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Sweatdrop Studios Mini Comics Feature on Artists & Illustrators Magazine

Date: 2005 March 06 18:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Sonia Leong from UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop has sent us some details regarding an exciting collaboration with Artists & Illustrators Magazine. The March issue heavily features manga style artwork in the form of two full colour cover-mounted mini comics and a make your own manga tutorial, covering details such as sketching, inking and using colour markets to produce authentic looking illustrations.

The Sweatdrop crew will also be representing the UK manga community at the Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005 event.

Artists & Illustrators Magazine is the UK's best selling magazine for practising artists. You can grab a copy of the Sweatdrop Planet Manga mini comic with the March Edition of the magazine, which is available from 4th March.

New Seven Seas Series

Date: 2005 March 03 14:11 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Manga

Seven Seas Entertainment have announced yet another new series ‘ Unearthly’ this time to be penned by Ted Naifeh, art by Elmer Damaso. The first wave of seven seas titles should be hitting stores now and looks to be just the start of Seven Seas ambitious plans.

ADV Films Announces March 15 Release of The Five Star Stories

Date: 2005 February 27 18:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

Those folks over at ADV Films have sent us the details for their US DVD release of The Five Star Stories.

Newtype USA March 2005 Issue

Date: 2005 February 26 11:41 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Press Releases

The folks at Newtype USA have sent us the details about the March 2005 Issue of their magazine.

They've got some Madlax artwork on the cover that has been exclusively drawn for the Newtype USA, they've also got more coverage of Fullmetal Alchemist and Samurai Champloo, along with Maburaho and Scrapped Princess. The cover DVD has both dub and sub versions of Cromartie High School and Divergence Eve.

Newtype USA Vol. 4, Issue 3 will be available March 1, 2005.

Read More... | Souce: Newtype USA

ADV Films Announces Release of Cromartie High School: Cromartian Rhapsody

Date: 2005 February 26 11:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

It's press release catch-up time here at Otaku News due to the evil flu that's been lurking around most of the Otaku News Crew have been infected, the others have had to wear Bio-hazard suits! ^_-

Anyway, those nice folk over at ADV Films US have sent us the details of the insane anime Cromartie High School, which is due out on March 15th. Do you fancy the idea of going to a high school full of delinquents? Well Kamiyama somehow has been enrolled there!

ADV also have a nice limited collector's edition with the first volume of the manga bundled in and a custom series artbox to hold all 4 volumes.

Metrocon Seek Human Chess Pieces

Date: 2005 February 20 12:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Florida anime convention Metrocon are currently seeking Cosplayer volunteers to participate in their Anime Human Chess Match. So if meet all their terms and conditions and can cosplay as one of the characters listed on their site why not give it a shot? It's also interesting to note that they've got ninja and pirate pawns.

The Otaku News Crew are pondering which anime characters are going to be which pieces, we suspect that Gendo Ikari will be a king for one side, while Rosette Christopher will be a bishop!

Souce: Metrocon

Young Americans Revel In Japanese Pop Culture

Date: 2005 February 20 11:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

A syndicated article that appears on Designerz.com covers anime fandom in general and explains that fandom is on the rise with young Americans. It also mentions Katsucon and states how some Japanese exports are edited to local tastes, such as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, which had footage refilmed with American Actors.

Souce: Designerz.com

Global Anime And Manga Market Worth US$100 Billion

Date: 2005 February 20 11:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

J-Marketing.net have just published a story reporting that globally the anime and manga market is worth a massive US$100 billion! Yes, you read that right one-hundred billion US dollars. The article also states that products based on characters from anime and manga always prove very popular.

Souce: J-Marketing.net

An Interview With Frederik L. Schodt

Date: 2005 February 17 18:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Animation Insider have published their interview with Frederik L. Schodt and experienced Japanese language interpreter, manga translator, and author, Schodt has written some very excellent books on manga, translated both volumes of the Ghost In The Shell manga as well as many other projects. Schodt is highly respected in the anime and manga community and has even worked the late Osamu Tezuka (who is often regarded as the founder of modern anime and manga). The interview has lots of great bits of information and we really recommend reading it.

