According to this AoD post, the latest issue of Faust, a literary magazine published by Kodansha, came with an announcement that "volume seven will be out this summer...And the American edition will start in Spring 08."

Source: AoD

"I received a formal warning from Kodansha. As a result I have stopped the distribution of the Moyashimon tool. There is plan to distribute the tool again in the future."

What is the Moyashimon tool? Moyashimon tool is a desktop tool based on Masayuki Ikagawa's seinen manga Moyashimon. The tool's only function was to animate the fungus and viruses found in Moyashimon on your desktop. The tool was pretty yet functionally meaningless; nonetheless, it was well received by others for its cuteness.

In March, Kodansha, the copyright holder of Moyashimon, sent the creator of Moyashimon tool a warning letter requesting that the tool be taken down, or else it will be regarded as infringing Kodansha's copyright.

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Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Morning, Kodansha has released a new comic magazine titled Mandala. An "unprecedented" international manga magazine, Mandala contains 15 works by artists from 6 different countries: France, Italy, China, Korea, Singapore and Japan. According to Kodansha:

We will provide color illustrations by elite artist in their full glory, let the "Manga World Cup" begin in this magazine. The future of manga starts from here!

Works featured in Mandala include:

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Kodansha has confirmed that Koji Kumeta's Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will be adapted into an anime. More information can be found on Kodansha's anime adaptation page.

According to Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine wbesite, Yukipon No O Shigoto by Kazuhiro Azuma will be adapted into a drama, and will debut on April 1st. Yukipon No O Shigoto won the 31st Japanese Cartoonists' Association Award New Face Award in 2002.

According to a page from a Kodansha sales order, Koji Kumeta's Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will be be adapted into an anime TV series. *Note that there has been no official announcement of an anime adaption from Kodansha as of now.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 2005, is about a depressed teacher whose attempts to commit suicide are constantly foiled by his 32 equally troubled students.

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Ken Akamatsu's Mahou Sensei Negima! Part 1 (First Semester) ended in the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine. According to Ken Akamatsu's online dairy (2/27 entry), Part 2 (Summer Break) will begin within a few weeks (possibly in Shonen Magazine issue 16, on sale 3/21).

Ken Akamatsu also mentioned on his dairy that a Negima-related surprise will be announced in April regarding "a plan that has never been done before."

According to Weekly Shonen Magazine issue 13 preview, "Part 1" of Ken Akamatsu's Mahou Sensei Negima! will end in Shonen Magazine issue 14, on sale 3/7. The preview message reads: "Part 1 (one semester) ends!" The starting date of Negima Part 2 has not been announced.

Source: Ultimatum Talk

A new manga by Katsu Aki titled Tenchi Kaibyaku (Creation of Heaven and Earth) will begin serialization in the May issue of Kodansha's Magazine Z (3/26).

Also XEBEC's anime Heroic Age will be adapted into a manga series, which will start in the June issue of Magazine Z, on sale 4/26. A special Heroic Age "Chapter 0" will appear in Magazine Z May issue.

Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) by Kazuo Maekawa, based on the popular game from Capcom, will be moving from Bessatsu Young Magazine (Young Magazine Extra Issue) to Young Magazine.

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