According to the latest TOC info, a new series titled Kiss☆Cry by Akira Segami (creator of Kagetora) will begin serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine issue 24, on sale May 16th.

Source: Ultimatum Chat

Japanese manga anthologies are one of the foundations of Japan's manga culture. Most popular series are first serialized in manga anthologies before being released in the tankoubon format. Despite the success manga is enjoying around the world, recent reports indicate that Japan's domestic manga market have gone into a decline. As a result, manga publishers are finding it difficult to make a profit from manga anthologies. Last month, Weekly Shonen Magazine's circulation dropped under 2,000,000. The suspension of Shueisha's Monthly Shonen Jump could also in part be attributed to declining sales.

Despite the difficulties many magazines are facing nowadays, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump experienced a slight boost in sales in recent months. Last December, for the first time in 11 years, Shonen Jump's circulation increased from 2.75 million to 2.78 million. However, when compared with sales from 10 years ago, this number is hardly encouraging. To understand Shonen Jump's current situation, one needs to look at the magazine's historic circulation.

Below is a look at Shonen Jump's historic circulation, as well as an updated list of the Shonen Jump manga circulation numbers (updated from the 2006 version).

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The June issue of Monthly Shonen Jump came with another letter from its Editorial Department regarding the suspension of Monthly Jump. The letter also contains more information on the future of the magazine's serializations:

Gag Manga Biyori, Rosario + Vampire and Tegami Bachi are all going to be moved to Weekly Shonen Jump. After the launch of the new magazine, these works will be serialized in the new magazine.

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According to the latest issue of Gentosha's Monthly Comic BIRZ, PEACH-PIT's popular series Rozen Maiden will end its run in the July issue of Comic BIRZ.

In January, rumors began circulating that PEACH-PIT is having a dispute with Comic BIRZ's editorial department over the serialization of Rozen Maiden. Later Rozen Maiden's serialization was suspended in the March issue of Comic BIRZ (released on January 30th).

Source: Ultimatum Talk

According to Young Animal's official website, Chika Umino, mangaka of Honey and Clover, will start a new serialization called "The Lion of March" this summer. Currently no other details are available.

Source: Ultimatum Talk

According to mangaka Rino Fujii's recent blog post, the manga artist will be starting a new Clannad series in SoftBank Creative's manga magazine Comi Diji+. The series, titled Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de, will begin serialization in Comi Diji+ volume 8, on sale (6/21).

Yamamoto Kenji's manga Chaotic RunES will be going on hiatus in the June issue of Akita Shoten's Champion Red. According to Champion Red's Editorial Department, Yamamoto Kenji was forced to stop drawing due to his rapidly deteriorating eyesight that has left him almost blind. Below is part of a letter from Champion Red's Editorial Department:

The author Kenji Yamamoto is rapidly losing his eyesight, currently his eyes cannot even recognize objects. According to his doctor, Yamamoto has ablatio retinae caused by intraocular hemorrhage, and so the Editorial Department has determined it impossible for him to continue drawing.

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Two new series will be starting in the upcoming issues of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump:

Jump Issue 24:
- Boku no Watashi no Yushi Gaku by Shuichi Aso

Jump Issue 25:
- Hitomi no Catobelpas by Tanaka Yasunori

Source: Weekly Jump

To celebrate the release of the 80th volume of its boxing manga Hajime no Ippo, Kodansha will be releasing 3,000 sets of a special collector's edition box set called "Early Times Set." The box set will come with the first 30 volume of Hajime no Ippo.

In January 2007, rumors began circulating that PEACH-PIT, the duo behind hit titles such as DearS and Zombie-Loan, is having a dispute with the editorial team of Gentosha's Comic BIRZ over the serialization of Rozen Maiden. When the March issue of Comic BIRZ was released on January 30th, instead of a new chapter of Rozen Maiden, fans were greeted with the announcement of Rozen Maiden's suspension.

However, the announcement can only be found inside the magazine, so to fans who buy BIRZ just for Rozen Maiden, it was not clear that the March issue of BIRZ didn't carry their favorite manga. A Japanese law blog called Ahowota Law Student News explores this interesting situation, and goes on to ask the question: "Can a person legally claim fallacy and assert that the contract is invalid (Meaning he can return the magazine and get his money back)?"

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