Souce: Animation Insider

London MCM Expo Celebrates Anime - Manga & Cosplay

Date: 2005 February 13 17:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The folks over at the London Expo Event have sent us details of their anime and manga lineup. Not only will they have Cosplay events on both days, but they've also arranged sponsorship from MVM and Neo Magazine.

Guest wise, the Expo has Teryleryl Rothery who plays Dr. Janet Frasier in Stargate SG-1 and has been a voice actress in Dragon Ball playing Agent Mai in the 1995 dub and Raven in the first Dragon Ball Movie. She's also played A-ko Magami in Project A-Ko and Kodachi Kuno in various Ranma ½ features.

Ghost In The Shell UK Manga Release Details

Date: 2005 February 10 08:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've got details from Titan Books regarding the UK release of the new edition of the groundbreaking manga Ghost In The Shell. This is Masamune Shirow's best known work and has been reprinted in a smaller format now uncensored. Titan will also be releasing the new manga Ghost In The Shell 2: Man Machine Interface. The sequel to the original manga has lots more CG art that Shirow has become known for in his popular Intron Depot artbooks.

Both books have been translated by Frederik L. Schodt and Toren Smith, which otaku know are famed for the quality of their translation work. Both books hit the shelves on 25th February and retail for £19.99, which is reasonable considering the page count and the amount of colour artwork in both books.

Best Of eigoManga In 2004

Date: 2005 January 16 10:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The folks over at eigoManga have sent us a press release detailing their achievements this year. A full HTML version with graphics can be found here, alternatively to just read the text, read the rest of this article.

Sweatdrop At The Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005

Date: 2005 January 09 15:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got news from the nice people at UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop that they'll be representing the UK manga community at the Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005 event and also provide workshops, and four 90 minute long presentations covering aspects of Manga-styled art and it's creation.

The event is scheduled for July 21st - 24th at London's Business Design Centre, last years event attracted over 14,000 visitors!

The Sweatdrop crew can be seen regulary at UK anime events, such at the London Anime Club and other UK anime conventions like AyaCon and AmeCon. Recently Sweatdrop also ran a stall at the London Comic Festival, with great success. Regular readers of Otaku News, will also remeber some of our lovely Christmas Desktop Wallpaper created by Sweatdrop artist Wing Yun Man.

Van Von Hunter Date Set....Evil Beware

Date: 2005 January 08 17:09 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Webcomics

The release date of Van Von Hunter book one has finally been confirmed by publisher Tokyopop, to be 10th of May 2005. The comic is based upon the web comic of the same name but will feature a brand new story.

Van Von Hunter is a parody of the fantasy adventure story, starring Van Von Hunter...hunter of Evil Stuff. A Van Von Hunter story was featured in the first 'Rising Stars of Manga' volume also by Tokyopop.

Souce: Tokyopop

Viz Announces The Debut Of Shonen Jump Advanced

Date: 2004 December 20 16:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Viz have just announced the launch of Shonen Jump Advanced, it's not a game for the GameBoy Advanced, but infact a new range that "will that will present the latest cutting-edge manga stories offering titles with progressive storylines and characters to older teens and young adults". At first glance this sounds a bit like Pulp - Viz's manga anthology taglined as "Manga for Grownups" which stopped in August 2002, or perhaps Pulp Junior since it's aimed at a slightly younger audience. However like the Shonen Jump manga line these titles will be sold individually, and should not be confused with the Shonen Jump Magazine.

So keep your eyes peeled in April 2005 when title like Hunter X Hunter, I's and Eyeshield 21 start hitting the shelves.

AyaCon Five: Launch Announcement

Date: 2004 December 14 18:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just received the details for AyaCon 5, the next edition of the successful UK anime and manga convention which always proves popular. AyaCon 5 will be held from 19-21 August 2005. Their venue will be the Warwick Arts Centre (University of Warwick near Coventry).

