Ben Applegate🔜SDCC: From the actual site: animenyc.com/americanmang...

Very proud to work with Anime NYC & The Japan Society to launch the first awards just for manga and manga publishing professionals for manga in English! Here’s the announcement fr Publishers Weekly: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Anime NYC, Japan Society to Launch American Manga Awardswww.publishersweekly.com Set to take place at the Japan Society on August 22, the eve of this year’s Anime NYC convention, the awards will celebrate the outstanding achievements of professionals in the world of Japanese comic...

Is the Mangaka Hall of Fame really limited only to those who had an impact "in North America"? If so, that feels immensely limiting & disappointing, as there are tons of HoF-worthy mangaka with no American presence, or historically haven't sold well here. That is my only nitpick, though.

There are other awards for those places. The Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, for example. This should be to specifically celebrate manga in English.

All I'll say is that I disagree, and leave it at that.

There's also a Mangaka Hall of Fame for manga artists. The one they mentioned was the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame, that's the one related to North America.

From the actual site: animenyc.com/americanmang...

And right below that list: "Mangaka Hall of Fame and the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame celebrate lifetime achievement by individuals who have made significant contributions to manga’s introduction, growth, and creative influence in North America." Only mangaka who "made it" in English count.

Like, I get it. Obviously there will be a focus more towards honoring mangaka who are big over here, which is only natural. I just don't like it essentially outright stating that it's only for those who succeeded in the region, & not iconic mangaka, in general.

But again, those awards already exist. The Kodansha Manga Award. The Tezuka Prize... there's no point to an Award that adds nothing to what is already there. There is only value is seeing what is currently NOT being honored and filling that space.

On the other hand, removing the restriction really wouldn't change anything, since obviously the picks for the first whatever amount of years will naturally be the ones that have the biggest focus for America anyway. It's a redundant rule. Again, though, I obviously know nothing... so whatever.

I've actually been campaigning for an award like this for years, and I personally think the American focus is the most important part. Mangaka themselves have no shortage of honors. Another mangaka-focused prize is simply adding water to the ocean. I wanted to put focus on those ignored.

Which is what (I hope) is the objective of this award. To get fans to think about the efforts of translators, letterers, etc... all of those whose hard work has put manga into English over the decades. Every manga fan should know the name of Fred Schodt; now, they will.

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