Japan Society and Anime NYC announced the nominees for the second American Manga Awards on Monday. The award categories and their respective nominees are as follows:

Best New Manga

• Hikaru in the Light! by Mai Matsuda (Scholastic Graphix)
• Dragon and Chameleon by Ryō Ishiyama (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai (Yen Press)
• Spacewalking With You by Inuhiko Doronoda (Kodansha USA Publishing)
• A Witch's Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup (Yen Press)

Best Continuing Manga Series

• The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren (Yen Press)
• Innocent by Shin'ichi Sakamoto (Dark Horse)
• Search and Destroy by Atsushi Kaneko (Fantagraphics)
• The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyūga, Nekokurage, and Itsuki Nanao (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzō (Viz Media)

Best One-Shot Manga

• "H.P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space" by Gou Tanabe (Dark Horse)
• "A Smart and Courageous Child" by Miki Yamamoto (Tokyopop)
• "Brain Damage by Shintaro Kago" (Fantagraphics)
• "Tamaki & Amane" by Fumi Yoshinaga (Yen Press)
• "Stardust Family" by Aki Poroyama (Yen Press)

Best New Edition of Classic Manga

• They Were 11! by Moto Hagio (Denpa Books)
• Short Game by Mitsuru Adachi (Denpa Books)
• Mansect by Shinichi Koga (Living the Line/Smudge)
• The Legend of Kamui by Shirato Sanpei (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow by Asao Takamori, Tetsuya Chiba (Kodansha USA)

Best Lettering

• Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow volumes 1-2 by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba; lettering by Evan Hayden (Kodansha USA)
• Cat Man by Parari, lettering by Rebecca Sze (Seven Seas)
• Love Laid Bare by Ouchi Kaeru, lettering by Robert Harkins (FAKKU)
• My Tiny Senpai by Saisou, lettering by Joven Voon (J-Novel Club)
• Search and Destroy volume 2 by Atsushi Kaneko, lettering by Phil Christie (Fantagraphics/MSX)

Best Translation

• The Otaku Love Connection by Chu Amairo, translated by minami (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• Face Meat by Bonten Taro, translated by Ryan Holmberg (Living the Line/Smudge)
• Search and Destroy volume 2 by Atsushi Kaneko, translated by Ben Applegate (Fantagraphics/MSX)
• Ultra Heaven volume 1 by Keiichi Koike, translated by Ajani Oloye (Last Gasp)
• The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant volume 1 by Mizugaki Egao, et al; translated by Andreas Kronborg Danielsen (Blue Feathered Quill Publishing)

Best Publication Design

• The Legend of Kamui volume 1 by Sanpei Shirato, designed by Lucia Gargiulo and Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Planetes Deluxe Edition Book 1 by Makoto Yukimura, designed by Riley Vandyke and Carl Gustav Horn (Dark Horse)
• Seaside Beta by ohuton, designed by Emuh Ruh (Glacier Bay Books)
• Veil by Kotteri volume 1, designed by Kohei Nawada Design Office with lettering by Kevin Druelle and Oshino Studio (Udon Entertainment/MSXJoJo's)
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure—Part 7: Steel Ball Run volume 1 by Hirohiko Araki, designed by Adam Grano (Viz Media)

Professionals working in an editorial capacity with North American manga publishers will vote to determine the winners. San Francisco–based manga translation and publishing team Studio Proteus will receive the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame award. Recipients include founder and editor Toren Smith; translators Dana Lewis, Alan Gleason, and Frederik Schodt; manga artist and letterer Tomoko Saitō; comic creator Adam Warren; and comic letterers Tom Orzechowski and L. Lois Buhalis.

The ceremony will take place at Japan Society in New York City on August 21, the night this year's Anime NYC event begins. The American Manga Awards celebrate manga creators and publishers who have made significant contributions in manga's popularity, both in North America and Japan.

Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly, Comics Beat, Mangasplaining podcast) leads the American Manga Awards Planning Committee.

Last year's inaugural ceremony took place in August at New York City. The winner included The Darwin Incident for Best New Manga, Delicious in Dungeon for Best Continuing Manga Series, Neighborhood Story for Best New Edition of Classic Manga Series, Witch Hat Atelier for Best Translation and Best Lettering, and My Name Is Shingo for Best Publication Design.

Disclosure: ANN's executive editor Lynzee Loveridge is serving as a judge for the American Manga Awards.

Sources: Press release, Publisher's Weekly

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