BERKELEY, CA - APRIL 11, 2008:

Embark on a journey to the freaky, deviant, and cool world of Emily the Strange, along with Rob Reger, the mastermind behind the beloved cult icon, at New York's Comic Con 2008. Publishing leader Dark Horse Comics is delighted to present unexpected happenings, exciting news, and an all-around, fascinating Emily experience for the media and fans alike.

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In the latest installment of Flipped, David Welsh interviews Aurora Sales and Marketing office's Michael Perry to talk about the young publisher's origins, strategy and philosophy:

DAVID WELSH: Aurora is the North American arm of Ohzora, a Japanese publisher. Could you explain how that relationship works? Will Aurora exclusively publish translated works from Ohzora, or will you be working with other publishers as well?

MICHAEL PERRY: Aurora Publishing, Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Ohzora Publishing, Co. To simplify that, it means that we are the American office of Ohzora Publishing, come to bring manga to America. We keep a close relationship with our parent company and have people at Ohzora Publishing that solely look to license manga for us to translate into English, which I believe would answer your next question: we do publish from other companies.

Dark Horse is pleased to announce the addition of Blood+ to its ever-growing line of translated prose and manga. This already established work has found a new life and audience in the animated TV series airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Anime Block. Blood+ will also soon make its slilver screen in a live-action theatrical film produced by William Kong (House of Flying Daggers; Hero; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) slated for a 2009 release.

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending April 9th:

• #82 - Naruto, Volume 28 - Viz - (Last week: #52)
• #116 - Fruits Basket, Volume 19 - Tokyopop - (Last week: #65)
• #144 - Vampire Knight, Volume 4 - Viz - (Last week: #210)

Also, Comicsnob posts the weekly online manga sales rankings:

• Manga Top 500: Week Ending 6 April
• Manga Top 50 Series: Week Ending 6 April
• Publishers' Scorecard: Week Ending 6 April
• Manga Midlist 500: Week Ending 6 April

24 Hour Complimentary Shuttle Service for Hotel Attendees

Anaheim, California (April 10, 2008) ‹ Attendees registered as guests within the official Anime Expo® 2008 Hotel Room Blocks will be able to access the 24-hour complimentary shuttle service which will provide transportation from all official convention hotels to this year's Anime Expo® 2008 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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From the latest issue of PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha interviews Daniel Pink, author of a 160-page manga about career advice titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

Also available is an article that look at a collaboration betweem Viz, Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King) on a new manga series titled Ultimo, which will begin serialization in Shueisha's Jump SQ. II.

Finally, PWCW has the April Comics Bestsellers.

According to an announcement from AnimeOnDVD (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year) founder Chris Beveridge, AoD will be sold to Mania.com:

AnimeOnDVD is very much a community effort and I have a fantastic staff of volunteers who plug away at all manner of reviews and work within the forums. But at the end of the day, it comes down to what I can do with it. And I want to do a lot more with it which is why I decided to sell the site to the folks at Mania.com who I’ve known for several years now. Working with them, I and the entire staff will be taking this site into their larger platform where we’ll be heading up their anime and manga platform.

Also, AoD has now switched its forum software from FusionBB to vBulletin.

U.S. manga publisher Viz Media has won 2 categories in this year's Diamond 2007 Gem Award: "Manga Publisher of the Year" and "Manga Trade Paperback of the Year" (for volume 14 of Naruto).

Source: Icarus Blog

Manga-Inspired Film Offers Realistic Portrayal Of Two Modern Women Searching For Love, Careers and A Sense of Purpose

San Francisco, CA, April 7, 2008 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced the release of the manga-inspired live-action film NANA on DVD set for tomorrow, April 8. The film, which features English subtitles, will have an estimated retail price of $24.98. The release follows a special week-run theatrical screening that began on Friday, April 4 in New York’s IMAGINASIAN THEATRE.

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Regular, Hotel Room Block and Reserved Seating Block Attendee Tickets
Available Now

Anaheim, California (April 7, 2008) ‹ Traditional Main Events (including Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Masquerade, Anime Music Video Contest, AX Idol, Charity Auction and concerts) are all accessible free of charge to registered attendees at this year¹s Anime Expo® 2008 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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