Comics2Film has posted an article criticizing Global Manga titled "Everything is manga? Manga style? Bullcrap!" In response, Tintin Pantoja began working on a Global Manga Manifesto.

Via: MangaBlog

On 9/14, JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) published its March 2007 report on the state of the content market in Hong Kong. Compared to past reports, this report is more concise, contains more information, and makes many references to the Japanese market.

According to the report, around 60 to 70 percent of comics published in Hong Kong are Japanese manga, and Japanese manga makes up almost 100% of trade paperback sales. The report goes on to mention how various other Japanese medias, such as anime and films, have also made great progress in Hong Kong's content market.

Source: Anime! Anime!

Canned Dogs reports that in the wake of Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation, Japanese Prime Minister hopeful Aso Taro will be visiting Akihabara to give a speech.

Also, The Japan Times has published an article on Taro Aso titled "Cabinet veteran Aso more than manga fan," which looks briefly at Aso's past outside of his affiliation with manga.

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A Chinese company called Cayie has recently released a new brand of Doraemon-themed mooncake for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which takes place on 9/25 this year. Not only is the Doraemon mooncake cheap, but it also comes with toys for kids. According to initial statistics, the mooncake is especially popular among females, and over 95% customers bought the product based on its appearance alone.

In its latest article, "Manga Burnout?", The Mumbling Kitsune asks the question "Will manga ever fall away from mainstream American culture?"

According to a thread on Rumic World's forum, a scanlation group called Freelance-Manga sent a letter to Viz Media regarding the handling of the manga Inuyasha. Freelance-Manga later announced that a supervising editor from Viz responded to the letter:

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According to Japan News Review, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation, various manga-related stocks experienced a sudden rise on Tokyo Stock Market. According to the report, the rise is mainly caused by the expectations that the manga-loving Taro Aso will most likely replace Abe:

Among the stocks that rose on Wednesday is the Tokyo-based card game company "Broccoli," whose stocks went up from 92 yen to 157 yen, a 71% rise. Major manga retailer Mandarake saw a 13% rise, while video game retailer Koei Net went up by 15%. Toei Animation, one of Japan's largest animation studios, and Kadokawa Group Holdings, a manga publisher, both rose 3%.

The Independent reports that the design of Nissan's latest concept car, officially unveiled at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show, was influenced by Japanese manga and animation:

"I am influenced by Japanese animation, like the film Ghost in the Shell," says Eunsun, her eyes widening as I explain that I have no idea what she is referring to. She thinks I'm joking as she continues to explain that the car is conceptually rooted in computer games, and visually influenced by manga comics, anime (Japanese animation) and Second Life.

Source: MangaBlog

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.

According to Canned Dogs, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure creator Araki Hirohiko has created a cover for a U.S.-based science journal titled Cell.

Also, ANN reports that Fist of the North Star artist Tetsuo Hara is premiering a children's anime series on the Japanese satellite channel KIDS STATION on November 5th.