Bungaku Shoujo, a light novel series by Nomura Mizuki (author) and Takeoka Miho (illustrator), will be adapted into a manga by Kousaka Rito and will be serialized in GanGan Powered starting with the August issue (6/21).

Another light novel series, Young Gun Carnaval by Fukami Makoto, will be adapted into a manga by Satou Yuko, and will serialize as an e-manga on FlexComix Next beginning June 3rd.

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Kodansha has recently opened a comic portal website called Kodansha Comic Plus (講談社コミックプラス).

Source: Ultimatum

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.

Tokyopop has launched a "I-Manga Music Video Mash Up Contest," which asks its participant to remix scenes from two of Tokyopop's more popular manga into music videos.

The winning video will receive an Apple Video iPod packed with Tokyopop music and all of the i-manga webisodes, as well as being featured on the TOKYOPOP TV YouTube page. The contest ends March 23rd, rules can be found here.

ANN reports that Shueisha has launched Ultra Jump Egg, an online spinoff of its Ultra Jump manga magazine:

The website has begun serializing the first manga installments of Rabian Ekusutasu by Toshiki Inoue (Galaxy Angel anime) and Mario Kaneda (Girls Bravo), Neko-Kyuu9 by Kaishaku (Steel Angel Kurumi), Hana-Yome Han by Yukimaru Katsura (Air, Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~), 9-Shinohara's manga adaptation of Ishio Yamagata's Tatakau Shisho to Koi Suru Bakudan light novels, Saikyō Mahō Shōjo Akira by Rco Wada, and Bunka-bu o Ikutsu ka by F4U.

Manga romances to be available to cell phone and Internet users

TORONTO, March 20 -- Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world's leading publishers of women's fiction, announced today an agreement by their Japanese operation, Harlequin K.K., to provide digital manga content to SoftBank Creative of SoftBank Group, one of the largest providers of cell phone services in Japan.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080320/NYTH007-a )
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080320/NYTH007-b )

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The Age is reporting that a Japanese online bookstore called Papyless, which sells digital versions of books, is teaming up with Tezuka Production to make at least 448 stories by Osamu Tezuka available for purchase online in digital format:

Papyless, whose website is http://www.papy.co.jp/, said in a statement it would put the works online from March 18.

It will cost 105 yen ($A1.10) to read a volume over 48 hours.

Buying the work online will cost 315 yen ($A3.30) per volume.

Adult manga publisher Icarus Publishing has released the first issue of its digital manga magazine Comic AG...for free. The magazine is available through BitTorrent.

INTERNET Watch is reporting that Yahoo! Japan has made 45 chapters of the Doraemon manga available online for free to promote the upcoming movie Doraemon: Nobita to Midori no Kyojin Den.

ANN has more:

Yahoo! Japan created an "Otona no Tame no Doraemon Tokushū" ("Doraemon Feature for Adults") section. [...] To browse the free chapters on the linked page, select one of the "今すぐ読む" links and then select the "立ち読み only works in IE" link in the resulting page. Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer are required.

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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