Atsuhisa Okura, author of Manga University's original manga series "Moe USA," and illustrator of the acclaimed article "How Manga Conquered America" in WIRED magazine has a great interview up on Akibanana.com to coincide with this month's release of "Moe USA: Volume 2 Costume Crisis."

The interview addresses Okura's past and his road to becoming a manga-ka, his view of Akihabara as an "Otaku-Paradise," and why he chose to create a manga that teaches over-seas readers about the geeky magic that is otaku-culture.

Okura also talks a bit about the series main characters Patty and Ruby, the concept of "moe" in both Japan and the west, and gives a little bit of a glimpse into what he thinks the future holds for Akihabara and the otaku community.

The interview gives some great insight into not only moe but the mind of a very passionate manga-ka, so we'd like to thank the article's author Patrick Galbraith and encourage everyone to check the article out at Akibanana!

If you want to know more about Moe USA, why not start by reading the comic -- for FREE? You can read the first 10 pages of the series here!




This weekend we sent out our highly anticipated Campus Newsletter for Spring 2008! For many this is your first time receiving our newsletter, but we hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to more news and updates from Manga University.

Of course as MU customers and students we want your feedback: what kind of things would you like to see in future newsletters? Are there questions about Manga University you want answered? Details on a product, service, artist? Whatever it is, leave us a blog comment and we'll do our best to make a newsletter that all our students can enjoy.




Thanks to Andy Floyd over at Sailor Moon Soapbox for his thorough and favorable review of Manga University Culinary Institute's "The Manga Cookbook!"

This is our first big review since we were "Pick of the week" on Manga Cast and we really appreciate all of the positive feedback that the book has been getting.

To top it off, today the book made it into the top 100 manga currently available on Amazon.com!! Of course you can pick the book up here or head over to mangacookbook.com for more information.




Manga University’s “Kanji de Manga” series, which uses comic illustrations to teach students how to read and write Japanese, is the recipient of one of this year’s Business Innovation Awards presented by the prefectural government of Saitama, Japan.

In announcing the awards this month, Saitama Governor Kiyoshi Ueda praised the series’ creator, Japanime Co. Ltd., for spreading Japanese language and culture throughout the world. Japanime publishes the books under its Manga University imprint. Co-authored by Japanime founder Glenn Kardy and manga artist Chihiro Hattori, “Kanji de Manga” is available in seven different languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Finnish. Nearly 250,000 copies of the books have been sold worldwide.

Five volumes are currently available. “Kanji de Manga Special Edition: Yojijukugo,” which will feature Japanese idioms, goes on sale in April, while “Kanji de Manga Vol. 6” will be released this September.




For the past couple of years we here at Manga Unviersity have been trying our best to use our publishing skills to help out the "Basketball Japan League," or "BJ-League," with some of their merchandising efforts.
We started by making shitajiki (drawing boards) and custom kazoos for our local team, the Saitama Broncos, and last year we were given the opportunity to make trading cards for the All-Star game in Okinawa.

The cards made a big splash with the players so this year we're doing it again! There are 20 cards in total, complete with full color photos, statistics, and the jersey for each player - and they will be sold at this years BJ-League All Star Game in Niigata. So if you're planning on going to the game, make sure to pick up our limited-edition cards!

You can find out more information about the 2008 Niigata All-Star game at their official site (sorry it's mostly in Japanese!).




This week the Manga University staff had the honor of presenting our company and products to the "Saitama Prefectural Business Establishment and Management Support Division" -- which is a long way of saying "those folks in suits that help us get our product out there." Seriously, it was truly a fantastic opportunity to be able to present our product to them, and we did our best to give a fully bilingual powerpoint. The presentation was actually for a contest to gain the support of the organization in promoting our products locally, so root for us! The character you see here is Kobaton- the mascot of Saitama Prefecture (where MU is). I know what you're thinking and yes, every prefecture has a mascot.



It's that time of year again, when all of us at Manga University begin to make our year-end travel plans. While some of us are going overseas, others are sticking close to home. Which is where "Harvey and Etsuko's Manga Guide to Japan" could be of assistance. We received advance copies of this new book in our office this week, and it's been quite the topic of conversation!

Written and illustrated by Charles Danziger and popular Japanese manga-ka Mimei Sakamoto, this zany book looks shows what happens when an irascible mouse from Manhattan (Harvey) asks a cartoon cat from Tokyo (Etsuko) to help him find the keys to manga fame and fortune in Japan." Along the way, Harvey encounters the wonderful world of capsule hotels, public baths, pachinko parlors, karaoke clubs... and more.

You can get a sneak peek and pick it up for yourself in our store.



Mangacookbook.com, the official website for Manga University's The Manga Cookbook, is open for business! This special product site has all you need to know about the book -- recipes included -- and even some exclusive samples that you can't find anywhere else. You can also get The Manga Cookbook Bento and Sushi sets -- all the tools you need to assemble the perfect bento or roll sushi bundled with the book! Both sets are MU exclusives so be sure to check them out.



The halls of Manga University are abuzz with the news that the November issue of Wired magazine features an amazing 10-page manga drawn by our very own Atsuhisa Okura (“Moe USA” “50 Things We Love About Japan”).

Okura was tapped for the Wired job by the magazine’s art director, Carl DeTorres, following a round of interviews in Tokyo this summer.

The manga, titled “How Manga Conquered America,” is presented in the traditional right-to-left format and illustrates the history of the Japanese comics industry from the 1950s to the present. The full manga can be read on the magazine’s website.

“I’ve been illustrating educational comics for Manga University for quite some time, so the Wired job was right up my alley,” Okura said through a translator. “Carl and his staff really seem to understand what manga is all about. It was a thrill to work with them.”

Okura, who joined Manga University in 2006, is currently working on the second volume of “Moe USA,” which will be published next spring.

Congratulations, Okura-sensei! Everyone at MU is very proud of you!

To celebrate this achievement, the Manga University online store is offering “Moe USA Vol. 1” and “50 Things We Love About Japan” for 10 percent off. Click the links and order now!




After a short hiatus the MU Manga Moods blog is back with an integrated design, more frequent updates and an RSS feed! Here we'll be posting the latest news about what's going on at our Tokyo campus, in addition to some exclusive previews and sneak-peeks into what goes into making each Manga University book. Updates will be posted at least once a week so keep checking back for exciting new content!