The 2026 American Manga Awards began, for most of the attendees, with a downpour of rain. The host of the event, Zack Davisson (you may remember him from several yokai titles of the last twenty years) is from Seattle, and wondered if it was like that a lot over here.
Yes, it is.
The awards, themselves, began with the introduction by Peter Tatara, talking about the importance of this being an award from peers, rather than just a popularity contest, while also pointing out the history of the building the awards are held in, the Japan Society. Also announced was the fact that the ceremony would be filmed and made available on YouTube. For those who prefer the written word, though, read on. Especially as Zack, in his introductory speech, emphasized the importance of the human talent that it takes to bring manga to English. The ever-increasing presence of generative AI has been a large part of the greater conversation this year, and it’s always good to see the recognition of people who care about doing the best job they can.
The first award of the evening was the Centennial Award, a special accolade that was given to Shueisha, who are celebrating their 100th anniversary. The publisher is arguably best known here for the manga magazine Shonen Jump and the many legendary hits that ran in its pages – Jump in the 1990s had a peak weekly circulation of 6.5 million copies. These days, the company is also at the forefront of digital manga distribution, with the Shonen Jump app, as well as the Manga Plus app. The presenter, Hiroyuki Kojima, the director of the Japan Society, asked the audience to remember how many manga creators were influenced by what Shueisha has done over the years. The award was accepted by Shuhei Hosono, editorial director and the editor-in-chief of the Manga Plus app, who talked about the new Manga Million website, which brings previously unavailable titles such as KochiKame and Chibi-Maruko-chan to international readers for the first time.
Next up was the American Manga Award of Distinction, which went to the Guest of Honor at Anime NYC, Akiko Higashimura. Well known for series such as Princess Jellyfish, Tokyo Tarareba Girls, and Blank Canvas, she has created even more beloved manga for Japanese creators. But that’s not all! She also runs a comedy club called Sparkle, and she wrote and directed a live-action film for Netflix, The Vacation Principle. A live-action adaptation of the Blank Canvas manga has also debuted. At the same time, Higashimura is also a fashion icon, and hosts a fashion show on television. Her enthusiasm and energy were incredible to see, as she addressed the audience.
Higashimura laughed about the fact that she was able to come here after finishing the edits of the TV show she was directing, and that this is theoretically supposed to be the month that she takes a holiday. She discussed the influence of American shows, such as Friends and Sex and the City (which she says specifically inspired Tokyo Tarareba Girls), and how the editor who accepted the Shueisha award used to be her editor. She loves a lot of shonen manga, but admits that her preference is shojo manga.
Next came the professional awards, which is where an embarrassing issue started to arise that didn’t escape the attention of many attending. It can be difficult with an awards ceremony where so many people need to communicate remotely, and then arrive only for the ceremony itself. But as the evening went on, the mispronunciation and omission of names became egregious. It was not just one person, but a large number of the presenters trying to play off the fact that they had not even tried to say these names aloud before they got up on stage.
Be better next year.
They began with Best Publication Design, presented by one of the judges, Amanda Chung of design studio Lucky Risograph. Amanda talked about the difficulty that American manga designers have in trying to live up to the original designs from Japan, and that all of the nominees were able to honor the original design while also coming up with something new. The other judge, Andres Juarez of <a href="https://www.skybound.com/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Skybound Entertainment, was not able to attend the ceremony, but had a slide containing his own remarks. Wendy Chan won the award for her work on Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set, a lavishly designed box meant to hold all the omnibus volumes. Hakusensha sent a message for the award, saying how impressed they were with the box, and how they remembered the meeting where Wendy explained how it would look and feel. The author, Natsuki Takaya, was also delighted with the win, calling the box a “treasure chest.”
The next award was Best Lettering, which was presented by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios, who, according to Zack, has lettered for most of the major companies in North America. The other judge, Pat Brosseau, also has worked at several companies. Lettering is frequently overlooked by readers, but it remains a vital element, and the best of it merges seamlessly with the rest of the book itself, which all the nominees demonstrated. The best lettering should elevate the experience and immerse the reader in the manga. Madeleine Jose took the award home for Viz Media’s manga Maid to Skate!. Jose could not be at the ceremony, so the translator, David Evelyn, accepted on her behalf. The lettering was quick, snappy, and fit the world of the manga. The creator also sent a message saying how much they loved this edition.
The Best Translation award was presented by Nicole Coolidge Rousmanierie, who is curator of the Art of Manga exhibit that will be shown at the Brooklyn Museum this fall. Also judging was Andrea Horbinski, a Berkeley scholar and author of Manga’s First Century. Rousmanierie talked about her journey, from reading manga when she was fifteen years old, to displaying it in galleries (including, a few years ago, a gallery with the works of Akiko Higashimura). She spoke about how much better translation has gotten over the years. Horbinski was not at the awards, but had a statement that the best translation is concerned with nuance and tone, something that can be very hard to achieve. They then announced the winner, Jan Mitsuko Cash for Magica.
Cash’s speech was, easily, the highlight of the entire ceremony, starting immediately by telling manga companies to double their rates for paying translators—and if it’s a simulpub release, to triple them! The pay that a translator receives has not kept up with inflation, and translators (and adapters) suffer from attacks online, all while receiving no health insurance, and very little money. She received a standing ovation—the only one of the night. As for Magica, the creator said that the translation “cast magic so it could reach across the sea”.
