San Francisco, CA, May 3, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the availability of DEATH NOTE™ anime series via digital download on Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment's premiere digital retail store. The subtitled version of the series will debut May 10, 2007 and fans may go to www.direct2drive.com to download the first episode.

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Gentosha has re-launched its online manga magazine Genzo in the CD-ROM format. Genzo will be distributed by Gentosha through CD-ROM every month, free trial of the magazine will also be available on Genzo's website.

According to Anime!Anime!, Osamu Tezuka Productions plans to release two new digital magazines featuring works from Tezuka Osamu in November 2008.

The first magazine, Tezuka Osamu O-Magazine, is an on-demand magazine that allows its owner to order chapters of Tezuka's manga online. The second magazine, Tezuka Osamu Motion Magazine, is a cell-phone magazine that will feature partially animated manga chapters. Tezuka Osamu Motion Magazine is currently planned not only for Japan, but also for countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Source: animeOnline

The Beat links to a software titled ComicBookLover, a "state of the art" tool that allows its users store and read manga on their computer:

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According to The Beat, DrMaster has announced plans to distribute downloads through IGN's digital retail store Direct2Drive. Initial "launch" titles include Chinese Hero: Tales of the Blood Sword.

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The Hearst-backed E Ink, which produces portable, foldable displays that mimic conventional paper, is testing a prototype that could open the technology to e-magazines and e-newspapers. According to the report, the new digital text allows readers to take blogs "off the computer screen and to the beach." Thanks Isaac.

E-store Paypy has announced a new digital manga rental service called "E-book Renta!" The new rental service will rent each volume for 100 yen for a 24 hour period.

Via: Manga Jouhou

According to Nikkei News, starting in April, manga publisher Gentosha will begin offering manga online in 7 different languages. Also announced were plans to distribute its manga around the world in six different languages (Japanese, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Taiwanese). Currently Gentosha's planned line-up includes Gravitation EX, which is being released in the U.S. by Tokyopop.

Source: Manga Jouhou

Hot sequel to hugely popular best selling manga series receives historic simultaneous worldwide release

Los Angeles, CA (February 12, 2007)-TOKYOPOP, leader of the Global Manga Revolution, and Gentosha Comics, one of Japan's top manga publishers,are proud to announce their historic partnership for the simultaneous worldwide release of Gravitation EX, the eagerly awaited sequel to Maki Murakami's best selling cult-classic manga series, Gravitation.

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Celsys has announced plans to release around the world "Comic Surfing Global Partners Program" (PDF), a cell phone manga software that allows people to read manga on their cellular phone. Different versions of "Comic Surfing" will be released in different parts of the world, which include Asia, Europe, and North America.

Source: ANN