LARGE DAMP EYES ARE COMING TO YOUR NEWSPAPER

Can't get enough Pokemon? Suffering Hello Kitty withdrawal? Craving more Sailor Moon? Take heart, then: US newspapers, scrambling for readership increasingly lost to the net and to the general decline in reading (writing too; I saw a net forum member ask the other keyboarding participants "Can anybody here write cursive?"), are turning to manga, which will soon grace the comics pages in US newspapers. "Come January, the Sunday funnies of several major North American newspapers will have doe-eyed women in frilly outfits, effeminate long-haired heroes and other trademark images of the Japanese comic style."

Whether that will go well with coffee and donuts or inspire breakfast changes to raw egg over white rice with seaweed remains to be seen.

Analysis of Japanese reading habits