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Japanese Otaku Awards' 2007 Winners Announced
posted on by Egan Loo
The 7th Annual Japanese Otaku Awards were presented before a standing-room-only crowd at Tokyo's LOFT/PLUS ONE hall on January 5. The organizers describe it as an informal "event of the otaku, by the otaku, for the otaku" to commemorate the things, people, and events that left a lasting impression on the otaku world in the past year. A panel of eight judges, led by novelist/manga creator Hōsai Tsuruoka and columnist/radio commentator Shunichi Karasawa, first nominated several entries in fields ranging from paranormal phenomena to fujoshi (boys-love otaku) interests. Then the panel held a free-form discussion to determine the winners of the awards presented by each judge, as well as one Grand Prix winner.
Grand Prix
Video-sharing sites (Example: Nico Nico Douga)Hidekuni Shida Award
The IDOLM@STER (the videogame that loosely inspired the Xenoglossia anime)Dorii Osaki Award
Blade Runner 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's EditionNaoki Ishiguro Award
Seto no HanayomeHisashi Maeda Award
School DaysHarayasa Tōkaimura Award
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] AloneMasumi Kurata Award
Kamen Rider Den-OShunichi Karasawa Award
The UFO debate in the Japanese ParliamentHōsai Tsuruoka Award
Regular Kyaku no Kobayashi-kunAnimedia Award
Yasai no Yōsei - N.Y. SaladWhile they ultimately did not win awards, the live-action Transformers movie, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Dennō Coil, Lucky Star, Jump Square, the PlayStation 3 game console, Miku Hatsune, and Toshio Okada all came up during the freeform discussion. The Otaku Awards event will be broadcasted on Japan's Mondo21 satellite channel in two parts on January 26 and 27. The Grand Prix winners in all seven years are as follows:
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Mōretsu! Otona Teikoku no Gyakushū |
| 2002 | Kaiyodo |
| 2003 | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed |
| 2004 | Moe Anthromorphism (In particular, Bincho-tan) |
| 2005 | Akihabara |
| 2006 | Ultraman 80 (from the live-action Ultraman Mebius special-effects series) |
| 2007 | Video-sharing sites (Example: Nico Nico Douga) |
Source: Ultimatum
