Moon Phase reports that the March 2008 issue (the first of a series of 20th anniversary commemoration issues) of Fujimi Shobo's monthly light novel magazine Dragon Magazine marks the magazine's 20th anniversary. An important Slayers announcement will be made in the April 2008 issue.

Also, Dragon Magazine will become a bi-monthly magazine starting with the May 2008 issue.

Source: LightNovel.org

Kodansha's Kiss editorial department will be launching a special issue of Kiss titled Kiss PLUS. The first issue of the new magazine will be released on February 8th, 2008, and will be published on a bi-monthly basis. Kiss PLUS, like Kiss, will aim at female readers in their twenties and thirties.

Sources: Kiss News and Comitia

Manga publisher Ichijinsha will launch a new 4-koma (4-panel) manga magazine titled Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette Lite, a sister publication to Ichijinsha's other 4-koma magazine, Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette. The new magazine will be published on a monthly basis, with the first issue scheduled to be released on March 1st, 2008.

Source: Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette's editorial blog

Featuring A Reader's Choice Vote And Exciting Contest In Partnership With MYX!

San Francisco, CA, January 24, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that its Third Annual SHOJO BEAT Music Awards Issue features a reader's choice vote and a new, exclusive contest in conjunction with MYX, the first and only music lifestyle channel focused on the Asian American market. The February issue, on sale at retail outlets now, offers a host of new surprises and exciting editorial content sure to delight even the most discriminating fan.

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ANN reports that Kodansha has announced its plan to to print 300,000 copies of its upcoming magazine Monthly Shonen Rival, and has spent over 250 million yen ($2.3 million) on advertising for the magazine's April 4th debut.

Also announced are the winners of the 1st Shonen Rival Comic Grand Prix:

the aspiring artist Amadori won the top prize of 3 million yen (about US$28,000). Amadori also received an offer to have the winning Mukō ga Wa no Masaka entry published in the new magazine. [...] The second place winners each won 1 million yen (US$9,400) and a chance to have the winning entry or new manga work serialized.

MediaWorks will release a special issue of Dengeki G's Festival! titled Dengeki G's Festival! ANIME. The first issue of Dengeki G's Festival! ANIME will be released on February 9th. Each issue of the magazine will run a feature on a specific anime, the series covered in the first issue will be Shakugan no Shana II. The magazine will also come with various Shakugan no Shana merchandises, including a Shana figurine, a Fumina Konoe figurine, and playing cards.

Source: Chuosha

Issue 27 of ImagineFX, an U.K. digital art magazine, was released as a special manga-themed edition subtitled "Manga mayhem!". Some of the special features included in the issue are:

Manga mayhem! The beautiful cover art is by Kyoung Hwan Kim – who we discovered after he sent in his art for FXPose.

Manga Artist Q&A
Everything you need to know about creating amazing manga art

Manga workshop
Michael Chang Ting Yu shows how you can tell your fantasy story though your cover or poster art, using Painter and Photoshop

Anime studios special
GONZO, Bee Train and Studio Ghibli open their doors in this anime special

Source: Anime UK News

XinGanXian (literally New Front), one of the most popular Chinese anime & manga magazine, was suspended a few years ago due to a variety of reasons. Recently, an announcement was sent out by the old staff of XinGanXian, stating that the magazine will be revived under the name XinGanXian - Light Novel.

According to the announcement, the content of the new magazine will be centered around light novel and information related to anime and manga. Also included will be serializations of short original Chinese manga, stories, and other special features.

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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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