Manga News and Information
China
In 2008, an animated movie based on the popular Hong Kong comic Storm Riders by Ma Wing Shing will be released. The movie, Storm Rider - Clash of the Evils, is said to be the first animated movie created in the style of Hong Kong kung fu comics. While the Hong Kong comics market seems to be doing better than ever, the truth is that the market has been declining for the past 10 years or so, and many people are questioning the direction the Hong Kong comics market is heading.
Lee Chi Ching's winning work, Sun Tzu's Tactics (Known as The Art of War in China - Chinese Title: 孫子兵法; JP title: 孫子攻略), is a historic series that portrays the life of the famous Chinese military strategist. The three runners-up went to Kai from Hong Kong, Malaysia's Benny Wong Thong Hou and Madeleine Rosca from Australia. Villagers (Tianjin) Manga Ltd., the first ever Chinese-foreign joint venture manga company, will be established on June 28th in Tianjin, China. Villagers (Tianjin) Manga Ltd., a joint venture between China and Korea, aims to become one of the biggest original Chinese comics publisher, and help spread Chinese comics overseas. The Star Online has published an article looking at the success of Kami no Shizuku (Drops of God), a wine manga that is taking China and Korea by storm. "I am the Death God, and I will curse you and watch you die, let's see if you still have the courage to confiscate Death Note." A telephone message received by an official at Lanzhou city, Gansu Province on May 31st. After some investigation, it was determined that the call was made by a middle school student using the school's public phone. According to the officials at Lanzhou city, they received around 6 threatening phone calls from middle school students on May 30th (and many more throughout the month) in response to the recent confiscation of Death Note. Recently a survey conducted in China on consumer's opinion regarding leisure and entertainment asked the following question: Do you like to enjoy Japanese manga and anime during our leisure time? Nearly 60% answered "I love manga" or "I like manga." Only a small group of people answered "I don't like manga" and very few answered "I hate manga." "Whatever" is also a popular answer. Death Note is banned in Beijing, Shueisha comments that "All of them are pirated anyways." More strange incident involving Death Note in China following up to the "banning of horror books in Beijing." On the 16th, a Chinese/English newspaper China Daily reported that "Beijing local government has ordered to retrieve Death Note from its publisher Hualing Publishing due to its bad effect on juvenile - the manga is causing students to neglect their study by indulging themselves in Death Note." Reuters reports that Beijing is banning and seizing horror books to "protect the 'physical and mental health' of its youngsters." Among the books seized was Death Note, which appeared on China's national TV last week.
One college student once posted on a Chinese bulletin board: "I don't want to be unpatriotic, but I can't help but watch Japanese anime. What should I do? Please give me some advice, I'm really under a lot of stress." On May 10th, China Central Television (CCTV), one of the largest television network in China, reported a story on a recent Death Note incident in Nanning City, Guangxi, where adults discovered among elementary school students a popular game that involves "cursing and predicting the death of others through the use of a death notebook." The report claims that Death Note is not healthy for young children, and encourages parents to protect their children from it. Source: Yahoo! Japan |
Manga Zombie
Finale: Panelosophy
An ongoing conversation about the philosophy behind manga both in the U.S. and abroad. Manga Ranking
Monthly charts of comparative manga rankings based on aggregate online sales listings from Matt Blind. |
In an age were Japanese manga reign supreme, another form of comics is also gaining momentum in around the world - Hong Kong kung fu comics. On June 29th, the winner of the first Internation Manga Award 
The result of the 
The question of "Is enjoying Japanese manga and anime an unpatriotic act?" has been a great point of debate in China. The topic has caused many problems, and many young Chinese people are torn between their anti-Japan feelings and their love for Japanese manga.
ComiPress teams up with writer Udagawa Takeo and translator John Gallagher to publish an online version of the English-language translation of Manga Zombie.