The convention will have use of the entire Arts Centre and extra faclities including a bar, restaurant and additional conference rooms, along with the full nightclub facilities in the nearby Students' Union for two parties on the Friday and Saturday evenings.

Manga Tour of Japan 2005

Date: 2004 December 13 18:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Those alert people over at BritAnime have discovered a manga package holiday from 29 March to April 2005 for our British readers.

The price seems good considering the flights and everything, although personally I prefer to go around Japan without a tour guide, discovering things by yourself is a lot of fun! However it is nice to have the option for the less adventurous, or for those who enjoy the convenience of having everything ready for them, especially since many anime fans have a limited Japanese vocabulary, including words such as baka (idiot), which doesn't really go down well when you're trying to book a hotel room!

The 8 day trip includes a visit to the Tokyo International Animation Fair, the fantastic Ghibli Museum, a visit to Akihabara (for all your electronic needs) and also the wonderful Meiji shrine, with huge Tori gates by it's entrance.

Souce: JapanJourneys.co.uk

Shocking Shojo Manga

Date: 2004 December 12 17:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Mainichi Interactive's Wai Wai, is reporting the current trend of shojo manga (aimed at teenage girls) controversially publishing more erotic and shocking material. Many Japanese parents are concerned, the write up points out that more shocking things can be found on the internet and reminds readers that many girls are not influenced by manga.

Souce: Mainichi Interactive

An Interview With The Reading Agency

Date: 2004 December 07 18:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following our previous news items about the educational value of manga in the UK, that appear in both the Times Education Supplement and the Daily Mail, we've managed to get an interview with the organisation that created the campaign designed to get kids reading using manga - The Reading Agency.

Newtype USA Vol. 3, Issue 12 Out Now

Date: 2004 December 04 12:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Newtype USA Vol. 3, Issue 12 Out Now

The folks from Newtype USA have just sent us details for their December issue, which is out now. It has a cover feature on Ah! My Goddess, with details on the OVAs, the movie and the TV series which is currently being produced in Japan.

Other features include details on shows like Chrono Crusade, Samurai 7, Wolf's Rain and Gankutsuou.

The Otaku News Crew recommend that you take a look at the two page feature on Howl's Moving Castle, which has some nice shots of the Ghibli artwork and we also suggest you read their Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide, since that way you'll know what to buy us for Christmas! ^_-

Read More... | Souce: Newtype USA

TokyoPop's 5th Rising Stars of Manga Competition Kicks Off Today

Date: 2004 December 01 19:23 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

TokyoPop have just launched their popular manga competition where artists are invited to submit 15 to 20 pages of manga inspired comics for a chance to be in the next Rising Stars anthology, to be published in Summer 2005.

Along with the usual lovely cash prices TokyoPop have added an extra and welcomed twist with the people's choice category where the top 20 finalists will have their entire entries posted on the TokyoPop website and judged by the fans. The Otaku News crew think this is a good idea, the interactive element adds that extra bit of fun to the competition by getting fans to participate (especially the ones that can't draw to save their lives like myself) and also provides TokyoPop with additional market research resolving tricky tie breaker situations with which submission will generate the most fan interest (and hopefully revenue too).

Yamato Announces Late Spring Releases

Date: 2004 December 01 18:29 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Toys

ICv2 have the details for the late spring 2005 releases from Yamato USA. They'll be releasing a Mizuho in Space Suit Resin Statue from Please Teacher. For Capcom fans there's Morrigan & Lilith Collectible Miniature from DarkStalkers.

Love Hina fans can expect Naru, Mutsumi, Motoko, and Shinobu PVC statues from the Love Hina Again OVA. They'll also be be releasing figures from Guilty Gear, Read Or Die (aka ROD) TV, Iron Leaguer, and Cyber Formula.

