Giapet.net reports more incidents involving "Death Note" that are happening around the U.S. since last November:

• "Death Note Was Not 'Hit List', School Officials Say" [ WKRN Nashville ]
• "Death threats lead to two arrests" [ The Milford Daily News ]

ANN is reporting that Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga has created an informational manga to help search for the killer of their student, Daisaku Chiba. A few days later, the manga pamphlet appeared on the internet.

20-year-old Daisaku Chiba was a freshman in the department when he was found stabbed in the central Japanese city of Kyoto on the evening of January 15. He reportedly said, "I have no idea who stabbed me," before dying of his ten stab wounds at the hospital.

Anime UK News is reporting that publisher Urania has teamed up with artist Viviane to create a set of manga-style tarot cards called "Magic Manga Tarot." Samples of the cards can be found here.

According to MangaBlog, Tokyopop will be shooting a a "mock-umentary" called Van Von Hunter in Maiden Quest (based on the Van Van Hunter manga) at this year's at NYAF:

TOKYOPOP is making movies at New York Anime Fest—on Saturday, December 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Manga Panel Room 1A24, TOKYOPOP will be filming "Van Von Hunter in Maiden Quest," a hilarious mock-umentary based on the three-volume manga series "Van Von Hunter."

The Japanese search engine goo has posted its top 50 most searched mangaka names in 2007:

1. Hirohiko Araki (荒木飛呂彦)
2. Natsuki Takaya (高屋奈月)
3. Arina Tanemura (種村有菜)
4. CLAMP (CLAMP)
5. Yutsuko Chusonji (中尊寺ゆつこ)
6. Saibara Rieko (西原理恵子)
7. Minekura Kazuya (峰倉かずや)
8. Yukari Ichijou (一条ゆかり)
9. Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿)
10. Mayu Shinjo (新條まゆ)

Read More »

The J-Pop Center In Heart Of Japan Town To Offer Latest Live Action And Anime Films

San Francisco, CA, November 27, 2007 - VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced that it has become an owner of an art-house movie theatre set to open in winter 2008/2009 in the heart of San Francisco's Japan Town, a prominent and historical sightseeing spot in the San Francisco Bay Area. The theatre will specialize in screening Japanese films and anime.

Read More »

Students learn about popular Japanese art-form, pitch concepts to studio execs

IRVINE, Calif. - November 21, 2007 - UC Irvine Extension, the continuing education arm of the University of California, Irvine, has announced plans to offer a new, third course in its "Manga & Anime Explosion: What, Why, How & Wow!" series. The course is designed to give both those pursuing a career in the high-growth entertainment field and enthusiasts alike a better understanding of the creative and business processes involved in bringing the Japanese art-form successfully to the masses in the United States.

Read More »

From Daily Yomiuri Online comes an article titled "Firms launch New Manga in Shrinking Market," which looks at how Shueisha and Kadokawa Shoten are launching new manga magazines in a "declining magazine market":

While Japan's domestic comic magazine market is gradually shrinking, two major publishers have recently inaugurated monthly comic compilations--Shueisha Inc's Jump SQ. (Square) for boys and Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero A (Ace) for children. Can they keep young readers from moving away from the magazines and find a foothold in the shrinking market?

ANN reports that the Franklin Military Academy in Virginia has suspended a senior for keeping a list of names in a book called "Death Note":

NBC12, the NBC affiliate in central Virginia, quotes a student at the public high school who said that she is friends with the suspended senior and that she was not on the list. The suspended student's friend said that neither she, nor her friends who were actually on the list, fear the suspended student.

From MangaCast comes "Part II: Issues around Publishing (A)," part 2 of a series of articles that looks at the world of manga in Indonesia.