A recent article on the BBC Website highlighted an interesting attempt by the Canadian publishing giant Harlequin Books to make its offerings more palatable to Japanese consumers.  Harlequin, which sells some 200 million books a year worldwide, entered the Japanese market some 25 years ago and has published more than 580 titles in Japanese.  Although Harlequin dominates the 'romance novel' market in Japan with translated editions of its bodice-ripping tales, about five years ago Harlequin's Japanese publishing office, in an effort to reach younger readers, started working with two manga publishing houses to create graphic novel versions of its leading romance titles.  The resulting 'hybrids' have proven quite popular, though they are hardly displacing traditional shoujo manga titles, which encompass many different genres in addition to romance. Still, if manga continues its strong growth here in the U.S., don't be surprised if Harlequin begins experimenting here in the States with manga versions of its titles created in Japan.