The nominees for the Manga Taisho 2018 Awards (Cartoon Grand Prize 2018) have been announced.
The Manga Taisho Awards is made of a committee of volunteers, mostly made up of bookstore members, chosen to find ‘the freshest manga’. This year, the award is handed out for the 11th time and the nominees are: Eiga Daisuki Ponpo-san by Shogo Sugitani, Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! by Sumito Owara, Golden Gold by Seita Horio, Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui, Tongari Boushi no Atelier by Kamome Shirahama, Nagi no Oitama by Misato Konari, BEASTARS by Paru Itagaki, Fumetsu no Anata e by Yoshitoki Oima, Made in Abyss by Akihito Tsukushi, Yakusoku no Neverland by Kaiu Shirai (story) and Posuka Demizu (art), Runway de Waratte by Kotoba Inoya, and Warera Contactee by Rui Morita.
Series that would be considered for this list had to have at least one volume released between 1 January and 31 December 2017, have not won the Manga Taisho award in the past and have released a maximum of 8 volumes up until now.
In the first round, 100 people selected the 12 best works among 252 series. In the second round, the committee was asked to read the nominees and rank the first three places. Each series gains points through their rank and the one with the highest points will win the Manga Taisho Award. The award ceremony will take place at the end of March or the beginning of April in Tokyo at the Nippon Broadcasting Imagine Studio. On the official website of the awards, one can find a list of all nominated works from the first round that didn’t reach the finals.
Eiga Daisuki Ponpo-san by Shogo Sugitani
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! by Sumito Owara
Golden Gold bu Seita Horio
Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui
Tongari Boushi no Atelier by Kamome Shirahama
Nagi no Oitama by Misato Konari
BEASTARS by Paru Itagaki
Fumetsu no Anata e by Yoshitoki Oima
Made in Abyss by Akihito Tsukushi
Yakusoku no Neverland by Kaiu Shirai (story) and Posuka Demizu (art)
Runway de Waratte by Kotoba Inoya
Warera Contactee by Rui Morita
Can you already smell the sea? Can you feel the sun on your skin? Have you already had your first slice of watermelon? Well, the only certain thing is that the summer anime season is coming this July!
