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64th Shogakukan Manga Awards' Nominees Announced

The judging committee of the 64th Shogakukan Manga Awards revealed the nominees for this year's awards. Each winning title will be honored with a bronze statuette and a prize of 1 million yen (about US$9,000). The winners will be announced on January 21.

Best Children's Manga

Splatoon
Sankichi Hinodeya
Serialized in Coro Coro Comics (Shogakukan)
Nintendo's Splatoon video game series inspired the manga. The games center on Inklings, beings who can transform between human and squid form. The games pit players in a fight for territory as two teams fight to cover their battlefield with their respective paint colors.

Hinodeya released a one-shot manga in Coro Coro Comics in 2015. The full series then began in Bessatsu Coro Coro Comic Special in February 2016, and also launched in Coro Coro Comics in May 2017. Shogakukan published the seventh volume on November 28. Viz Media is releasing the manga in English.

12-Sai. (Age 12)
Nao Maita
Serialized in Ciao (Shogakukan)
The story begins with Hanabi, a sixth-grade girl who is neither an adult nor a child. She deals with issues such as accidentally witnessing her homeroom teacher kissing, and worrying about experiencing physiological changes before her friends. The manga depicts a 12-year-old girl's innocent worries and first love.

Maita launched the manga in Ciao in 2012, and Shogakukan published the 15th volume on August 1. The manga inspired an original video anime (OVA) in 2014, followed by a second OVA in 2015. The manga then inspired a television anime in 2016 with a second season that same year.

Best Shōnen Manga

Jinmen
Takahiro Katō
Serialized in Sunday Webry (Shogakukan)
The story centers on the animal-loving protagonist Masato Jingū, who returns to his hometown for the first time in seven years after changing schools. He goes on a date with his childhood friend Hitomi to a zoo. The pair discover that the animals have human faces and are attacking. Masato and Hitomi run away and try to escape, but they are thrown into an unexpected world. Animals are in revolt against humans.

The manga launched on Shogakukan's Sunday Webry (Sunday Web Every) manga website in 2017, and Shogakukan published the ninth volume on November 12.

Dr. Stone
Riichirou Inagaki and Boichi
Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha)
One fateful day, all of humanity was petrified by a blinding flash of light. After several millennia, high schooler Taiju awakens and finds himself lost in a world of statues. However, he's not alone! His science-loving friend Senku's been up and running for a few months and he's got a grand plan in mind—to kickstart civilization with the power of science!

Boichi (Sun-Ken Rock) and Inagaki (author of Eyeshield 21) launched the manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2017. Shueisha published the eighth volume on December 4. Viz Media is releasing the manga in English. The series is inspiring a television anime adaptation that will premiere in July 2019.

Runway de Waratte (Smile at the Runway)
Kotoba Inoya
Serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha)
Chiyuki Fujito's dream is to model at Paris Fashion Week. Unfortunately, she too short to be taken seriously as a conventional model. People around Chiyuki tell her to give up, but she refuses. Chiyuki's poor male classmate Ikuto Tsumura wants to be a fashion designer, but he is also ready to give up on his dream. Despite the obstacles in their way, the two decide to work together to realize their hopes.

The manga launched in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2017 as INOYA's debut work. Kodansha published the eighth volume on Monda.

Best Shōjo Manga

Chocolate Vampire
Kyōko Kumagai
Serialized in Sho-Comi (Shogakukan)
The Kagarizuki family controls a certain school. Setsu is the youngest sibling in the family and also an idol at the school. Chiyo Misaki hates Setsu, but despite that, she continues to offer her blood to him. Setsu is a vampire. Why does Chiyo give Setsu her blood even though she hates him? What is the secret of the pair's fates?

The manga launched in Sho-Comi in 2016, and Shogakukan published the seventh volume on September 26.

Jūmanbun no Ichi (1/100,000)
Kaho Miyasaka
Serialized in Cheese! (Shogakukan)
1/100,000 is a spinoff series of Miyasaka's Akai Ito manga, and it centers on Rino Sakuragi and Ren Kiritani. Rino has been in a group of friends with her crush Kiritani since junior high school. Rino has never been comfortable with herself, and she is very shy when it comes to talking to the popular Kiritani.

Miyasaka launched the manga 2015 and ended it on August 24. Shogakukan published the manga's ninth and final compiled book volume on October 26. The series is inspiring a live-action film adaptation that is slated to open in Japan in 2019.

Suteki na Kareshi (Where's my lovely sweetheart?)
Kazune Kawahara
Serialized in Bessatsu Margaret (Shueisha)
Nonoka has one romantic wish: to watch the New Year's Eve countdown with her boyfriend. She's run into one hiccup, it's December and she still hasn't met anyone despite making her big high school debut. What's Nonoka to do?

Kawahara launched the manga in Bessatsu Margaret in 2016. Shueisha released the eighth volume on November 22.

Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai
Megumi Morino
Serialized in Dessert (Kodansha)
It's winter of the first year of high school, and Hotaru casually lends her umbrella to an attractive classmate. With only that, Hananoi asks out in the open if Hotaru will go out with him. Hananoi is willing to do anything for the girl he likes. Hotaru is overwhelmed, but the pair start to build a relationship.

Morino launched the manga in Dessert in 2017, and Kodansha released the second volume on October 12.

Best General Manga

Hibiki: Shōsetsuka ni Naru Hōhō
Mitsuharu Yanamoto
Serialized in Big Comic Superior (Shogakukan)
In the manga's story, a handwritten novel manuscript is sent into a rookie contest, but it doesn't meet the conditions and is thrown in the trash. Still, an editor named Hanai picks it up by chance and believes it is a revolutionary novel. The author's name is Hibiki Akui, but there is no contact address on the submission. Meanwhile, Hibiki – a 15-year-old student – joins her school's literary club, not knowing that Hanai is trying to track her down.

Yanamoto launched the manga in Big Comic Superior in 2014, and Shogakukan released the 10th volume in August. The series inspired a live-action film that opened on September 14.

Kenkō de Bunkateki na Saitei Gendo no Seikatsu
Haruko Kashiwagi
Serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan)
The manga follows Emiru Yoshitsune, who is hired as a government worker right after graduation, and is assigned to the welfare office. As a case worker, she works protecting the livelihood of citizens, but she must come face to face with those who live in poverty.

Kashiwagi launched the manga in Weekly Big Comic Spirits in 2014, and Shogakukan published the manga's seventh volume on August 30. The manga inspired a live-action television series adaptation that premiered on July 17.

Hataraku Saibō (Cells at Work!)
Akane Shimizu
Serialized in Monthly Shonen Sirius (Kodansha)
The average human body contains about 60 trillion cells, and each of them has work to do! But when you get injured, viruses or bacteria invade, or when an allergic reaction flares up, everyone from the silent but deadly white blood cells to the brainy neurons has to work together to get through the crisis!

Shimizu launched the manga in Monthly Shonen Sirius in 2015, and Kodansha released the fifth volume on August 9. The series has inspired multiple spinoffs. Kodansha Comics is publishing the series in English. The manga inspired a television anime series that premiered on July 7, and the Cells at Work! Kaze Shōkōgun television special will air on December 26. In addition, the manga inspired a stage play that ran in Tokyo from November 16-25.

Shogakukan has been awarding this prize since 1956 (for works published in 1955). Last year's winners included PriPri Chi-chan!!, The Promised Neverland, Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare, Kūbo Ibuki, and After the Rain.

Source: Shogakukan's website