Souce: ICv2

Auchinawa Glasgow Convention for Otaku

Date: 2004 November 29 08:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

One of our contributors Voxie from MAME has just discovered plans in Scotland for Auchinawa which "strives not to be an "Anime Convention" but an "Otaku Convention". Our Mission is to create a Convention/Expo in Scotland, the first of its kind, which caters for your needs and wants as fans."

They plan to screen anime, have DDR machines and will also be catering for J-Music fanatics and furries.

It's not set to run until the summer of 2006 so many of the details aren't finalised yet. However it's always good to plan ahead and conventions in the UK often get booked out quickly, so go take a look and get saving to get to Glasgow, if you're not near there already.

Souce: Auchinawa

Frightmoore University Posts It's 100th Page

Date: 2004 November 28 09:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Webcomics

It's been a busy week for me which is why I haven't posted as much news as I would like on Otaku News this week. So today is catch up day! One of the advantages of running your own news website means that you can plug your other side projects now and again (no Spike that doesn't mean you can start posting about all the yaoi you draw).

OK, first up on Monday November 22nd, Frightmoore University an up-and-coming webcomic I'm the webmaster for, has just made the milestone of posting it's 100th page! Gigi has drawn a little celebratory image of the main characters having a little party. Frightmoore has been running since 2001, and in April 2004 when an updated version of the site was launched on it's own domain name were we able to gauge an idea of how many hundreds of thousands of unique users actually visited Frightmoore! If you have read any of it yet, go on and take a look.

While we're on the subject of plugging stuff don't forget to check out The Journey of Light an independent animation project that is currently underway written by our very own Azure.

Souce: Frightmoore University

Neo Magazine First Issue Out Now

Date: 2004 November 25 19:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Just a quick reminder to our UK readers that the first issue of Neo Magazine is out now. The publication covers anime, manga, videogames, gadgets, and all things Japanese. It's available from WH Smith, Borders, HMV, Martins Spar, Virgin Store, Forbidden Planet and some independent newsagents, it should also be available from Diamond Comic stockists.

For more information check out our previous write up on Neo Magazine, Anime UK News also has an interview with the editor as does UK-Anime.net

Souce: Neo Magazine

Mail On Sunday Portray Manga In A Bad Light

Date: 2004 November 21 21:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following on from our report about The Educational Value of Manga In The UK, British News Paper The Mail On Sunday have just written an article about the topic titled "Child murder, incest and rape... is this really how our schools should be encouraging boys to read?", this is in stark contrast to previous articles we have reported on in other publications that portray anime and manga in a more positive light. When dealing with the Daily Mail and Mail Sunday our readers outside of the UK should note an Ian Hislop quote where he says that to the Daily Mail even Yoghurt is scary (I can't find the exact quote right now).

Educational Value of Manga In The UK

Date: 2004 November 16 18:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Times Education Supplement (a Times newspaper for teachers and people working in the education sector) are running a story about the educational value of manga, interestingly enough they make the same common misconceptions about manga - "Mangas depict wide-eyed heroes, often in varying states of undress". The Reading Agency, an organisation that promotes literacy, is encouraging schools to buy Manga comics, it seems they want to get as many children to get into reading by introducing them to manga. They've compiled a list of 150 recommended Manga titles, deemed suitable for teenagers and are sending them to all libraries and schools. The Otaku News crew imagine that this will help TokyoPop UK's already very healthy sales figures! ^_-

Souce: TES

Manga Animates New Millennium

Date: 2004 November 14 17:00 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Japan Times Online has a very interesting article about anime and manga, it starts talking about Astroboy and then goes on to Garo, an underground manga magazine with "dark, satirical narratives and weird, surrealistic imagery".

The article then continues to talk about Psionic Distortion a multi-media exhibition which runs at the SuperDeluxe event space in Roppongi, Tokyo, which from Nov. 10-30 a 5-minute walk from Roppongi Station on the Hibiya Line.

