U.S.

According to MangaCast, Broccoli Books has licensed the manga Honoka Lv. Up!, written by Akiyoshi Ohta and drawn by Matsuda98. The manga will be sold for $10.99 each.

YaoiSuki reports that 801 Media has delayed its new acquisition announcement to Valentine's Day. Also mentioned is that 801 Media is having some problems with its printer:

Our printer printed the pages of both The King of Debt and The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy out of order...twice. So we had to print the books 3 times!!! We have some advanced copies on sale at the 801 Media Inc. store, also Akadot Retail has some copies and so does Right Stuf International.

Finally, Deux Press now has a MySpace account.

From Comics212 comes an analysis of the media kit of ADV's new magazine PiQ. Available are some more information on the magazine, as well as the concept cover for issue one:

According again to the Media Kit, the new editorial breakdown for PiQ will be:

  • 20% Anime
  • 20% Gaming
  • 20% U.S. Comics / Japanese Manga
  • 20% Genre Movies / TV / Home Video
  • 10% Toys / Collectibles
  • 5% Gadgets / Hi-Tech Gear
  • 5% Lifestyle (fashion, accessories, events)

Global fans stampede YaoiMagazine.com to order Vol. 1 Issue 1 of Yaoi Magazine!

York, Penn. - January 18, 2008 The first issue of Yaoi Magazine was made available for purchase on the YaoiMagazine.com website as well as on Amazon.com January 15, 2008. In the first day alone, sales exceeded S. A. Payne's (publisher) original expectation. "In just a few days orders have surpassed our original expectations by over 300%," said Payne. "We knew the market was out there, but I'm shocked to see how many orders are coming in, some for multiple copies! We've had orders placed from four countries outside of the U.S. as well."

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The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending January 13th:

  • #127 - Naruto, Volume 27 - Viz - (Last week: #87)
  • #142 - Naruto, Volume 26 - Viz - (Last week: #93)

GRIMES, IA, January 18, 2008 - Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Zac Bertschy - executive editor of Anime News Network (AnimeNewsNetwork.com) and managing editor of Protoculture Addicts - to episode 58 of ANIME TODAY.

In this new interview, Bertschy takes a look back at the successes and surprises of 2007, experiments in packaging and distribution, the differences between what series are popular with Japanese and Western fans, and the issues and challenges facing the North American anime industry in 2008.

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SAN JOSE, CA - January, 2008 - DrMaster has just announced the publication of Magic Lover's Tower, a two-volume series. It will definitely grant your wish for an enchanting story of love, fantasy, and all that heart-wrenching love-triangle drama!

Roxanne, the nerdy class cleanliness rep, is secretly in love with the bad boy of the class, Logan. One day she accidentally releases Baphalen, a magic being who was sealed in a painting by the Heavenly Courts as punishment. Baphalen is the celestial guardian of the incense urn of the Old Man Under the Moon, and possesses the fantastic Magic Lover's Staff. He decides to use his Magic Lover's Staff to help Roxanne get her wish of winning Logan's heart.

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From the Los Angeles Times comes an article titled "The rise of Japan cool," which looks at various Japan-related topics, and comes with an interview with Tokyopop's Stu Levy:

In contrast, Northridge-born Stuart Levy has no problem selling his products to anyone who will buy them. The chief executive of Tokyopop, Levy has made millions licensing and creating anime and manga books and DVDs for America's new breed of comic hipsters.

Source: MangaBlog

ICv2 is reporting that a Batman manga, drawn by Jiro Kuwata during the Batman craze in Japan in 1966, will be released in September 2008:

the world has collectors to thank for this volume documenting a little known example of cross-cultural fertilization, which will be available from Pantheon in September of 2008.

Via: MangaBlog

The Comics Reporter points out that the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has released its 2008 list of great graphic novels for teens:

ANN has an analysis of manga found in the list.