The Associated Press has published an article looking at how publishers are beginning to experiment with releasing comics on mobile phones. The article takes a close look at uClick's GoComics service, as well Tokyopop, which provides most of GoComics' manga titles, and is planning to include animations, games, ring tones, wallpaper and other content to their mobile manga offering:

Stu Levy, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based TokyoPop, one of the leading U.S. publishers of manga, said the domestic market is still way behind Japan. But he said he could see comics being released in the U.S. on mobile phones before coming out in print regularly in the next few years.

Impress GAME Watch is reporting that the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), which organizes the Tokyo Game Show and is responsible for video game age ratings, has released a free online manga on online gaming etiquette. The manga is available here (PDF).

Source: Canned Dogs

The first 26 pages of the manga adaptation of Mushi-Uta has been made available on line by Kadokawa Shoten. The preview can be found here.

Source: Active Anime

Japanese doujinshi shop Toranoana has launched a new webzine called Comic Holic (ComiHoli). Manga from this web manga magazine will be published in tankoubon form by Fox Shuppan under the Fox Comics imprint.

Read More »

Grounded Angel by Johnny Lowe and Steve Horton is currently available on WOWIO for free download:

"The demand for Grounded Angel on WOWIO is unprecedented," says Steve Horton, publisher and co-creator of Grounded Angel. "Our download total has been staggering, and it's extremely nice that we're able to compensate every member of the team in a meaningful way for the first time. Chapter 7's story has extra pages and ends the story of Gloria in a shattering conclusion. Check it out!"

Read More »

Bangkok, Thailand ??? August 23, 2007 - MovieSeer Limited, a leading Southeast Asian provider of mobile phone content and information services, has signed an agreement with Universal Mobile Entertainment to localize, market, and distribute content for mobile phones based on Universal movies for Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Read More »

Giapet.net points out a poll on Viz's website that asks various questions about whether people are interested in purchasing their manga by online, which suggests that Viz is considering the option of distributing downloadable manga online like Tokyopop and NETCOMICS.

eBOOK Initiative Japan, the company behind eBookJapan, has opened a new special e-book site aimed at adult women.

The new website, eladycomi.com, will carry manga divided into four categories:

• Ladies Comics for adult romances
• Teen's Love for teenagers
• Young Love to depict the romances and private lives of 20-early-30's professionals
• Harlequin to depict "adult love stories"

Also available is eboyslovo.com, which, as its name implies, carries yaoi manga and novels.

Read More »

Popteen, a Japan fashion magazine, has announced that it will make its "exclusive" Gal Samurai manga and other stories that have appeared in the magazine available on Popteen.com:

"We are very excited to make Gal Samurai and sections of the Japanese Popteen magazine available in English for the first time," said Andy Meyers, Managing Director for Popteen.com. "As part of our mission, we will continue to bring the latest trends from Japan to our readers."

Source: ANN

According to a report (PDF) from the Digital Content Association of Japan, sales of e-books, including manga, through mobile phone grew 331.3% in 2006 (from 1.6 billion yen to 6.9 billion yen), while non-phone internet sales increased by 69.7% from 4.8 billion yen to 8.1 billion yen.

Source: ANN