It was then time for the Hall of Fame presentation. There were two inductees this year. The first was Chigusa Ogino, part of the Tuttle-Mori Agency that negotiates between Japan and North America. She was one of the first people in the agency, and was instrumental in bringing manga to the west. Born in Japan but growing up in the United Kingdom, she saw anime get popular, but there wasn’t a place for manga yet. She was instrumental in getting Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball published in Spanish and German, which jumpstarted the European manga boom. For fifteen years, she was the one handling all of Shueisha’s licenses. There was a message from Ken Mori, president of the Tuttle-Mori Agency, talking about how manga is a cornerstone of their agency, and how Ogino’s vision is the reason for that. Ogino is also working on a French graphic novel, and the editor of that is Sullivan Rouaud, who also had a message. Rouaud called Ogino a giant in the field, and remarked that her name kept coming up when he was in Japan with no contacts. She’s also an amazing artist and photographer, according to him.
Ogino was somewhat overcome when she started to speak, as she had not seen the message from Rouaud. She talked about unflipping the manga, which was because Toriyama disliked it, saying that it showed the art’s flaws. She had to sell it to Germany, and was very surprised that they accepted it easily, saying fans preferred to read that way! TOKYOPOP may have started the trend in North America, but Germany and Chigusa Ogino got there first.
The other Hall of Fame award was for Ioannis Mentzas, co-founder of Vertical Publishing and editorial director at Kodansha USA. This award was sadly posthumous, as Mentzas passed away earlier this year. Mentzas’s impact was astonishing, despite the fact that his name does not even appear on the Kodansha or Vertical’s Wikipedia page. He published manga that was seen as art, at a time when that was a fringe market—now it’s big business.
Moreover, Mentzas helped Vertical establish itself as a significant label for Japanese horror novels, including Ringu, and helped publish NISIOISIN’s classic Monogatari Series in North America. Right up until he died, he was still editing the newest Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin omnibus title. Attending an international school in Japan, Mentzas felt like an outsider, so immersed himself in books, especially Osamu Dazai. At Vertical, he was known as a “hard-working, chain-smoking” editor. And while he was erudite and committed to quality works, he also despised snobbery. His impact is monumental.
It was then time for the awards for specific manga titles. The judges included Frederico Anzalone, a journalist who specializes in Japanese culture; Helen Chazan, a zine creator and critic; Gigi Murakami, a manga artist and illustrator; Dani Kingston, a graphics designer; and Kyle Cardine, journalist and editor-in-chief at Crunchyroll News. Some judges had messages; Dan Kingston was delighted to see how manga today has such a wide range of demographics and genres, which makes judging a challenge – there are now smaller stories, rather than just long ongoing series. Helen Chazan praised manga’s diversity and the creators that were dedicated to pursuing that, and also the fact that girls read shonen manga and boys read shojo manga, showing that genre isn’t everything.
Best New Edition of Classic Manga was presented by Gigi Murakami, who explained that these were the stories of our youth that are now considered classics. The winning manga was Mushishi: Collector’s Edition, which compiles Yuki Urushibara’s supernatural fantasy series that first appeared in Japan in 1999 and in North America in 2007. This was a passion project, with the editor, Maggie Le, who accepted the award, saying that she read the series as a student, and that places like eBay see older copies of the first run going for astronomical prices. She noted that it’s a series that shows you something different every time you read it. There was a message from the creator Urushibara, who gushed about how it is a tremendous honor, while praising the hardcover edition, which has annotations and explanations of ancient Japanese customs. The Japanese editor of the title also had a message, saying they were gratified the work still left people entranced.
It should be noted that, by this point, the show was running over on time, so many of the longer introductions had started getting condensed, in order to increase the pace.
Next up was Best One-Shot Manga, presented by Frederico Anzalone. The winning title was cocoon, a 2010 Japanese manga by Machiko Kyō published in North America this year by Viz Media. The author’s message stated that they did not believe the title would ever be published in North America due to its content (the story is about the Himeyuri students, a group made into a nursing unit during World War II and forced into battle). Kyō explained that they find labels such as “doing the right thing” with the work constraining, and shared an anecdote about wiping out caterpillar cocoons that were threatening their garden. They also talked about the difficulty with the American perspective in the book, but hopes that these struggles can help them to move forward.
The award for Continuing Manga Series was probably the most offbeat of the night, as it was presented by IRyS, a VTuber and singer for hololive. She’s part of the company’s Promise unit, and her channel has more than one million subscribers. As for the award, it went to coming-of-age horror manga The Summer Hikaru Died, by Mokumokuren. This series was also nominated for Best New Manga the previous year, so it has continued to maintain the magic that makes it so compelling. Editor Jacquelyn Li said that the story will be reaching its climax soon, and that she is excited to see how it ends. In a prepared message, the Mokumokuren discussed how delighted they were, and that the long journey would be over soon.
The final award of the night was Best New Manga, presented by Kyle Cardine. He talked about how new manga means there’s always a surprise just around the corner. This year’s new manga winner is new to North America, if not to Japan: Billy Bat, the Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki title published in Japan in 2008, debuted in North America earlier this year with a wonderful edition by Kana Books. A mystery and thriller, its main character being a comics artist allows the series to have a wide variety of styles through the use of the title character, as well as comics within comics. To be blunt, this was the least surprising award of the evening, given how well regarded the work is. Kristina Korpus accepted the award. Urasawa and Nagasaki had both prepared messages for the event. Nagasaki explained how Urasawa came up with a drawing of Billy Bat, and said “This is the main character”. He wanted it to be a historical series, but never imagined that it would be so epic. Urasawa, himself, simply said that he was delighted.
And with that the awards came to a close, and, as if to celebrate, the rain had finally let up. The AMAs have cemented themselves as a fixture in the American Manga industry as an evening to celebrate the artistry, technical skill, passion that connects manga creators, localizers and fans across an ocean. It is an evening of achievement and praise for the growing community of colleagues within the American manga Industry. And, of course, a good time was had by all.
