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This is my first contribution to this group since a long time, and unfortunately, it is in French only, but I thought it would be interesting nonetheless, since it is the website of a French mag devoted to Boy's Love.

The Ankama Group has announced their plans to move deeper into comics publishing, specifically manga publishing, with an initiative to kick off January 2011. Ankama, the Roubaix, France-based developer and publisher of comics, games, and cartoons in the DOFUS and Wakfu universes, has always maintained a sensitive if not sentimental connection to the visual and narrative disposition of manga artwork. Now, the group will put their passions for underground Japanese comics and art to healthy use by publishing a manga anthology, Akiba. The monthly collection presently aims to print the works of young or new Japanese manga-ka for consumption by French-speaking comics enthusiasts.

Depuis sa première édition en 2005, le festival Animasia vous invite à un voyage inoubliable. Placé sous le signe de la découverte et de l'échange, notre festival est surtout le vôtre. Que vous soyez complètement accro au manga, passionné par le cinéma de Kitano, cosplayeur, féru de jeux-vidéo, joueur de go, ou tout simplement intrigué par le feng-shui, la cuisine au wok, Bollywood, les polars asiatiques ou l'origami, Animasia est fait pour vous.

Animasia c'est aussi une incursion vers les cultures asiatiques souvent boudées. Et ce, que vous souhaitiez en savoir plus sur les cultures tibétaine, birmane ou laotienne, découvrir les steppes de Mongolie, le cinéma coréen ou l'histoire du Cambodge. Expositions, cinéma, jeux, conférences, documentaires, toute une programmation est dédiée à ce pan fascinant, mais souvent méconnu, de l'Asie.

This is only in French, unfortunately, but basically, it is a festival devoted to Asian popular cultures in the region of Pessac, in Southern France. There are several of these small festivals in France and this is one of them.

Die neue Initiative namens Anime Copyright Allianz stellt eine Kooperation von Fans, Conentanbietern und Medienakteure dar, die gemeinsam die Respektierung des Urheberrechts in der deutschsprachigen Manga- und Animeszene fördern will.

This is a German website about promoting the respect of copyrigths in the field of animes and mangas. I know that this is an issue of debates, but I think it is worthwhile to read what people on both sides have to say.

As production houses cut costs by sending animation jobs to South Korea, India and Vietnam, the number of experienced workers in Japan is shrinking. Competitors in China are another threat to Japan's cultural icon.

Japan may appear defensive on the economic and political fronts. Has the world lost interest in an aging Japan whose economy will fall to third largest? There is, however, a side of Japan that is the object of ever stronger and deeper affection around the globe: Japanese popular culture, particularly anime (Japanese animation) and manga.

True. In America, this seems to be growing. I see less and less of comic books and more manga novels, although manga is part of the Japanese culture. Not only that, but it seems manga is more..
I'm not sure what you can call it, but it has a different feel to it than a comic book, for obvious reasons.
It's like comparing a cartoon to an anime. Although their qualitys are alike, they come from different culture and people, etc. Plus, most animes seem a bit more serious than cartoons, but that may be just the particullar shows I'm watching..
~Z

It is in French only, but an interesting article about the evolution of the manga market in France. It also highlights the progressive gaining of a foothold in Europe by Japanese publishers, especially through Viz Media Europe.