Souce: The Japan Times Online

Strong Yaoi Sales on Amazon.com

Date: 2004 November 14 08:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

ICv2 are reporting an interesting trend with Amazon.com's manga best seller list. Apparently Yaoi is three of the top five, four of the top ten and six of the top fifteen manga titles. ICv2 point out that these sales are only on Amazon.com as the American Bookscan list doesn't not match with these sales figures, with only Del Rey's Tsubasa Volume 3 appearing at the top of both lists.

ICv2 speculate that people purchasing Yaoi prefer the privacy and relative anonymity that on-line reatilers offer and that the two main Yaoi publishers Digital Manga and CPM Manga don't have the marketing clout or number of titles compared to other publishers with titles at the top of the graphic novel lists.

Souce: ICv2

NEO Magazine UK

Date: 2004 November 09 17:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Charlie from Crazy Ninja has sent us a the details about NEO Magazine. Neo Mag's publicity states that they are the UK's only newsstand magazine dedicated to Anime, Manga, videogames, gadgets, and all things Japanese.

Their market overview text states "Anime and Manga have been popular in the UK for over 10 years now, and the market has never had a dedicated quality publication which appeals to the core fan, and also provides for the broader mainstream markets". I always thought that this was part of Manga Mania / Max's brief.

Neo Magazine is due out on 25th November, with a Dead Leaves Cover and features articles on the American remake of The Grudge, Tekken, also interviews with Chiaki Kuriyama (of Battle Royal and Kill Bill fame), and voice actress Monica Rial.

Souce: Crazy Ninja

eigoManga Release Sakura Pakk

Date: 2004 November 08 17:41 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

eigoManga have just sent us a press release for their latest pseudo manga for girls. It's a bit odd, because they've sent it to us almost a month late. Their pseudo manga is called Sakura Pakk and is out now.

Carol Fox On CLAMP

Date: 2004 November 03 18:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Fans of manga studio CLAMP (Chobits, X, Tokyo Babylon, Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer to name a few) will want to check out a recent article on Sequential Tart. They interview Carol Fox the girls' manga editor for TokyoPop. The article focuses on CLAMPs 15th anniversary and has some nice tidbits that every otaku should like, including TokyoPop's intention of releasing CLAMP no Kiseki: The Ultimate Collection from spring 2005, it's a 12 volume collection with interviews highlights photos and so on.

Souce: Sequential Tart

Watching Anime, Reading Manga a Book By Fred Patten

Date: 2004 November 03 17:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Although it's old news, I'm sure many of our readers are not yet aware that Stone Bridge Press have published a new book by anime and manga guru Fred Pattern, - Watching Anime, Reading Manga. The book has 63 articles covering all aspects of anime from fandom and the industry, it also has articles on the first ads in America to current day mainstream hits like the anime sequence in Kill Bill and anime inspired live action films like The Matrix. If you want to know more be sure to check OnlyPubjab.com's write up.

Souce: Stone Bridge Press

International Manga and Anime Festival Launches

Date: 2004 October 27 18:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just got a press release from a group called IMAF, who will be holding an international competition to find the best manga and anime talent in the world, entrants stand a chance to win big bucks with a total prize fund of $75,000!

The entrants work will be shown at London County Hall from 16th - 19th December. Judges include Koike Kazuo who is best known for writing Lone Wolf and Cub and Crying Freeman.

GoManga.com Goes Live

Date: 2004 October 26 18:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Recently we ran a press release about Seven Seas producing original manga. Now their site Gomanga.com is live. So far they've got details of four titles on their site - Amazing Agent Luna, Blade for Barter, Last Hope and No Man's Land.

TokyoPop and Sweatdrop Attract Interest At London Comic Festival

Date: 2004 October 23 17:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Otaku News Crew have just returned from the London Comic Festival, an event that focuses on the British Comic Book industry, it consists largely of underground/independent UK comic book publishers. Representing the UK manga/anime scene were professional manga publishers TokyoPop UK and original UK manga studio Sweatdrop. It was nice to see the interest and enthusiasm both groups generated. All the exhibitors there had a fair number of visitors to the their tables, I didn't do a proper count or survey, but throughout the day it was clear that both TokyoPop and Sweatdrop generated a large amount of interest, more so than any of the other comic book publishers.

