News

42nd Annual Kodansha Manga Awards' Winners Announced

Japanese publisher Kodansha announced the winners on Thursday for its 42nd annual Manga Awards.

Best Shōnen Manga

BEASTARS
Paru Itagaki
Magazine: Weekly Shōnen Champion (Akita Shoten)
Summary: The manga takes place in a world of carnivores and herbivores, where there is a lot of hope, love, and anxiety. Regoshi is a wolf who is a member of Cherryton Academy's drama club, and even though he's a wolf, he's very sensitive. The manga follows the adolescent life of Regoshi and many other animals.

Other nominees for Best Shōnen Manga included: The Heroic Legend of Arslan, In/Spectre, and Cells at Work!.

Best Shōjo Manga

Tōmei na Yurikago (The Invisible Cradle)
Bakka Okita
Magazine: Hatsu Kiss (Kodansha)
Summary: The manga centers on nursing student Bakka who begins her residency at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic on her mother's recommendation. The manga's stories are based on Okita's experiences working as a nurse at a similar clinic.

Other nominees for Best Shōjo Manga included: Lovesick Ellie, Kore wa Kitto Koi Janai, and Suteki na Kareshi.

Best General Manga

Sanju Mariko (Mariko at 80)
Yuki Ozawa
Magazine: Be Love (Kodansha)
Summary: The manga centers on veteran novelist Mariko Kōda, who lives with the families of both her son and her grandson in one house. Feeling like she no longer has any place in her home, she decides to leave the house and strike out on her own, beginning with living in a manga cafe in the city.

Fragile: Byōrii Kishi Keiichirō no Shoken (Fragile - The Finds of Pathologist Keiichirō Kishi)
Writer: Saburō Megumi, Artist: Bin Kusamizu
Magazine: Afternoon (Kodansha)
Summary: The manga centers around Keiichirō Kishi, a pathologist who advises doctors on their diagnoses and whose judgement is greatly trusted. Often, doctors remark that he is an eccentric person, but is good at what he does.

Other nominees for Best General Manga included: Tongari Bōshi no Atelier and Hare Kon.

The prizes awarded to each of the winning authors include a certificate, bronze statuette, and 1 million yen (about US$9,100). Ken Akamatsu, Tochi Ueyama, Oh! great, Atsushi Kase, Miyuki Kobayashi, Yūji Moritaka, and Waki Yamato formed the selection committee.

In past years, Kodansha gave out a "Best Children's Manga" award as well, but starting in 2015 Kodansha has integrated the nominees for that category into the Best Shōnen Manga and Best Shōjo Manga categories instead.

Last year, Kotono Katō's Altair: A Record of Battles manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award, Maki Miyoshi's P to JK manga won the Best Shōjo Manga award, and Katsuhisa Minami's The Fable manga won the Best General Manga award.

Source: Comic Natalie