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All-Japan High School Manga Competition Evaluations Begin
posted on by Evan Miller
The government of Kōchi Prefecture has begun reviewing applications for the 16th annual National High School Manga Tournament. The competition is also known as the "Kōshien" of manga, a title which refers to the popular National High School Baseball Tournament held at Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya.
The manga tournament itself takes place on August 4 at the Karapōto Culture Plaza in Kōchi City. This year, student teams were invited to send in manga based on the theme of "Laughter" or the theme "Produced locally, consumed locally," which refers to people supporting their local industries and agricultural interests. A total of 295 schools from 46 of Japan's 47 prefectures have submitted applications for the competition. Among the schools, 159 schools submitted applications under the "Laughter" theme and 136 schools applied under the "Produced locally" theme. 35 schools are making their debut in the competition this year.
This year, manga publishing companies Shogakukan, Inc. and Kodansha will be sending three representatives each to scout the competition for new talent. Students that are "scouted" will have the chance to be tutored by professional manga artists and illustrators. Ryō Yoshimura, leader of the competition planning committee, said that the scouting process will "add another dimension to the competition since people will be paying attention to the individual artists as well as the teams."
The planning committee will eliminate and select teams on June 24 for the competition in August, which will involve the top 30 teams that submitted applications.
Source: Mainichi Shinbun
