Japan Society and Anime NYC announced the winners for the first American Manga Awards at a ceremony at Japan Society's Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium in Midtown Manhattan, New York City on Thursday (the night before this year's Anime NYC event begins). The American Manga Awards celebrate manga creators and publishers who have made significant contributions in manga's popularity, both in North America and Japan. The categories and their respective winners include:

Best New Manga

#DRCL midnight children by Shin'ichi Sakamoto
Publisher: Viz Media
Editor: Andrew Bartosh
Translator: Caleb Cook
Lettering and touch-up: Brendon Hull

Best Continuing Manga Series

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryōko Kui
Publisher: Yen Press
Editors: Abigail Blackman, Thomas McAlister
Translator: Taylor Engel
Lettering: Abigail Blackman

Best New Edition of Classic Manga Series

Neighborhood Story by Ai Yazawa
Publisher: Viz Media
Editor: Karla Clark
Translator: Andria McKnight
Touch-up art / lettering: Michelle Pang

Best Translation

Stephen Kohler's translation of Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier
Publisher: Kodansha
Editor: Haruko Hashimoto

Best Lettering

Lys Blakeslee, lettering for Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier
Publisher: Kodansha
Editor: Haruko Hashimoto

Best Publication Design

Adam Grano, design for Kazuo Umezu's My Name Is Shingo
Publisher: Viz Media
Editor: Joel Enos
Lettering: Evan Waldinger

Professionals working in an editorial capacity with North American manga publishers voted to determine the winners. Frederik L. Schodt, translator and author of Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, will be the first recipient of the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame award.

Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly, Comics Beat, Mangasplaining podcast) leads the American Manga Awards Planning Committee. Translator and author Matt Alt, who is also a judge, hosted the event.

Translators and authors Matt Alt (Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Influenced the World) and Hiroko Yoda (Yokai Attack!) selected the Best Translation nominees. Comic letterers Tom Orzechowski (Uncanny X-Men) and Nate Piekos (The Essential Guide to Comics Lettering) picked the Best Lettering nominees. The latter also contributed to the American Manga Awards' logo design. Kinokuniya Bookstores East Coast Regional Manager Shiegkazu Watanabe and publication designer Sasha Head decided the Best Publication Design nominees. Brigid Alverson (ICv2, School Library Journal), Shaenon Garrity (Otaku USA, Publishers Weekly), Minovsky (@MinovskyArticle), New York Public Library Senior Librarian - Young Adult Services' Renee Scott, and ANN's Lynzee Loveridge picked the nominees for Best New Manga, Best Continuing Manga, and Best New Edition of Classic Manga.

Anime NYC 2024 will take place on August 23-25. The event will take over the full main building of the Javits Center for the first time in 2024. Ticket sales began on December 5.

Disclosure: ANN's executive editor Lynzee Loveridge is serving as a judge for the American Manga Awards.

Source: Marion Peña, press release

---

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.