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Shintaro Kago's Dementia 21, Kan Takahashi's Ōgishima Saijiki Manga Win Angoulême Awards

The 52nd Angoulême International Comics Festival announced its winners on February 2, and Shintaro Kago's Dementia 21 volume 2 won the Le Fauve de la Série (Series Prize) award. Huber publishes Dementia 21 in French, and Baptiste Neveux is the translator into French. Fantagraphics released the two-volume manga in English in 2018 and 2020.

This year's Le Prix Konishi (Konishi Award) for translation of a Japanese manga into French went to Kan Takahama's Ōgishima Saijiki, translated by Yohan Leclerc. Glénat publishes the manga in French.

Manga that were nominated for Official Selection (Best Comic) award included Kentarō Miura, Studio Gaga, and Kouji Mori's Berserk volume 42; Yasutoshi Kurokami's Love Crescent; Shintaro Kago's Dementia 21; Keigo Shinzō's Hirayasumi volume 4; Kazumi Yamashita's Land volume 7; Akane Torikai's Saturn Return volume 10; and Mokumokuren's The Summer Hikaru Died volume 3. However, Luz's Two Naked Girls won the Fauve d'Or for book of the year.

The Angoulême Festival ran from January 29 through February 2 in the Angoulême area of France. The festival launched in 1974 as an event celebrating comics from countries throughout the world.

Last year, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's Four Japanese in San Francisco 1904-1924 (The Four Immigrants Manga) won the Heritage Selection category. Shinya Komatsu's Afternoon Yawns (Gogo no Akubi) volume 1 won a Special Jury Award for the Youth Selection category, and shōjo manga pioneer Moto Hagio was also honored with the "Fauve D'Honneur" award. Sentarō Kubota, Kenichi Sakemi, and Hideki Mori's Bokkō manga won the Konishi Award.

Sources: Angoulême Festival's website and X/Twitter account, The Beat (Dean Simons)