Another week has gone by, and with it more news! Let's get started!

In Japan

It appears that the manga industry is still going strong. In 2009 it made around 2.98 billion dollars. The company that topped all other manga companies for sales? Shueisha at $759 million.

Moe fans, want more bishoujo shows? Quite a few companies are planning to produce more bishoujo anime this year. Among the list are companies like Aniplex, Kadokawa, Starchild, Marvelous Entertainment, and Media Factory.

Fan of One Piece? If you happen to be in Gamagori City between March 20-June 27, look for a One Piece theme park attraction in the Laguna Gamagori marine resort.

Sadly, Keiko Tobe passed away this past Thursday. She was an award winning manga author best known for her With the Light series.

In America

If you're in New York February 26-27, be sure to check out the International Children's Film Festival. They will be premiering Summer Wars, Mai Mai Miracle, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, and an episode of Time of Eve.

Funimation has launched a new way to rent their anime, via Youtube! Don't worry, though, there are still PLENTY of anime available for free streaming on their site, but now if you want to watch some dub episodes of Sands of Destruction, El Cazador de la Bruja, Bamboo Blade, or Spice and Wolf, you can watch them for $1.99 per episode.

If you weren't sure from earlier news that Bandai most likely has the second season of Haruhi Suzumiya, this video should convince you. What's more, it also hints that there may be a dub coming with it as well!

Fans of Pokemon, you get a shiny Pichu at your local gamestop between now and February 14. If you trade the shiny pokemon from your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum into a HeartGold or SoulSilver game, it unlocks an event to get an ultra rare spikey ear Pichu. Don't forget to get yours!

Speaking of Pokemon, another game for the series is apparently in the works for 2010. It is believed that this will be a Gen 5 game (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum are the 4th generation of the Pokemon games). More details about this will be reported as they are announced.

Funimation has added a new video widget to their video site. Now instead of being forced to just hand out links to your friends, you can embed your favorite videos onto whatever blog/site/forum you have!

And that's it for this week. Be sure to check for more delicious anime news in the future!