Struggling bookseller Borders reportedly needs to secure $50 million in additional financing for reorganization efforts. Currently, it has a $505 million debtor-in-possession loan.

According to Bloomberg, the company projects that sales will drop to $1.5 billion. The New York Times reported that some publishers think the bookseller may close more brick-and-mortar stores.

Here’s more from the article: “Some publishers are spurning the reorganization the chain proposed to them privately, said a person familiar with the publishers’ strategy. At least one deems the revenue projections unrealistic because Borders no longer has enough stores to generate those sales, said the person, who declined to be identified because Borders’s presentations aren’t public.” (via BookTV)

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara has targeted manga comic books with a new ordinance, creating stricter regulations for both live action and manga products. Other regional governments in Japan are considering similar policies.

The New York Times reports: “One particularly big target is manga comic books that depict pubescent girls in sexual acts. It a lucrative segment of the $5.5 billion industry for manga … The new Tokyo law, which applies to anyone under 18, bans the sale of comics and other works — including novels, DVDs and video games — that depict sexual or violent acts that would violate Japan’s national penal code, as well as sex involving anyone under age 18. ”

Japanese publishers, lawyers, and manga artists will fight the ordinance. Ten publishers, including Japan’s largest publishing company Kodansha, intend to boycott the Tokyo International Anime Fair in protest–arguing that the law hinders free speech. What do you think?