Souce: Otaku News

More Anime and Manga Write ups in Mainstrem Press

Date: 2004 October 23 17:13 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Some publications have discovered anime and it seems that they want to write lots of details about it. The on-line edition of Australian Newspaper The Age (registration required) have just published a great article covering recent events in Japanese anime, it has quotes from various figureheads in the industry and mentions Mamoru Oshii, Production I.G, Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki too. This one of those articles that is good to show to your friends who think that anime and manga is not taken seriously by the mainstream press.

Souce: The Age

Newtype USA subscription offer - Get a Cosplay Cap and pay $7.50 per issue

Date: 2004 October 22 16:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Newtype USA have just sent us the details of a cool subscription offer. They'll be offering Cosplay Caps along with the 40% off subscription rate for 12 issues brining each issue down to $7.50

Read More... | Souce: Newtype USA

Cosplay Photographic Exhibit in LA

Date: 2004 October 20 17:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Art

LA otaku are in for a treat from October 28 to November 26 The Perfect Exposure Gallery will be hosting an exhibit on cosplayers or "Photographic portraits of costumed anime fans" to be more exact. Shot at anime conventions around the US and Canada in 2003 and 2004, it sounds a bit like A Fans View only off-line!

Newtype USA Celebrates Its Second Anniversary

Date: 2004 October 18 18:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folk at Newtype USA have sent us a press release regarding their second anniversary. To celebrate the popular anime magazine will bring back it's free DVD insert, which became a subscriber only bonus item. We've heard that Newtype USA stopped the free DVD due to retail issues, original store clerks removed the free DVD to pass on to friends, this in turn meant that the opened issue could not be sold. It seems that the people at Newtype have been listening to their readers. We welcome the return of the DVD since it means more free anime! ^_^

Read More... | Souce: Newtype USA

US Army Troops Get Anime Goodies

Date: 2004 October 18 17:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Press Releases

In one of the more unusual press releases we received this week eigoMANGA have announced that they are sending anime and manga care packs to U.S. Army Troops destined for Iraq.

Apparently there is an anime club formed by the Army troops in Colorado Springs base called "A.N.I.M.E. Club". Independent media and publishing company eigoManga are asking for local otaku to donate anime and manga gifts to the anime fans in the US army.

Samurai History Papers - Quarterly Newsletter

Date: 2004 October 16 16:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

We've just got details in from Ridgeback Press, apparently they will be launching Samurai History Papers, a quarterly newsletter from Romulus Hillsborough (whose research on the history of the Meiji Restoration spans over twenty years). It focuses on the facts behind many samurai anime series, such as the Shinsengumi (central to Peacemaker Kurogane and Rurouni Kenshin).

Jonathan Clements Launches New Website

Date: 2004 October 16 13:26 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Jonathan Clements, writer, translator, co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia, The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, The Dorama Encyclopedia and I Love My Tamagotchi (under the name of Bronwen Komatsubara), has just e-mailed with some details regarding his new website -

"Don't know if this counts as news or not, but if it does, there is much anime goodness to be found at my website, including the English version of my Afterword to the deluxe edition of Akira, the unpublished Afterword to the Anime Encyclopedia, and several anime columns from Newtype and the Sci Fi channel."

Considering how much Jonathan Clements has done in the anime industry, I think it does count as news, so go on and have a look at his website. I'm off to find Schoolgirl Milky Crisis.

Souce: Jonathan Clements

Yuri Revolution Tokyo

Date: 2004 October 05 19:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The good girls at Yuricon have just sent us their press releasing detailing the Yuri Revolution event in Tokyo

"We'll be touring the anime and manga centers of Tokyo, visiting Tokyo Tower, museums and other Tokyo attractions.We'll top it all off with an all-yuri event in the home of yuri manga, the Nichoume in Shinjuku, where we can embarrass ourselves by trying to speak Japanese with well-known yuri mangaka." This is just for starters.

