The TNS Media Korea audience survey firm reports that the Korean live-action television drama version of Yoko Kamio 's Hana Yori Dango ( Boys Over Flowers ) manga scored a record 14.3% national rating on January 5. Like Kamio's original manga, the drama version recounts the life of a middle-class girl surrounded by the rich students of an exclusive high school.

5 Jan 2009

Not-So-Daily Link of 2008 III: Here is one of the stories that fell through the cracks in 2008. On November 29, a Japanese shopping center unveiled a 2.1-meter-tall (7-feet-tall) statue of the title character of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro film — made of 10,000 pine cones.

5 Jan 2009

Examurai Sengoku , the new anime featuring the seven members of the EXILE song and dance performance unit, will premiere this Saturday as part of the new EXILE Generation program on the NTV network.

5 Jan 2009

Not only were Hayao Miyazaki 's animated Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea film and Yasuharu Ishii 's live-action Hana Yori Dango Final film the highest grossing Japanese films in 2008, but they earned more at the Japanese box office than any foreign film last year.

5 Jan 2009

The Gallery - Manga Circles in Japan This week, we take a break from artist profiles to check out the manga clubs that help produce some of Japan's future manga artists.

5 Jan 2009

The ICv2 retailer news source posted its estimated sales ranking chart for November comics from Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States. It also began shipping its ICv2 Guide #62: Manga/Anime last week.

5 Jan 2009