American Manga Award Nominees Officially Announced

The anime and manga industry have always been huge in the Western world, but there’s no denying that over the last decade the two mediums have absolutely exploded. While plenty of mainstream fans are familiar with their favorite anime series, and even some of the best-selling manga titles, there’s a vast array of content that tends to be overlooked and under appreciated despite the immense amount of hard work that goes into translating, localizing, and bringing these titles to English-speaking audiences.

That’s where AnimeNYC and the Japan Society come in, uniting to create the American Manga Awards. Aiming to celebrate and acknowledge the dedicated and hard-working individuals making our favorite titles more accessible, the American Manga Awards have finally revealed their nominees for 2024.

Every American Manga Award Nominee

The American Manga Awards are shaping up to be a huge event, and the committee in charge have selected a number of stand-out titles to join the ranks of their nominations for 2024.

Best New Manga:

• The Darwin Incident by Shun Umezawa | Kodansha
• #DRCL Midnight Children by Shin’ichi Sakamoto, based on Dracula by Bram Stoker | Viz Media
• Just Like Mona Lisa by Tsumuji Yoshimura | Square Enix Manga & Books
• Mothers by Kusahara Umi | Glacier Bay Books
• Soara and the House of Monsters by Hidenori Yamaji | Seven Seas Entertainment

Best Continuing Manga Series:

• Blood on the Tracks by Shuzo Oshimi | Kodansha (Vertical)
• Delicious In Dungeon by Ryoko Kui | Yen Press
• Dinosaur Sanctuary by Itaru Kinoshita | Seven Seas Entertainment
• She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat by Sakomi Yuzaki | Yen Press
• The Summer Hikaru Died by mokumokuren | Yen Press

Best New Edition of a Classic Manga Series

• Minami’s Lover by Shungiku Uchida | Fantagraphics
• My Name Is Shingo by Kazuo Umezz | Viz Media
• Okinawa by Susumu Higa | Fantagraphics
• UFO Mushroom Invasion by Marina Shirakawa | Living the Line / Smudge
• Neighborhood Story by Ai Yazawa | Viz Media

Best Translation

• Kevin Steinbach – for Issak by Shinji Makari & DOUBLE-S | Kodansha
• David Evelyn – for Doll-Kara by Kazuyoshi Ishii, Hanamura, and Kei Ryuzoji | J-Novel Club
• Stephen Paul – for Akane Banashi by Yuki Suenaga & Takamasa Moue | Viz Media
• Stephen Kohler – for Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha
• John Neal – for Bocchi the Rock! by Aki Hamaji | Yen Press

Best Lettering

• Vadim K. – lettering for They’ll Make a Man Out of You by Shiwasu no Okina | J18 Publishing
• Rebecca Sze – lettering for Tokyo Interstellar Immigration Volume 3. by Mado Guchimoto | VAST Visual
• Tomoko Saito – for letteing & retouch for Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition Volume 10 by Hiroaki Samura | Dark Horse
• Lys Blakeslee – lettering for Witch Hat Atelier | by Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha
• Phil Christie – lettering & retouch for Search & Destroy Volume 1 by Atsushi Kaneko, based on Dororo by Osamu Tezuka | Fantagraphics

Best Publication Design

• Nicky Lim & Sandy Grayson – box set design for Orange Complete Box Set
• Nicky Lim & Karis Page – cover design, lettering, & interior design for My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness: Special Edition by Nagata Kabi | Seven Seas Entertainment
• Phil Balsman – design for Initial D Omnibus by Shuichi Shinego | Kodansha
• Andrea Miller – cover design for Tokyo Aliens by NAOE | Square Enix Manga & Books
• Adam Grano – design for My Name Is Shingo by Kazuo Umezz | Viz Media

The American Manga Awards Aim To Celebrate the Individuals That Make the Industry What It Is

The Western manga industry – and the manga industry in general – have faced a number of challenges over the last few years due to struggles with AI generated translations and publishers underpaying staff for work on a medium that is nothing short of lucrative. It can be easy to forget that there are very real, very passionate individuals that work on manga in the process of bringing it to English-speaking bookshelves, and that social media echo chambers discussing the industry often lack an ounce of empathy when it comes to understanding the workload.

That’s where the American Manga Awards come in – the committee seem dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging the behind-the-scenes folks that work hard every single day to bring the community’s favorite books to the West. The judging committee are all longtime members of the industry, and have been very vocal for their love of the medium.

Our Favorite Picks From the Nominees List

Obvious favorites from this year’s American Manga Awards are of course big-hitters like Delicious In Dungeon that have recently broken into the mainstream thanks to its impeccable anime adaptation on Netflix. The series is a wonderful high fantasy romp that wears its Dungeons & Dragons influence on its sleeve, as well as pulling from other major fantasy properties.

Something else we’ve loved seeing on this years nominations list is the recognition of smaller publishers, like Glacier Bay Books – which made it onto the list for their work on bringing Mothers to English readers. Mothers by Kusahara Umi is a debut work compiling fifteen years of self-published short stories. As described by the publisher:

“Mothers is Kusahara Umi’s debut English title, collecting and translating 15 years worth of self-published short stories developed on themes of love, family, and loss. Offset printed on a luxury cream paper stock, with a sewn binding. The cover will feature gatefold flaps spot printed with a mix of red and blue inks on uncoated paper, showcasing brand new artwork created by Umi specially for this, their first collected edition. Mothers contains 12 short stories that encapsulate different facets of the human experience.”

There’s also been a return of many iconic classics becoming more accessible for new manga fans, like the gorgeously designed Initial D Omnibus collection. One of the biggest series we’re rooting for is The Summer Hikaru Died, a haunting supernatural mystery that beautifully discusses the nature of loss and its relationship with grief.

While we’re still waiting for final results, in our eyes, this event marks everyone working in the industry as a winner. Those interested in voting for their favorite series and supporting their favorite publishers can find the link through AnimeNYC’s official website, here.