Top 10 manga (1/16) according to Tohan:

1. Worst (19)
2. Detective Conan (60)
3. Hanma Baki (11)
4. To-LOVE-Ru (7)
5. Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar (14)
6. Hanma Baki 10.5 Gaiden Pick
7. Hayate the Combat Butler (14)
8. Mx0 (7)
9. Eensy-Weensy Monster (2)
10. Nodame Cantabile (19)

Additional Rankings:

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Papo de Budega reports that JBC Publishing has licensed and will release Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter in the Brazilian manga market sometime in the near future. JBC was also the Brazilian publisher of another title by Togashi: Yu Yu Hakusho.

San Jose, CA – January, 2007 – Your number one source of Hong Kong comics in the U.S.A is at again! DrMaster Publications and DGN Productions have just announced that they will publish the 3-volume continuation of The Four Constables, The Four Constables: Secret of the Delirium Dagger!

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BL publisher Iris Print has an updated of its current status since the last update on its financial situation:

On the subject of volunteers--wow, I'm amazed at the response! I'm practically swimming in volunteer proofreaders now...more than I could use, in fact. I was trying to respond to each person individually at first, but it quickly became apparent that I wouldn't be able to.

Source: MangaBlog

Canned Dogs reports that users of 2channel have voted for the best eromanga of 2007, and the results are in:

1st place
Cannon sensei tobashisugi

2nd place
Itsumo kimi wo kanjiteru
Trouble Scramble!
Giri giri Sisters

[...]

Also, otaku blog Ikimashou.net is celebrating its 2nd anniversary.

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From ComicRankings comes a list of 2007's best and worst manga, ranked by each manga's reviews from across the web.

She sported an eccentric hairstyle much like the lowbrow artist Rock'in Jellybean. Her leather micro-mini was topped off with a psychedelic tattoo-design t-shirt. The blurb proclaimed her to be "The Glamorous Half-breed with the Broad Leather Belt!" Her name was Rika. She was the heroine of a Bonten Tarō's premier 60s gekiga 'Half-breed Rika' (Konketsuji Rika, published in Shukan Myojo.) (Despite the fact that many children had been born to parents of mixed race in the immediate postwar period, the disgraceful term 'half-breed' or konkestuji was in general use in Japan right up to the eighties. Even today, the common name for a child of an interracial couple is a 'half'.)

Through the late 60s and early 70s, Rika and her gang took on their enemies in one fight scene after another - the yakuza were one, the mysterious millionaire another. The series overflowed with a kitschy B-Movie style, influenced by stuff like Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Tōei action flicks. I'm crazy about catfight gekiga - I can't get enough of this series.

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According to a post on Yaoi Magazine's LiveJournal community, the first issue of Yaoi Magazine has been printed and will be released sometime this month.

Source: YaoiSuki

PHILADELPHIA - VIZ Media is the winner of the 2008 Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding children's book originally published in a foreign language and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States for "Brave Story." The award was announced January 14 during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, January 11-16.

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A new shoujo manga from Lovely Complex creator Aya Nakahara titled Nanakorobin (ナナコロビン) will begin in the March issue (2/13) of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret.

A new manga called Broken Blood III (ブロッケンブラッドIII) by Shiono Kanjirouji is starting in Shonen Gahosha's Young King No.3 (1/12).

A new four-panel manga titled Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to (マンガ家さんとアシスタントさんと) from Hiroyuki, creator of Doujin Work, will begin serialization in the March issue (2/12) of Square Enix's Shonen Gangan. Also starting in the same issue is a new manga titled Tri-Piece (トライピース) by Tomoyuki Maru.

Source: Ultimatum

From Otaku Champloo comes a multi-part article looking at the relationship between Shonen Jump serializations and the fujoshi culture throughout the years, 2 parts have been published so far:

- A history of the fujoshi love affair with Jump
- Jump History and Fujoshi (2): Captain Tsubasa love

Via: MangaBlog

Active Anime reports that MediumAtLarge became the official blog for BookExpo America, New York Comic Con, as well as the New York Anime Festival:

Lance Fensterman, who has been blogging from his vantage point as organizer of BookExpo America ever since he took the helm at the show in 2006, has re-designed and re-launched his blog.

