9th Manga Division Critiques

[Critique by work category] Story Manga

It was most welcome that the total number of applicants has increased this year. The On-line Manga, especially, enjoyed a marked 275 percent increased compared with last year, which suggests the likely future tendency of manga publication. The number of entries from abroad has gone up year after year; about 10% of entries in the Manga Division were from overseas. This is evidence of the increasing recognition of the "Manga Award" at the Japan Media Arts Festival. There was great variety in the work of the final candidates, which reflects the broad spectrum of the manga field; from overwhelmingly epic themed work to very personal stories, from excellent orthodox work to styles somewhere between the painting and manga; each fully competed with the other. As this "Manga Award" is open to any nationality, any age, and both professional and non-professional artists, we are hoping to receive an even greater number of entries next year.

Profile

TAKEMIYA Keiko

Manga Artist / Professor, Kyoto Seika University

Born in Tokushima Prefecture in 1950, TAKEMIYA was attending the University of Tokushima when she began the serial Mori no Ko Toru (Toru, Child of the Forest) in Shogakukan's weekly girls' manga magazine Shukan Shojo Comic. Her best-known works include Terra e (To Terra), Kaze to Ki no Uta (Song of the Wind and the Trees), and Izaron Densetsu (Legend of Izaron). In 1980, she won the 25th Shogakukan Manga Award. In the same year Terra e was made into a theatrical animation. She became a professor in the Department of Manga at Kyoto Seika University in April 2000; in 2006 the Department became the Faculty of Manga. As part of her university research she developed the Genga Project to preserve and exhibit precious original manga drawings. Since 2003 she has worked with many artists in setting up an annual summer Genga Exhibition. In 2012 she received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award of the Japan Cartoonist Association Awards.