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Director Masaaki Yuasa, Demon Slayer's Gotouge Win Agency for Cultural Affairs' Media Arts Awards
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the winners of the 2020 "Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Fine Arts Recommendation Awards" on Wednesday. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! director Masaaki Yuasa won the Cabinet Minister Award in the media fine arts category, while Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga creator Koyoharu Gotouge won the Newcomer Award in the media fine arts category.
Yuasa co-founded Science SARU with Eunyoung Choi in 2013. The duo's "Food Chain" episode of the American animated series Adventure Time earned them an Annie Award nomination in 2014. Yuasa's major anime credits as director include Japan Sinks: 2020, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, DEVILMAN crybaby, Kick-Heart, Lu over the wall, Mind Game, Ride Your Wave, Ping Pong, The Tatami Galaxy, and Kaiba.
Gotouge's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga ended in May 2020. The manga inspired a television anime that premiered in April 2019. That was followed up by the Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train anime film in October 2020, which held #1 for 12 consecutive weeks in the Japanese box office, and is still screening today. It is now also the highest earning film in Japanese box office history, and the #1 highest-earning Japanese film of all time worldwide. A new television anime, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yūkaku-hen (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc), will premiere this year.
