demon Flowers: Kuruisaki no Hana, vol. 1
• Demon Flowers: Kuruisaki no Hana, vol. 2
• Gakuen Alice, vol. 1
• Zombie-Loan, vol. 1

Readers can nominate their own titles here.

Source: MangaBlog

Main Event Audience Member to Win Trip to Japan

Anaheim, California (March 7, 2008) ‹ Think you got what it takes to be the next AX Idol? Thousands will audition for the most coveted singing and voice acting contest at the nation's largest Anime/Manga convention and win amazing prizes! Anime Expo® 2008 will be held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. More information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org.

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Torrance, Calif. March 7, 2008 - Celebrating the HARUKA: Beyond the Stream of Time – A Tale of the Eight Guardians Premier and Director Aki Tsunaki's attendance, Bandai Visual USA announces the details of HARUKA related events, activities and show exclusives at Sakura-Con 2008.

Director Tsunaki will be present at the HARUKA events starting with the Industry Reception Dinner on Thursday, March 27. Schedules for HARUKA related events are as follows:

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theOtaku has launched the new "Version Vibrant" of its website:

Welcome to theOtaku.com Version Vibrant. After months of development we are pleased to usher in the birth of a new site, complete with new code, a new design, and 50+ new features. Welcome! Visit this page every day for a quick overview of the activity around our network.

MangaCast reports several new licenses from DMP:

• fafner by Ubukata Tow (light novel)
• KNIGHTS by Murao Minoru
• Red Angel by Tateno Makoto

A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of March 5th 2008:

• ComicList: ComicList for 03/05/2008
• MangaCast: New Manga Release List ~ March 5, 2008
• Manga Recon: Weekly Recon: Super-Sized Shojo Spectacular
• Precocious Curmudgeon: Upcoming 3/5/2008

Dark Horse will make publishing history with the release of the first volume of this critically acclaimed manhwa series in a new weekly online publishing program.

Shaman Warrior is a dramatic fantasy series with a kinetic style that will appeal to fans of Blade of the Immortal and Vagabond! From the desert wastelands emerge two mysterious warriors, master wizard Yarong and his faithful servant Batu. On a grave mission from their king, they have yet to realize the whirlwind of political movements and secret plots which will soon engulf them and change their lives forever. When Yarong is mortally injured, Batu must fulfill a secret promise to leave Yarong's side and protect his master's child. As Batu seeks to find and hide the infant, Yarong reveals another secret to those who have tracked him down to finish him off–the deadly, hidden power of a shaman warrior!

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending March 2nd:

• #73 - Naruto, Volume 28 - Viz - (Last week: #0)

SAN MATEO, CA, March 5, 2008 -- Yaoi-Con, the premiere Western fan convention dedicated solely to the yaoi genre of Japanese anime and manga, is pleased to announce its eighth annual event, to be held the weekend of September 26-28, 2008 at the Marriott San Mateo-San Francisco Airport hotel in the South San Francisco Bay area.

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