Suddenly I'm slow on the uptake ...

More plaudits! ICv2 2004 Manga Awards hail Viz as the top publisher of the year (let's face it, the one series that can drag me to the store on its release date is Hot Gimmick), Del Rey for best new publisher, and Rurouni Kenshin and Fruits Basket as the top titles ( ... in sales, I suppose). I have no clue how they pick what the "Phenomenon of the Year" is.

So, I missed it the first time through in this awkwardly-written article from the L.A. Times (registration required, but don't bother, really) -- Viz is planning to "simultaneously launch a monthly anthology and line of graphic novels, both under the Shojo Beat moniker." Looks like that little survey on the Viz website didn't go to waste.

iComics looks over xxxHOLiC Vol. 4 and finds that it's just so much cooler when they're not trying to gussy things up with some silly Clow Reed continuity junk. (Or trying to "cross over" with Tsubasa, for that matter.)

... Speaking of which, NHK's website for the anime adaptation of Tsubasa has just gone up, featuring a rather lanky Sakura and Syaoran.

Pop Culture Gadabout's review of Peach Fuzz Vol. 1 comes with a picture of an actual ferret! (But no, the blog entry does not smell of peaches. Or ferrets.)

And Completely Futile finds some translational issues with Tokyopop's release of Fruits Basket, but it's still better than the scanlation.

I don't think it means he hunts actual cities ...

Hey kids! Korean comics! " ... the Korean comic book industry is no longer an extra on the international scene, but stands as a star of the Asian industry, although it was only a few years ago that Korean comics (manhwa) were considered a generic version of the Japanese manga."

Scanlation portal Manga Jouhou is now starting to feature in-depth articles on creators, publishers, historical manga events, and trends ... this week it's Tsukasa Hojo, best known for creating the action-comedy series City Hunter.

From MNS (once again, no permalink): Shonen Jump makes waves in Europe too, having already launched in Germany and Sweden and set to invade Norway in March.

Figaro Figaro Figaro.

If the UK Guardian reports it, does that make it almost-true? Looks like a Scott Pilgrim movie may really be in the works. (Guys, at least let Mal finish the entire series! ... Who knows if there may be vital plot elements later.)

Shawn @ Worlds Within Worlds runs into an anecdote about manga adaptations of opera. I wonder how many volumes it would take to cover all of Wagner's Ring cycle ...

And just some advice from YACB, note that Viz's second edition (unflipped) of Maison Ikkoku contains some extra stuff. This wouldn't be the first time it's happened -- Dark Horse cut out several chapters of Oh My Goddess! during its original publication in order to get Urd into the series faster and reach a story arc that was moderately interesting.

The Final Frontier

Today's top article for AoD (no permalink) mentions Bandai's upcoming release of the anime adaptation of Planetes. (Insert blogosphere's collective "oooooh.") Features on the DVD will include commentary from the Japanese director and cast, interviews with the English cast, and even interviews with NASA's space debris staff.

AoD also does a year-in-review rundown for ComicsOne, the company that's synonymous with Iron Wok Jan.

Manga publisher Studio Ironcat -- probably best known for releasing Hanaukyo Maid Team -- has shut down.

And once again Completely Futile does what it does best: reviewing manga that's outside of the publisher and scanlator consciousness. Cool.

Well, maybe the superheroes should threaten them right back.

So it looks like another Gaaan! Doki doki! Comics aren't just for boys anymore! article is going around, and let me just make a grammatical point of note: "manga" and "shoujo" are generally considered to be collective terms, so sticking an "s" at the end of either word -- while not technically illegal -- does sound like a rather clunky way of attempting to pluralize them.

Even NPR is getting in on the manga phenomenon, but given the mixed response to Peter Carey's Wrong About Japan, is he really the guy to be talking about the Japanese pop culture explosion?

Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of Dragonball, is now also the designer of a cute little electric car.

And finally, the back-patting for CLAMP just doesn't stop, as a museum exhibit in Kawasaki City opens this month.