Manganovel, a service that offers Japanese manga downloads as well translations offered for sale by users to other users, is hosting the Manglish Contest:

Now Manganovel is hosting the Manglish Contest - Translate Manga Into English. Think up some cool translations of the dialog found in the contest pages on the Manganovel site. There are prizes to be won, with the best translation awarded an iPod touch. Entry is free, so have a go!

The contest began in October last year, the deadline for submission is the end of January 2008. Go here for more information on how to enter the contest.

Mantanweb has interviewed Keiko Takemiya, mangaka of To Terra..., regarding the Manglish Contest, Manga Jouhou has a translation of the interview:

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Erica Friedman, founder of the only 100% Yuri publisher, ALC Publishing, will be signing books at Jim Hanley's Universe in New York City on January 16th, at 6:30 PM.

Joining Erica will be author JD Glass and artist Abby Denson, for a night of GLBT-themed comics, novels and manga, sponsored by Prism Comics. Jim Hanley's Universe is located at 4 West 33rd St. on 5th Avenue, just across from the Empire State Building.

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Nikkei.net reports that the JPO (Japan Publishing Organization) is collaborating with 470 publishers, 30 distributors and 6,300 bookstores to implement embedded IC tags inside 100 million manga in 2009.

The tag, which will later spread to regular books, aims to prevent shoplifting.

Source: MJ

Broccoli Books has updated its website with three of its recent new acquisitions:

• Nui! by Natsumi Mukai
• Koi Cupid by Mia Ikumi
• sola by Naoki Hisaya (story) and Chaco Abeno (art)

The updated pages include information on release dates, creators, characters, as well as sneak previews (currently unavailable).

Via: ANN

In "Comic inspires classical concert," The Star Online looks at how manga like Nodame Cantabile are helping keep classical music alive:

But on the Eastern front, new methods are being brought into play to shake off those stereotypes and bring new audiences to classical music. Starting with a Japanese comic book, Nodame Cantabile, and continuing with a 2006 Japanese television drama of the same name, the latest offensive is a series of classical concerts in South Korea.

The Japan! Culture + Hyper Culture festival will be taking place at the Kennedy Center from February 7th to 17th. Events planned including the Manga Café and Reading Lounge:

In this casual space, visitors can enjoy a bite to eat while flipping through some of Japan's most popular manga provided by VIZ Media, watching anime trailers, and viewing Matt Alt's vintage robot toy collection. Throughout the festival, famed manga-ka (manga author) Robin Nishi will be on hand to capture festival happenings in a "Daily Manga" drawing. Nishi will conduct a free public workshop for ages 10 and up, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.

Source: ComicsDC

Anime! Anime! reports that the "Shojo Manga! Girls' Power!" tour will be traveling to four locations in Japan in 2008, including the Kawasaki City Museum between February 16 and March 30, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum from July 19 to August 31.

Source: ANN

According to a blog post by Doujin Work creator Hiroyuki, Doujin Work will be coming to an ending in the February issue (2/9) of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara. However, a spin off series will start in the April issue of Manga Time Kirara.

Source: Canned Dogs

Manga news, review and scanlation website Manga Jouhou is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Hooray.

BL publisher Iris Print has posted an extensive blog post on how the company is running out of fundings, and is currently struggling to survive in the manga market:

The short story is, Iris Print ran out of funding. Orders for in-stock books are still shipping, and refunds for BL Twist are being issued, slowly but surely. But there hasn't been enough money coming in to support this venture for a long time, and to be honest, the plug was pulled a lot later than it should have been.

Go to Yaoi for more info.

Asahi Shimbun has a cover story titled "Manga-fied," which looks at how Japanese manga is attracting a "growing legion of French people" to Japan:

Thanks to Japanese pop culture, people overseas have a readily accessible window into Japan and its traditions. [...] For French people in particular, this window has created an appeal that is proving hard to resist.

Arab News has published an article on how for the first time, Saudi comics artists are invited to participate in Japan's Second International Manga Award, which will be held in Tokyo in the summer of 2008:

"We hope to see some Saudi artists in this year's contest," said Katsunobu Takada, head of the cultural section of the Japanese Embassy in Riyadh.

From Weekly Jump Readers' Journal comes an article feature titled "WSJ Illustrated Guide: pt. 6 (2000-present)," the final installment of a 6-part series of articles that look at important Shonen Jump serializations, with a focus on titles that were adapted into anime.