From the Broccoli Books Blog comes a report of the first day of Fanime 2007. The report is written by staffs from Broccoli Books, and focuses on Sekihiko Inui's (Murder Princess, Comic Party) tour and impression of the event.

The Japanese Embassy in the U.K. will be holding an exhibition called Manga Jiman (漫画自慢) from June 11th to June 19th.

The Embassy will also host a manga seminar titled "What is Manga?" and a major manga-writing competition in conjunction with the exhibition.

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Papo de Budega reports that Toru Furuya, the original voice actor of characters from Seiya (Saint Seiya), Tuxedo Mask (Sailormoon), Yamcha (Dragon Ball) will visit Brazil during the Animecon in July. Cesar T. Ikko, the AnimeCon Group president, also confirmed that photos of the artists will appear on the convention's official site.

Source: Papo de Budega

The biggest anime and manga convention in Germany organized by the biggest German speaking anime and manga association announces its first guest: Fred Gallagher

Author of the online comic "Megatokyo", Fred Gallagher, will be the first guest of honor of the Connichi 2007 in Kassel, Germany. He will be accompanied by his lovely wife Sarah.

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Manga Jouhou translates a brief report from Mainichi Communications on Comitia 80, an original manga convention held in Tokyo Big Sight on May 5th:

Different from other doujinshi conventions like Comiket, the works allowed to be sold in Comitia are limited to original works which do not parody existing manga. Many professional mangaka not only participate in the event, but also have collaborative projects with publishers. As a result, Comitia has become an event with a large significance to the manga industry.

San Francisco, CA, May 10, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its partnership with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to produce the Manga Lounge which will complement the highly anticipated Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga exhibition. The Lounge will be open May 13 thru September 9, 2007 and coincides with the run of the exhibition, June 2 – September 9, 2007.

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New York, NY -- April 15, 2007 -- Universal Animation, Inc is pleased to announce that MangaNEXT will be returning to the New York City metropolitan area for its second incarnation. MangaNEXT 2007 will begin on Friday October 5 and end on Sunday October 7, 2007, taking place at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey. The convention venue is just minutes away from the heart of New York City, and is conveniently located close to mass transportation and major highway routes.

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Free Comic Book Day, an annual promotional effort to promote lesser known comics to new readers, will take place on May 5th. 40 publishers will be participating in this year's event. Tokyopop, one of the participants, will be giving the Choose Your Weapon, a collection of Korean manhwa samples, for free.

Erica Friedman, founder of Yuricon, interviewed on Afterellen.com

Erica Friedman, president of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, was interviewed by Suzanne Corson, a contributing writer at the popular lesbian culture website.

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MangaBlog points out that the Japanese government will be bringing Keiji Nakazawa's manga Barefoot Gen to the Preparatory Committee For 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in Vienna, Austria.

Barefoot Gen is about the story of a boy surviving and witnessing the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima after World War II.