September, 2006

VIZ Media will be releasing Death Note in various European countries later this year as reported earlier. However, on the topic of whether the company will bring Death Note to other parts of the world, VIZ informed Papo de Budega that it currently doesn't have plans of releasing the manga in Brazil and other Latin America countries.

The first issue of a new magazine from Square-Enix titled "GanGan Custom" will be released on 9/30. The debut issue of GanGan Custom will serialize a new manga series called Souten no Koumori (Bat of the Blue Sky) by Hiromu Arakawa, creator of Fullmetal Alchemist.

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HOUSTON, September 28, 2006 - Newtype USA, the leading anime magazine in North America, offers up an October triple-treat with an exclusive cover, feature and manga insert starring fan-favorite series Angel/Dust neo. From the gorgeous cover to the in-depth interview with series creator Aoi Nanase, the October issue is sure to become a collector’s item that no fan should be without!

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A special issue of Comic BomBom titled Abrakadabra was released on 9/29. The magazine contains a preview "chapter 0" of the upcoming "Negima!? neo" manga, set to start in the November issue of Comic BomBom.

Yomiuri Online has an article on an exhibition currently being held at the Suginami Animation Museum in Suginami Ward, titled Tezuka Osamu no Atomu to Songoku Ten, where "visitors can watch the Chinese animated film--Saiyuki: Tessenkoshu no Maki (Japan title, 1941)--that Tezuka says was the inspiration for his manga series...."

With Sony's portable e-book reader set to launch on October 1, CBR's Tony Salvaggio talks about what it's like to read manga on the e-reader.

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VIZ Media has announced that it will be present at the second annual New York-Tokyo Music Festival (Saturday, September 30) in Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield, where it will be giving away "a variety of samplers from its hit monthly manga magazines SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT and more."

Source: ActiveAnime

According to online book trade website Shelf Awareness, CPM and DramaQueen will be working with Consortium Book Sales and Distribution starting Spring 2007.

Source: MangaCast

Naruto volume 11 dropped from #43 to #46 on this week's USA Today Booklist. This marks the sixth week Naruto has been on the top 150 list.

On September 20, Impress R&D's Internet Life Laboratory released the result of their 2005 analysis on the Japanese electronic manga market in (04/2004 - 03/2005). According to the report, the electronic manga market was worth 3.4 billion yen in fiscal year of 2005. The electronic book market was worth 9.4 billion last year, with the electronic manga market occupying 36% of the entire market.

The investigation was based on two reports, "Electronic Book Business Analysis Report 2006" and "Electronic Manga Business Analysis Report 2006," both from Internet Life Laboratory. The reports study the rapidly increasing trend of the electronic book market.

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San Francisco, CA, September 27, 2006 - VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies has inked deals with Ediciones Glenat España in Spain, Panini in Italy, Tokyopop in Germany and Dargaud Lombard in France to publish the DEATH NOTE manga from Shueisha. It is scheduled for fall 2006 release.

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"The Rose of Versailles" by Riyoko Ikeda is one of the best-known shoujo manga in Japan and around the world, with over 15,000,000 sold since its debut in 1972. Recently Sony Magazines released a book called "Study French with The Rose of Versaille" that provides basic French lessons.

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Magikano by Takeaki Momose, currently serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Z, will be put on hiatus due to the Takeaki Momose's bad health and recent injury. ANS has translated the announcement on Takeaki Momose's official site:

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Pop Japan Travel has announced several new tours for 2007:

Samurai and Snow Festival Tour - Feburary 1st-9th, 2007
Gothic and Lolita Tour - March 1-8th, 2007
Yaoi Bishonen and Boys Love Tour - March 24th-31st, 2007
Ultimate Ninja Tour - April 17th-25th, 2007

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TV Asahi is now accepting votes for its annual Top 100 Anime survey. To vote simply go to to TV Asahi's website. Go here for past survey results.

Source: Papo de Budega

The Yukan Fuji blog reports that Shogakukan is looking to create online versions of at least 2 magazines out of its existing lineup, part of a growing trend towards creating "net" books and magazines, online versions of the print media, as a new revenue source. (Full story in extended)

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imgAnimeAnime is currently running a column called "100 Questions About Anime & Manga Overseas," where Japanese fans send in their questions about the foreign Anime and Manga scene. One of the questions asked was "How does the scale of the U.S. manga market compare to Japan's manga market?" Below is a translation of the response:

Hi, It's Romi, again.

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Las Vegas, NV, September 25, 2006 – Yaoi Press will publish the young adult web comic Zesty in January, 2007. Yaoi Press has numerous enhancements planned for the print version of the series.

Zesty chronicles the adventures of Zesty Tastee, a wealthy playboy who secretly fights against his father’s corrupt business. Zesty’s father brings in the mysterious ninja agent Prince to stop Zesty, but Zesty ends up falling in with love him. As Prince tries to catch Zesty, Zesty tries to capture Prince’s heart. Mayhem ensues with sweet, romantic moments interspersed.

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From Papo de Budega comes an interview with Daniel Castañeda, General Manager of Cloverway. Cloverway has released numerous blockbuster series in Latin America such as Ranma ½, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, and Love Hina among others. Castañeda found time to talk with Papo de Budega about anime titles and the company's relation with Cartoon Network, which airs a majority of their anime.

Ichijinsha has opened the official site of its new new bishoujo anthology Manga 4Koma KINGS Palette.

From The Japan Times comes an interview with Yoshihiro Tatsumi, mangaka of The Push Man.

Source: MangaBlog

From Cold Cut Distribution comes a list of the top 200 Graphic Novels for this year to date. Love Manga, Icarus Publishing, and MangaBlog expresses their opinion on the list.

David Welsh interviews David Wise, the CEO of Go! Comi, in this week's Flipped column.

Source: MangaBlog