American Manga Awards Announces Nominees Across Categories

The 2024 American Manga Awards will be the first-ever awards program celebrating manga creators. Here’s a look at all the award categories and their respective nominees.

By Levin Plassery

Published on Jul 18, 2024 | 04:49 PM IST | 19.4K

American Manga Awards Nominees [PC - Kodansha Ltd, Kadowkawa Corp.]

The first American Manga Awards are set to take place at the Japan Society’s Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium in Midtown Manhattan on August 22, 2024. This event precedes the Anime NYC Event by a day and aims to honor mangakas and publishers who have made significant contributions to the manga industry.

Presented by LeftField Media, the organizers of Anime NYC, and co-organized by Japan Society, a renowned non-profit organization dedicated to Japanese arts and culture, the awards ceremony highlights the cultural impact and creativity within the manga realm.

Nominees across various categories have been selected by a committee of five subject matter experts. Winners will be chosen by professionals actively involved in editorial roles within North American manga publishing.

Here’s a complete list of the 6 award categories and their nominees.

Best New Manga

This category includes manga that debuted in English (print or digital) between August 1, 2023 - July 30, 2024.

The Darwin Incident by Shun Umezawa
#DRCL midnight children by Shin'ichi Sakamoto
Just Like Mona Lisa by Tsumuji Yoshimura
Mothers by Umi Kusahara
Soara and the House of Monsters by Hidenori Yamaji

Best Continuing Manga Series

Best Continuing Manga Series spotlights the best ongoing manga that has at least one new volume published between August 1, 2023 - July 30, 2024.

Blood on the Tracks by Shūzō Oshimi
Delicious in Dungeon by Ryōko Kui
Dinosaur Sanctuary by Itaru Kinoshita
She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren

Best New Edition of Classic Manga

In this category, mangas that pay tribute to classics published prior to December 31, 2004, were nominated. The new edition must have had at least one new volume in English published between August 1, 2023 and July 30, 2024.

Minami's Lover by Shungiku Uchida (published by Fantagraphics Books)

My Name Is Shingo by Kazuo Umezu (published by Viz Media)
Neighborhood Story by Ai Yazawa (published by Viz Media)
Okinawa (Sword of Sand and Mabui) by Susumu Higa (published by Fantagraphics Books)
UFO Mushroom Invasion by Marina Shirakawa (published by Living the Line/Smudge)

Best Translation

Mangas with exceptional Japanese-English translation, and published between August 1, 2023 - July 30, 2024, are nominated for this category.

Stephen Paul's translation of Yūki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue's Akane-banashi
John Neal's translation of Aki Hamaji's Bocchi the Rock!
David Evelyn's translation of Kazuyoshi Ishii, Hanamura, and Kei Ryuzoji's Doll-Kara
Kevin Steinbach's translation of Shinji Makari and DOUBLE-S' Issak
Stephen Kohler's translation of Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier

Best Lettering

The Best Lettering Award goes for mangas with excellent manga lettering in a new or continuing manga published between August 1, 2023 and July 30, 2024.

Phil Christie, lettering and retouch work for Search and Destroy Vol. 1 (Atsushi Kaneko, Fantagraphics Books)
Vadim K., lettering for They'll Make a Man Out of You (Shiwasu no Okina, J18 Publishing)
Rebecca S., lettering for Tokyo Interstellar Immigration vol. 3 (Mado Guchimoto, VAST Visual)
Tomoko Saitō, lettering and retouch work for Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition Volume 10 (Hiroaki Samura, Dark Horse Comics)
Lys Blakeslee, lettering for Witch Hat Atelier (Kamome Shirahama, Kodansha USA Publishing)

Best Publication Design

Mangas with the best print/digital work, including covers, logos, boxed sets, etc, which were published between August 1, 2023 and July 30, 2024, have been nominated for this award.

Phil Balsman, design for Initial D Omnibus (Shūichi Shigeno, Kodansha USA Publishing)
Nicky Lim and Karis Page, for cover design, lettering, and interior design for My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness: Special Edition (Nagata Kabi, Seven Seas Entertainment)
Adam Grano, design for My Name Is Shingo (Kazuo Umezu, Viz Media)
Nicky Lim and Sandy Grayson, box set design for Orange Complete Box Set (Ichigo Takano, Seven Seas Entertainment)
Andrea Miller, cover design for Tokyo Aliens (NAOE, Square Enix Manga & Books)

The invite-only ceremony is being hosted by Matt Alt and will take place on August 22, 2024.

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