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On Dec. 5, award-winning works in the animation, manga, art, and entertainment categories at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival were announced. In the manga category, Hirohiko Araki’s “JoJolion,” the eighth part in his work JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure which has picked up worldwide acclaim, won the Grand Prize.
Appearing on stage to accept the award, Araki greeted the crowd and joyfully said, “It’s been 27 years since I first started [JoJo], and I am truly honored to be recognized for this award here at the Japan Media Arts Festival. I feel like drawing it a little at a time was the right decision, and I recall all the painful and difficult times I personally had; I am overwhelmed with emotion.”
Four works from this category received the Excellence Award: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū (author: Haruko Kumoda), *And Yet the Town Moves (author: Masakazu Ishiguro), Chiisakobee (author: Minetarō Mochizuki; original author: Shugoro Yamamoto), and Hikidashi ni Terrarium (author: Ryōko Kui). Among the winners, the majority are serialized in commercial manga magazines, with the attention-worthy Hikidashi ni Terrarium having begun its serialization online.
Being chosen for an award in the manga category at the Japan Media Arts Festival is an important recognition in the world of manga that is becoming more monumental each year. The amount of applicants has also increased in response to this trend. This year’s number of applicants (609 works) well exceeded that of last year’s (458 works), which was the highest to date for the category. Among this year’s applicants, 502 were manga serialized in magazines that became individually volumed works and 68 were manga distributed via websites and mobile apps. Independent works such as doujinshi made up 39 of the applicants.
While it focuses on one medium, the characteristic of the Japan Media Arts Festival is that it crosses over many genres. A wide range of ground was covered this year as well including commercial manga from inside Japan, translated manga from overseas, and independent works. Again this year, many translated manga from overseas were awarded including A Taste of Chlorine (author: Bastien Vivès; translator: Masato Hara) which won the New Face Award and the worldwide hit work The Walking Dead (author: Robert Kirkman; illustrators: Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard; translator: Ken Kazama). Attention payed to the digital realm is even increasing, with Hikidashi ni Terrarium winning the Excellence Award and Natsuyasumi no Machi (author: Hiroshi Machida) serialized on Denno Mavo winning the New Face Award. It was previously unthinkable that there would be so many applicants from this category.
On the independent side, though the works Tobu Tokyo Homecoming- The Complete Edition (author: Hinata Kino) and Error403 no Ochi to wa (author: Error403) were recommended by the judging committee, the total number of applicants in this category stopped at 39. It feels like we are still at the halfway point regarding what kind of excellent works will be scooped out of this expanding independent field.
“JoJolion,” which was selected from this multifaceted group of works to win the Grand Prize, has been serializing in Ultra Jump since 2011. Though JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been serialized for the almost 28 years, there has been a surge in its popularity thanks to recent anime and game adaptations and large-scale exhibits. The series’ unique posing, use of dialogue, and stylish designs––which have been characteristics of the series since the beginning––have been refined even more in recent years. The strength of the work and its high value are likely the cause of its popularity and maniacal following.
Source: animeanime
