The Asahi Shimbun paper announced the winners for the 30th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize awards on Monday. The awards commemorate the contributions of the manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy/Mighty Atom, Kimba the White Lion/Jungle Emperor, Phoenix, Black Jack) by recognizing the manga that best follow his tradition.
Grand Prize
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© Ao Kojima, Kadokawa
Hon Nara Uru Hodo
Ao Kojima
Kadokawa
The anthology story manga centers on the second-hand bookstore Jūgatsudō, its easygoing young owner, and the variety of people who come to the bookstore.
New Creator Prize
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© Mado Saitō, Kadokawa
Kaijū o Kaibō Suru
Mado Saitō
Kadokawa
The manga centers on kaiju specialist Akira Honda, who is called to oversee the dissection and research of the corpse of a 210-meter-long, nearly 85,000 ton kaiju nicknamed “Tokyo.” Akira begins to suspect that while Tokyo is immobile, it is not really dead.
Short Work Prize
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© Kawajirō, Magazine House
Atarashii Tomodachi: Kawajirō Tanpenshū
Kawajirō
Magazine House
A collection of 10 short manga by Kawajirō depicting everyday life.
Special Prize
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© Kazuyuki Takeda, Hakusensha
Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise
Kazuyoshi Takeda
Hakusensha
The manga takes place during the Battle of Peleliu, a months-long battle that took place during World War II between the U.S. and Japan on the island of Peleliu in Palau. The manga takes place in the summer of 1944. Peleliu is a paradise with coral reefs and beautiful forests. Tamaru is a soldier who wants to become a manga creator. The manga depicts Tamaru’s daily life during a drawn-out battle between Japan’s approximately 10,000 troops and the U.S.’s 50,000 troops, exploring themes such as what the soldiers fight for when so far from home on a small island.
Asahi Shimbun scheduled an awards ceremony in Tokyo on June 11. The Grand Prize winner will receive a bronze statue and 2 million yen (about US$13,300), while the other winners will each receive a bronze statue and 1 million yen (about US$6,600).
Last year, seven titles were nominated, and anime director Rintarō’s 1-byō 24-koma no Boku no Jinsei (Ma Vie en 24 Images par Second, or My Life at 24 Frames per Second) autobiographical manga won the Grand Prize. Shiho Kido’s When the Chameleon Flowers Bloom (Dokudami no Hana Saku Koro) won the New Creator prize, and Shunji Enomoto’s The Kinks won the Short Work Prize.
Hon Nara Uru Hodo also won the 19th Manga Taisho award this year. It topped the list for male readers in Takarajimasha’s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook for this year, and the manga in Kadokawa Media Factory’s literary news magazine Da Vinci’s 25th annual “Book of the Year” list.
Sources: Asahi Shimbun, Comic Natalie
