The third annual American Manga Awards were presented Thursday night at the Japan Society in New York City, in conjunction with AnimeNYC. Zack Davisson served as host for an evening celebrating the creators, publishers and localization teams behind manga released in North America.
In addition to the winners in the awards’ main categories, the ceremony presented the American Manga Award of Distinction to Princess Jellyfish creator Akiko Higashimura. The awards also inducted two new members into the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame: Chigusa Ogino, an advisor and former executive director on the board of Tuttle-Mori Agency who helped pave the way for manga’s entrance into Western markets, and the late Ioannis Mentzas, co-founder of Vertical and former editorial director at Kodansha USA.
Congratulations to last night’s winners:
Best New Manga
- Winner: Billy Bat — Naoki Urasawa (Kana/Abrams)
- Bug Ego — ONE, Kyoto Shitara (VIZ Media)
- The Credits Roll into the Sea — John Taranchine (Dark Horse)
- The Horrors of Noroi Michiru — Noroi Michiru (Star Fruit Books/Glacier Bay Books)
- LOVE-BULLET — inee (Yen Press)
Best Continuing Manga Series
- Winner: The Summer Hikaru Died vol. 6 — mokumokuren (Yen Press)
- The Climber vols. 3-6 — Shin’ichi Sakamoto, Jiro Nitta (VIZ Media)
- March comes in like a lion vol. 4 — Chica Umino (Denpa)
- Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide vol. 7 — Mone Sorai (Tokyopop)
- Search and Destroy vol. 3 — Atsushi Kaneko (Fantagraphics)
Best One-Shot Manga
- Winner: “Cocoon” — Machiko Kyo (VIZ Media)
- “Akari” — Marco Kohinata (Glacier Bay Books)
- “Box Garden Beetle” — Akino Kondoh (Glacier Bay Books)
- “My Life in 24 Frames per Second” — Rintaro (Kana/Abrams)
- “The Strange Tale of Panorama Island” — Suehiro Maruo (Last Gasp)
Best New Edition of Classic Manga
- Winner: Mushishi Collector’s Edition vols. 1-2 — Yuki Urushibara (Kodansha)
- Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow vols. 3-5 — Asao Takamori, Tetsuya Chiba (Kodansha)
- The Legend of Kamui vols. 2-3 — Sanpei Shirato (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Stop!! Hibari-kun! vol. 1 — Hisashi Eguchi (Peow2)
- Ultra Heaven vol. 2 — Keiichi Koike (Last Gasp)
Best Lettering
- Winner: Madeleine Jose — Maid to Skate — Suzushiro (VIZ Media)
- Brendon Hull — Cyberpunk Edgerunners Madness vol. 1 — Bartosz Sztybor, Asano (Dark Horse)
- Vadim K. — Don’t Feed the Trolls — Karasu Chan (J18 Publishing)
- Vladyslav L. — Sweet and Spicy — Shimimaru (J18 Publishing)
- Vanessa Satone — One Piece vol. 112 — Eiichiro Oda (VIZ Media)
Best Translation
- Winner: Jan Mitsuko Cash — Magica vol. 1 — Yuzuko Hoshimi (Kodama Tales)
- Alexa Frank — Miss Ruki — Fumiko Takano (New York Review Books)
- Andres Oliver — Mushishi Collector’s Edition vols. 1-2 — Yuki Urushibara (Kodansha)
- Kiki Piatkowska — A Starlit Darkness vol. 1 — Yu Toyota (Square Enix Manga & Books)
- Asa Yoneda — Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow vols. 3-5 — Asao Takaori, Tetsuya Chiba (Kodansha)
Best Publication Design
- Winner: Wendy Chan — Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set — Natsuki Takaya (Yen Press)
- chichols — Magica vol. 1 — Yuzuko Hoshimi (Kodama Tales)
- Ti Collier — A Cat Is a Cat in Any Life — Ema Tohyama (Square Enix Manga & Books)
- Patric Crotty — Stop!! Hibari-kun! vol. 1 — Hisashi Eguchi (Peow2)
- Emuh Ruh — Baku Chan — Masumura Jushichi (Glacier Bay Books)