To attend all you have to do is get to Tokyo on April 12-17, 2005, remember you have to sort out your own flights and accommodation though.

Seven Seas To Produce Original Manga

Date: 2004 October 04 17:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

I've just got hold of the press release from Seven Seas, a new LA based publishers dedicated to producing manga for the international market.

Although it isn't exactly clear, it seems that the company won't be licensing and translating manga, but actually getting artists outside of Japan to produce work in a manga style. This has been successful before with artists such as Adam Warren (Dirty Pair and Starwars manga to name a few), and Fred "Piro" Gallagher of MegaTokyo fame, it will be interesting to see if a company can work with such a specialist policy, personally I'm curious as to which artist they'll be using and if any of them are already well known in anime/manga fandom.

Newtype USA, Volume 3, Issue 10 Out Now

Date: 2004 September 30 17:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

ADV USA have just sent us the details for the latest issue of Newtype USA. The anime/manga mazagine which is easily the best English language magazine out there.

I suggest you check out the Paranoia Agent article (Satoshi Kon can do no wrong in my book), as well as the Xebec feature. What's odd is that the press release doesn't mention that there's also a feature on L'Arc~en~Ciel too!

Read More... | Souce: Newtype USA

Viz To Begin Publishing Rurouni Kenshin Manga Monthly Beginning October

Date: 2004 September 23 15:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Sales of the Rurouni Kenshin manga have been doing so well that the US publisher Viz have decided to release the title monthly, previously it was published bi-monthly, but due to the successful sales figures and the demand from fans, Viz have decided to narrow the gap between releases.

This is great news for fans who can't wait for the next instalment of the popular series, but also bad news for my wallet! ^_-

Sweatdrop Launch Free Webcomics

Date: 2004 September 20 15:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Webcomics

Talented up and coming British manga artists Sweatdrop Studios have just launched a webcomics section. They've posted comics by Dock, Laura Watton, Emma Vieceli, Selina Dean, Fred and Sonia Leong.

Even if you're not in the UK, it's always nice to check out some of their lovely artwork.

Souce: Sweatdrop

Tokyopop Announces Six New Titles For 2005

Date: 2004 September 16 10:57 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Manga

For those of you who love your Manga, Tokyopop will be adding six new titles to its range in the coming months. For release in February:

Planet Blood, a story about a futuristic warrior who awakes on a medieval planet.

Gundam Seed Astray R, which is a companion novel to Gundam Seed Astray

Liling-Po, where a master theif recovers treasures for the Chinese Imperial Palace

And in March:

Dead End, a horror drama.

Qwan, a ancient China fantasy series

Sorcerer Hunters, which is being re-released in the "authentic" $9.95 package

Souce: ICV2.com

Ghost In The Shell hits Cinema Screens, TV, DVD, comic shops and PS2

Date: 2004 September 11 16:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just been sent a very interesting press release for the Ghost In The Shell franchise, it's well known that the movie Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence it will be hitting US cinema screens on September 17th and that Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment are jointly releasing the DVDs for Ghost In The Shell Standalone Complex series. However what they also point out is that Standalone Complex will be aired on Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim from early November!

The press release also mentions that Dark Horse is republishing Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga as Ghost in the Shell 2nd Edition, it features extra materials not published in previous US editions and will be printed in it's original Japanese size.

It also mentions the new PS2 game. So it looks like US anime fans will be able to get Ghost In the Shell in every single format they could want!

Manga Live! At The ICA In London

Date: 2004 August 30 14:14 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just found out about an event at the ICA in London. It's called Manga Live, and is divided into two events Manga Live (Fri 03 Sep) and will discuss if Manga can take off in the UK.

The second event (Sat 04 Sep) is the Manga Live! Manga Masterclass which forms a practical demonstration and workshop. The masterclass will also have a special preview screening of Rogue Farm.

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