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Madoka Magica, Gundam: The Origin Win at Japan Sci-Fi Con

The 51st Japan Science Fiction Convention (Nihon SF Taikai or Japan SF Con/Varicon) announced on Saturday that it is giving Seiun Awards to the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's manga Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. The Madoka Magica television anime ended last year, and the first two parts in the Madoka Magica film trilogy will open this October. Gundam: The Origin also ended last year, but its publisher Kadokawa Shoten announced an anime adaptation.

Author Housuke Nojiri (Rocket Girls, Usurper of the Sun) won again with his short story "The Singing Submarine and Peer-Peer Douga." Nojiri previously won in 2009 for another story inspired by the video-sharing service niconico (formerly known as Nico Nico Douga), "Peer-Peer Douga at the South Pole."

Mechanical designer Naohiro Washio (Bodacious Space Pirates, Fafner, Mobile Suit Gundam 00) won in the Art category, ending the four-year winning streak by Studio Nue illustrator Naoyuki Katō (Starship Troopers, Legend of the Galactic Heroes). Azuma Hideo Sōtokushū, a book dedicated to manga creator Hideo Azuma (Disappearance Diary, Nanako SOS), won in the Non-Fiction category.

"Seiun Shō" literally translates to "nebula awards," but the Japan SF Con's Seiun Awards are more akin to Worldcon's Hugo Awards, in that the attendees of each respective convention vote on the winners. There is another set of awards, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan's Nihon SF Taishō honors, that are the rough Japanese equivalent of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Awards. Like the Hugo Awards, the Seiun Awards honor all forms of speculative fiction — including but not limited to science fiction — and related materials.This year's awards ceremony is taking place at Varicon 2012 in Hokkaido this weekend.

The manga Fullmetal Alchemist, Kato, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Issui Ogawa, and the Hayabusa satellite won Seiun Awards last year, while Guin Saga, Summer Wars, and Pluto won in 2010.

Japanese Long Fiction

Tengoku to Zigoku (Tengoku & Zigoku)
Yasumi Kobayashi
Hayakawa Publishing

Japanese Short Fiction

"Utau Sensuikan to Peer-Peer Douga" (The Singing Submarine and Peer-Peer Douga)
Housuke Nojiri (Rocket Girls, Usurper of the Sun)
Hayakawa Publishing (in SF Magazine August 2011)

Translated Long Fiction

The Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi
Translated by Kazue Tanaka, Hiroshi Kaneko
Hayakawa Publishing
Released in North America by Night Shade Books

Translated Short Fiction

"The Lifecycle of Software Objects"
Ted Chiang
Translated by Nozomi Ohmori
Hayakawa Publishing
Published in North America by Subterranean

Media

Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo at Shaft
© Magica Quartet/Aniplex, Madoka Partners, MBS
Released in North America by Aniplex

Comic

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Kadokawa Shoten
Released in North America by Viz Media

Art

Naohiro Washio (Bodacious Space Pirates, Fafner, Mobile Suit Gundam 00)

Nonfiction

Azuma Hideo Sōtokushū – Bishōjo, SF, Fujōri Gag, Soshite Shizzō
A book dedicated to manga creator Hideo Azuma (Disappearance Diary, Nanako SOS)
Kawade Shobo Shinsha

Free Entry

No winners



Source: animeanime.jp