From Animation Insider comes an interview with Writer, translator and interpreter Frederik L. Schodt, who talks about the works of Osamu Tezuka:

Writer, translator and interpreter Frederik L. Schodt once again joins Animation Insider to share his latest research and findings as they relate to Japanese arts and culture with the recent Stone Bridge Press publication The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution.

Via: MangaBlog

From MangaBlog's Brigid comes an interview with Japanime CEO Glenn Kardy:

Japanime is based in Japan, with office space in a converted restaurant near Tokyo where Kardy sometimes holds meetings sitting in a tatami room. From there, he and his team produce books designed by Japanese artists to appeal to an American audience. Their newest offering, Moe USA, is a twist on global manga: An Original English Language manga by a Japanese artist.

The following manga appeared on the USA Today Booklist Top 150 (PDF) for the week ending September 16th:

• #50 - Naruto, Volume 18 - Viz - (Last week: #37)
• #72 - Naruto, Volume 17 - Viz - (Last week: #65)
• #86 - Naruto, Volume 16 - Viz - (Last week: #74)

Also, Comicsnob posts the online manga sales rankings:

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A round up of the new comic release list and views for the week of September 19th 2007:

• ComicList: ComicList for 09/19/2007
• MangaCast: New Manga Release List ~ Sept 19, 2007
• Comicsnob: Watch it: Manga et al. for the week of September 16th
• Manga Recon: Weekly Recon, 9/19/07
• theOtaku: New Manga Releases
• Precocious Curmudgeon: Upcoming 9/19/2007

According to Okazu, the manga Yuri Monogatari was nominated for this year's Lambda Book Award:

[...] Yuri Monogatari 3 was nominated for this year's Lambda Book Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation, the country???s leading organization for LGBT literature. While YM3 did not win, merely being nominated is a tremendous honor!

Source: MangaBlog

Newark, NJ - Yuricon, a celebration of yuri in anime and manga, is pleased to announce the US Premiere of the "Simoun" anime at their 2007 "Yurisai" event!

"Simoun," licensed by Media Blasters, media publisher of products targeted to fan-oriented specialty markets, tells the story of a wolrd torn by war, and the trials of a squadron of warrior-priestesses, the Sibylla of Chor Tempest. "Simoun" was voted "Best Yuri Series" of 2006 by Okazu Reviews.

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From Icarus Publishing's blog comes a preview (NSFW) of the adult manga coming out in December 2007, based on Diamond Previews for October (Shipping in December 07).

Also, Yaoi Press blog announces that the Yaoi Hentai series will end with the release of volume 4 next month.

ICv2 has released the August 2007 top 100 graphic novel sales estimates and the top 300 comics sales estimates based on Diamond Indexes and Publisher Title Data. Also from ICv2 is an analysis of the trends in August based on the graphic novel sales chart.

MangaCast points out via this week's PWCW that CMX has licensed two new manga by Yagami Yu (mangaka of Hikkatsu!):

• Dokkoida!
• Go West!

Original Graphic Novel Based on The Dark Crystal scheduled for Holiday 2007 Release

Los Angeles, CA (September, 2007) ??? TOKYOPOP, the #1 publisher of manga in the U.S. and The Jim Henson Company, the worldwide leader in puppetry, animatronics, and family entertainment for more than half a century, are thrilled to announce Legends of The Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars, the all-new manga prequel to The Dark Crystal, Henson's classic tale of good vs. evil. Written by Barbara Randall Kesel (Meridian), with illustrations by Heidi Arnhold & Max Kim and a special cover painted by Jae-Hwan Kim (Warcraft, War Angels, King of Hell), Legends of The Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars provides a unique opportunity to further explore this unparalleled world, manga-style!

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