Winners of the 59th Shogakukan Awards

2014 was a great year for five manga titles when they were chosen as the winners at the 59^th Shogakukan Manga Awards. They are Zekkyō Gakkyū by Emi Ishikawa (children’s category), Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic by Shinobu Ohtaka (boy’s category), Kanojo wa Uso wo Ai Shisugiteru by Kotomi Aoki (girl’s category) and Mogura no Uta by Noboru Takahashi. Mayumi Muroyama’s classic gag manga Asari-chan was the recipient of the Judging Committee Special Award.

The winners were honored at a special ceremony on March 3 at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Each winner was awarded a bronze statuette and a cash prize of ¥1 million (US$9,600.00).

“Zekkyō Gakkyū” by Emi Ishikawa

Zekkyō Gakkyū (Screaming Lessons) is a collection of short horror stories as told by the ghost of a school girl named Yomi. The manga series was Ms. Ishikawa’s first time to win the Shogakukan Manga Awards. A live-action film came out in June 2013.

“Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic” by Shinobu Ohtaka

Alibaba, Aladdin and Morgiana team up for a series of high-flying adventures and treasure-hunting hijinks in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. Alibaba Saluja, an amateur treasure-hunter, dreams of finding the legendary treasures of the dungeon of Amon while fighting all sorts of thieves, evil djinns and corrupt noblemen. “Magi” has already spawned 2 anime series, an OVA and a spin-off manga’ “Adventure of Sinbad”.

“Kanojo wa Uso wo Ai Shisugiteru” by Kotomi Aoki

In Kanojo wa Uso wo Ai Shisugiteru (The Liar and His Lover), naive and idealistic 16-year-old Riko becomes the envy of most teenage girls when rock star Aki Ogasawara asks her to become his girlfriend! But things aren’t always what they seem – bored, cynical Aki has had enough of life and is in the middle of recovering from a broken heart. He thought starting a relationship with a random girl would be a good way to pass the time. But how long will he be able to keep this a secret from Riko? And how will Riko handle it when she finds out?

“Mogura no Uta” by Noburo Takahashi

Reiji Kikukawa, the main character in Mogura no Uta (Song of the Mole), has an ironclad, unwavering sense of justice, as befits a police officer. Unfortunately, he never follows rules and has the lowest test scores in the police academy. But under the pretense of dismissing him, the chief of police assigns him to secretly infiltrate the notorious Sukiya-kai yakuza syndicate and arrest its leader, Todoroki Shuho. However, this also means Reiji will have to do a lot of incredibly insane things to gain access to the inner workings of the syndicate and fulfill his mission. A live-action movie helmed by acclaimed director Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Ace Attorney) came out in February 2014.

“Asari-chan” by Mayumi Muroyama

Entertaining its readers since the late ’70s, Asari-chan is about the antics and misadventures of well-meaning but slow and headstrong fourth-grader Asari Hamano. It was first published on August 1978, and its 100th volume came out on February 2014. Its anime series was first broadcast in 1982 and lasted for 54 episodes. Aside from winning Kodansha’s Judging Committee Special Award, it also won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award in 1985 for Best Children’s Manga and the Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 2014.