U.S.

From About.com:Manga its Q&A sessions featuring Chibi Vampire (Karin) manga artist Yuna Kagesaki from last weekend's Sakura-Con 2008 in Seattle.

In this transcript (from two Q&A sessions), Kagesaki-sensei talks about her life as a manga-ka, answers questions about the Chibi Vampire manga story and characters and her impressions of her American fans and the American anime con experience.

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The Icarus Blog has posted responses to some questions asked by the fans regarding how the company worked. The questions answered include:

  • How do you choose which books to license? What is the process behind it?
  • Why don't you translate the sound effects?
  • Why don't you do direct sales to retailers/distribute through ___ company?
  • When is Blue Eyes 4 coming out!?

ANN is reporting that Viz Media will be releasing a manga adaptation of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda this October:

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COME TAKE A BITE OF APPLE VOLUME 1!

Toronto, ON – Apr 4, 2008 – Having already successfully brought the popular Japanese anthology series ROBOT back to North America, UDON Entertainment has now partnered with Seoul Visual Works to publish the English edition of APPLE, an all-new Korean illustration and comics anthology.

APPLE stands for "A Place for People who Love Entertainment", and features original stories and illustrations from the best creative talent Korea has to offer. Over 40 artists from the video game world are represented in APPLE Volume 1, including the artists behind the mega-hit Lineage MMORPG series, superstar Hyung-Tae Kim(Magna Carta, War of Genesis), and dozens of other pro illustrators, animators and graphic artists.

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SHAKESPEARE-- THE MANGA EDITION
The classics have never looked so good!

Dreams and schemes! Alliances and betrayals! Murder and mayhem! Passions and poisons! Shakespeare has it all, and now you can experience the action and appreciate the intrigue in Shakespeare-- The Manga Edition!

From the experts at CliffsNotes® (www.cliffsnotes.com) comes a new reference series that takes reading and learning to another level: The Manga Edition. Manga is a Japanese graphic novel, characterized by highly stylized art, which has grown into a worldwide phenomenon.

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The Associated Press looks at the popularity of mobile commerce in Japan.

TMC.net reports that Devil's Due Publishing is collaborating with uclick to make their comics available to mobile phone users.

Finally, the Manchester Evening News has an article titled "How did Manga take over the world?" that looks at the popularity of manga around the world.

From Okazu comes an interview with Tokyopop Editor Hope Donovan.

In the latest issue of PWCW, MangaBlog's Brigid Alverson talks to DramaQueen in "DramaQueen Relaunches."

Finally, Post-Gazette talks to Undertown writer Jim Pascoe.

Via: MangaBlog

The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending March 30th:

Also, Comicsnob posts the weekly online manga sales rankings:

Also, ICv2 has posted BookScan's top 20 graphic novels for March.

From MangaCast comes the Diamond Previews for April 2008, which provides information on new U.S. releases for June 2008.