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Haikyu!!, My Love Story!!, Sunny Win Shogakukan Manga Awards
posted on by Egan Loo
The judging committee of the 61st Shogakukan Manga Awards announced this year's winners on Thursday. Each winning title will be honored with a bronze statuette and a prize of 1 million yen (about US$8,500). Shogakukan itself publishes three of the five winners.
Best Children's Manga
Usotsuki! Gokuō-kunMakoto Yoshimoto
Serialized in Bessatsu Coro Coro Comic, Monthly Coro Coro Comic (Shogakukan)
The story follows Gokuō-kun, a "lie specialist" who loves to lie and to expose other people's lies. With his pet Nekokarasu, he exposes the lies that are rife in his school.
Best Shōnen Manga
Haikyu!!Haruichi Furudate
Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha)
"Ever since he saw the legendary player known as the 'Little Giant' compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! He decides to join the team at the high school the Little Giant went to-and then surpass him. Who says you need to be tall to play volleyball when you can jump higher than anyone else?
After losing his first and last volleyball match against Tobio Kageyama, the King of the Court, Shoyo Hinata swears to become his rival after graduating middle school. But what happens when the guy who is supposed to be his rival ends up being his teammate?!"
Viz Media will start publishing the manga in North America this July. The manga inspired a television anime with a "Second Season" sequel and two compilation movies.
Best Shōjo Manga
My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!)Kazune Kawahara and Aruko
Serialized in Bessatsu Margaret (Shueisha)
"Takeo Goda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don't want him! (They want his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa. ) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn!"
Kawahara (High School Debut) launched the manga in 2012, and Viz Media is publishing the manga in North America. The manga inspired a television anime and a live-action film.
Best General Manga
Umimachi DiaryAkimi Yoshida
Serialized in Monthly Flowers (Shogakukan)
The story takes place in Kamakura, and revolves around Yoshino, the middle of three sisters. One morning, after she wakes up in a man's room, her father's obituary is delivered to her. Yoshimi hadn't met her father in a long time, since her mother divorced him. After not seeing him for so long, she doesn't know how to feel at the announcement of his death. Only at her father's funeral do the sisters meet their half-sister whom they had never seen before.
The manga inspired a live-action film.
Best General Manga
SunnyTaiyo Matsumoto
Serialized in Monthly Spirits (Shogakukan)
The slice-of-life story focuses on children at Star Kids Home orphanage. An abandoned yellow car, Sunny, takes them anywhere they want to go. With Sunny, the children can escape their circumstances and go on imaginary adventures around the world and beyond.
Matsumoto launched the manga in 2010 and ended the manga last year. Viz publishes the manga in North America.
Shogakukan has been awarding this prize since 1956 (for works published in 1955). Recent winners have included Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata's Hikaru no Go (2000), Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha (2002), Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys (2003), Mine Yoshizaki's Keroro Gunsō (2005), Kotomi Aoki's Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu (2008), Kanoko Sakurakoji's Black Bird (2009), and Kenta Shinohara's Sket Dance (2010). 2011's winners were Yumeiro Pâtissière, Ōoku, Ushijima the Loan Shark, and Space Brothers, 2012's winners were Inazuma Eleven, Nobunaga Concerto, Pin to Kona, and Kids on the Slope, and 2013's winners were Mysterious Joker, Silver Spoon, Piece, and I am a Hero. 2014's winners included Zekkyō Gakkyū, Magi, and Mogura no Uta, and 2015's winners were Yo-kai Watch, Be Blues! - Ao ni Nare, Joō no Hana, Asahinagu, and Aoi Honō.
This year's judging committee included Kiyoko Arai (Beauty Pop), author Mitsuyo Kakuta, Eiji Kazama, Kaiji Kawaguchi, Kenshi Hirokane, and columnist Bourbon Kobayashi.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
