Winners of the 69th Shougakukan Manga Awards Announced

by Snow
Jan 20, 4:13 AM | 11 Comments

The winners of the 69th Shougakukan manga awards were announced on Thursday.

Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)
The fantasy manga written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe has been serialized in the weekly Shounen Sunday magazine since April 2020. The series' 12th volume was published by Shougakukan in December 2023. American publisher Viz Media licensed the series for physical release in February 2021, under the title Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and has since released nine volumes in English, with the tenth volume to be released on February 20. In September 2022, an anime adaptation by Madhouse was announced to be in the works. The 28-episode television anime began airing the following year and is currently on-going. Sousou no Frieren has since its release won the 14th Manga Taisho Awards as well as the 25th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, under the New Works category. It was also nominated to the 45th and 46th Kodansha Manga Awards, and the Kono Manga ga Sugoi rankings in 2021 and 2022, reaching 2nd and 8th place respectively.

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi (The Elusive Samurai)
Yuusei Matsui's adventure manga made its debut in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in January 2021. Shueisha published the series' 13th volume in November 2023 and is expected to release its 14th volume on February 2. The manga was licensed in English by Viz Media in October 2021 for release in North America. They have since released nine volumes under its English title The Elusive Samurai. Aniplex announced in May 2023 that the series would receive an anime adaptation by CloverWorks, which is currently scheduled for 2024.

Suuji de Asobo.
The manga penned by Murako Kinuta began its serialization in the monthly Flowers magazine in June 2018. Shougakukan released its 10th compiled volume in August 2023.

Trillion Game
The drama manga written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Ryouichi Ikegami has been serialized in the Big Comic Superior magazine since December 2020. The manga currently has eight compiled volumes published by Shougakukan, with the latest one released in November 2023. Kadokawa announced in September 2023 that the series would receive an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse. The series previously received a television drama adaptation by TBS that aired between July 14 and September 15 of last year. Trillion Game ranked 8th in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2022 rankings and placed 6th in the 15th Manga Taisho Awards.

The nominees for the Shougakukan Manga Awards were previously placed into one of four categories: General, Shounen, Shoujo, and Children. This rule was removed for this year's edition of the awards. Other nominees include Unmei no Makimodoshi, Kyou kara Papa wa Kami-sama desu, Black Girl's Talk, Shujinkou Nikki, Koori no Jouheki, Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto, Shoujiki Fudousan, and Paripi Koumei.

Source: Comic Natalie 1, 2

Manga Awards

11 Comments Recent Comments

@malvarez1 So, is this far from the now trendy Vinland Saga and Apothecary Diaries?

Jan 20, 3:28 PM by RobertBobert

@RobertBobert

I think so. IMO, it's a well-written series with likable (if not very zany) characters, and a good sense of strategy, but it helps to have an interest in the subject matter; a big reason it hasn't gotten big in America is that it's a historical manga (a genre already not huge over here) about a little known historical figure. For a Jump manga, there isn't a lot of action, it's dialogue heavy, and the protagonist is more likely to run from a fight than engage - aka, a Jump manga that doesn't have much to appeal to the average Jump fan, despite the author's pedigree.

Jan 20, 3:24 PM by malvarez1

@malvarez1 So, could you recommend a future manga adaptation to those who have never read it?

Jan 20, 11:54 AM by RobertBobert

Frieren deserved, but I'm even happier to see The Elusive Samurai make it, it feels so undervalued compared to other Jump manga sometimes.

Jan 20, 10:29 AM by malvarez1

Nice. 69th. Good job to the winners!

Jan 20, 9:33 AM by Ragon_Qc

Well deserved for peak fiction like Frieren.

I would like to read the others in this list in due time as they do look interesting as well.

Jan 20, 9:05 AM by AntwanMantilla

@RobertBobert Yeah, if Sousou no Frieren is any indication of the quality, we should be in for a treat!

Jan 20, 6:08 AM by _MushiRock11_

Are Suuji de Asobo and Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi REALLY worth these wins? Congrats to all the winners anyway!

Jan 20, 5:34 AM by Memore

Frieren's victory needs no comment, but what about the other three? As far as I can see, two of them are getting ready to get anime adaptations this year.

Jan 20, 5:07 AM by RobertBobert

Sousou no frieren was expected to be awarded. Masterpieces always get awarded!!!

Jan 20, 4:45 AM by Yubisoft

Sousou no Frieren mangaka should shout out the twitter artists that made his manga this big.

:)

Jan 20, 4:15 AM by Swagernator