Exclusive: 3rd American Manga Awards Announces Nominees
The award categories and their respective nominees are as follows:
- Billy Bat by Naoki Urasawa (Kana/Abrams ComicArts)
- Bug Ego by ONE and Kyoto Shitara (Viz Media)
- The Credits Roll into the Sea by John Taranchine (Dark Horse)
- The Horrors of Noroi Michiru by Noroi Michiru (Star Fruit Books and Glacier Bay Books)
- LOVE-BULLET by inee (Yen Press)
- The Climber (volumes 3-6) by Shin'ichi Sakamoto, based on Jirō Nitta's novel (Viz Media)
- March comes in like a lion (volume 4) by Chica Umino (Denpa)
- Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide (volume 7) by Mone Sorai (Tokyopop)
- Search and Destroy (volume 3) by Atsushi Kaneko (Fantagraphics/MSX)
- The Summer Hikaru Died (volume 6) by mokumokuren (Yen Press)
- "Akari" by Marco Kohinata (Glacier Bay Books)
- "Box Garden Beetle" by Akino Kondoh (Glacier Bay Books)
- "Cocoon" by Machiko Kyō (Viz Media)
- "My Life in 24 Frames per Second" by Rintarō (Kana/Abrams)
- "The Strange Tale of Panorama Island" by Suehiro Maruo (Last Gasp)
- Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow (volumes 3-5) by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba (Kodansha)
- The Legend of Kamui (volumes 2-3) by Sanpei Shirato (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Mushishi Collector's Edition (volumes 1-2) by Yuki Urushibara (Kodansha)
- Stop!! Hibari-kun! (volume 1) by Hisashi Eguchi (Peow2)
- Ultra Heaven (volume 2) by Keiichi Koike (Last Gasp)
- Brendon Hull for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Madness (volume 1) by Bartosz Sztybor, Asano (Dark Horse)
- Madeleine Jose for Maid to Skate by Suzushiro (Viz Media)
- Vadim K. for Don't Feed the Trolls by Karasu Chan (J18 Publishing)
- Vladyslav L. for Sweet and Spicy by Shimimaru (J18 Publishing)
- Vanessa Satone for One Piece (volume 112) by Eiichiro Oda (Viz Media)
- Jan Mitsuko Cash for Magica (volume 1) by Yuzuko Hoshimi (Kodama Tales)
- Alexa Frank for Miss Ruki by Fumiko Takano (New York Review Books)
- Andres Oliver for Mushishi Collectors Edition (volumes 1-2) by Yuki Urushibara (Kodansha)
- Kiki Piatkowska for A Starlit Darkness (volume 1) by Yū Toyota (Square Enix Manga & Books)
- Asa Yoneda for Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow (volumes 3-5) by Asao Takamori, Tetsuya Chiba (Kodansha)
- Wendy Chan for Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set, by Natsuki Takaya (Yen Press)
- chichols for Magica (volume 1) by Yuzuko Hoshimi (Kodama Tales)
- Ti Collier for A Cat Is a Cat in Any Life by Ema Tohyama (Square Enix Manga & Books)
- Patrick Crotty for Stop!! Hibari-kun! (volume 1) by Hisashi Eguchi (Peow2)
- Emuh Ruh for Baku Chan by Masumura Jushichi (Glacier Bay Books)
Professionals working in an editorial capacity with North American manga publishers will vote to determine the winners. Chigusa Ogino, Advisor and former Executive Director in the Board of Directors for Tuttle-Mori Agency, will receive the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame award. Previous recipients include manga translation and publishing team Studio Proteus, its founder and editor Toren Smith; translators Dana Lewis, Alan Gleason, and Frederik Schodt; manga artist and letterer Tomoko Saitō; comic creator Adam Warren; and comic letterers Tom Orzechowski and L. Lois Buhalis.
The ceremony will take place at Japan Society in New York City on August 20, the night this year's Anime NYC event begins. The American Manga Awards celebrate manga creators and publishers who have made significant contributions in manga's popularity, both in North America and Japan.
Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly, Comics Beat, Mangasplaining podcast) leads the American Manga Awards Planning Committee.
Last year's ceremony took place last August in New York City. The winners included The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All, The Apothecary Diaries, "Tamaki & Amane," Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow, The Otaku Love Connection, and Planetes Deluxe Edition.
Sources: Email correspondence
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
