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Kodansha Manga Awards Winners Announced

Japanese publisher Kodansha announced the winners on Monday for its 40th annual Manga Awards.

Best Shōnen Manga

DAYS
Tsuyoshi Yasuda
Magazine: Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha)
Summary: Two boys met on a Stormy Night: Tsukushi, a boy with no special traits at all, and Jin, a soccer genius. On that night, Jin drags Tsukushi into the world of high school soccer.

Other nominees for Best Shōnen Manga included: Seraph of the End, Noragami, and My Hero Academia.

Best Shōjo Manga

Kiss Him, Not Me
Junko
Magazine: Bessatsu Friend (Kodansha)
Summary from Crunchyroll: "Kae Serinuma is what you'd call a "fujoshi." When she sees boys getting along with each other, she loves to indulge in wild fantasies! One day her favorite anime character dies and the shock causes her to lose a ton of weight. Then four hot guys at school ask her out, but that isn't exciting to her at all — she'd rather see them date each other!"

Other nominees for Best Shōjo Manga included: Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai, Say "I love you"., Nijiiro Days (Rainbow Days), and First Love Monster.

Best General Manga

Kōnodori
Yū Suzunoki
Magazine: Morning (Kodansha)
Summary: Obstetrician Sakura Kōnodori also moonlights as a jazz musician. In Japan, childbirth is not considered an illness, and so insurance does not cover normal childbirth. Obstetric care does not mean that an injury or illness is being cured. For a normal childbirth, an obstetrician isn't necessary, but if something happens, an obstetrician becomes necessary.

Other nominees for Best General Manga included: Ajin - Demi-Human, Golden Kamuy, Tokyo Tarareba Musume, and Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased).

The prizes awarded each of the winning authors include a certificate, bronze statuette, and one million yen (about US$9,170). Ken Akamatsu, Tochi Ueyama, Oh! great, Atsushi Kase, Miyuki Kobayashi, Yūji Moritaka, and Kazumi Yamashita formed the selection committee.

In past years, Kodansha gave out a "Best Children's Manga" award as well, but starting last year Kodansha has integrated the nominees for that category into the Best Shōnen Manga and Best Shōjo Manga categories instead.

Last year, Nakaba Suzuki's The Seven Deadly Sins and Wataru Watanabe's Yowamushi Pedal manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award, Tsunami Umino's Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu manga won the Best Shōjo Manga award, and Tsutomu Nihei's Knights of Sidonia manga won the Best General Manga award.