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Kenta Shinohara's Astra Lost in Space Wins 12th Manga Taisho Awards
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The executive committee for the 12th Manga Taisho awards announced during the awards ceremony on Tuesday that Kenta Shinohara's Astra Lost in Space (Kanata no Astra) won this year's award.
The manga was also nominated for the 23rd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in February, and also ranked at #3 on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! male readers list in December.
Shinohara (Sket Dance) launched the manga in May 2016 on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ app. The manga ended in December 2017, and Shueisha published five compiled book volumes for the manga. Viz Media began publishing the chapters online for free in August 2016, and published the fifth and final volume in print last December. The manga has an upcoming television anime adaptation that will premiere this year.
Viz Media publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:
Itʼs the first day of Planet Camp, and Aries Spring couldnʼt be more excited! She, along with eight other strangers, leave for Planet McPa for a weeklong excursion. Soon after they arrive, however, a mysterious orb appears and transports them into the depths of space, where they find an empty floating spaceship…
Previous winners of the Manga Taisho award include:
- 2018 - BEASTARS by Paru Itagaki
- 2017 - Hibiki: Shōsetsuka ni Naru Hōhō by Mitsuharu Yanamoto
- 2016 - Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda
- 2015 - Kakukaku Shikajika by Akiko Higashimura
- 2014 - A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori
- 2013 - Umimachi Diary by Akimi Yoshida
- 2012 - Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa
- 2011 - March comes in like a lion by Chika Umino
- 2010 - Thermae Romae by Mari Yamazaki
- 2009 - Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu
- 2008 - Gaku - Minna no Yama by Shinichi Ishizuka
Unlike many other manga prizes which are chosen by the editors of the manga publishers themselves, the Manga Taisho nominating committee is mostly composed of the bookstore staffers who are in charge of their respective stores' manga sections. (The official English name of the awards is the "Cartoon Grand Prize.") The awards are also limited to works published last year with eight or fewer volumes to promote relatively newer works. The committee nominated 13 works this year.
Manga Taisho 2018 Final Results
Astra Lost in Space (Kanata no Astra)
Kenta Shinohara
94 points
Mystery to Iu Nakare (Do not say mystery)
Yumi Tamura
78 points
The Blue Period.
Tsubasa Yamaguchi
73 points
Ikoku Nikki (Foreign Country Diary)
Tomoko Yamashita
45 points
Sazan to Suisei no Shōjo (Sazan and the Comet Girl)
Yuriko Akase
41 points
Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest (Hokuhokusei ni Kumo to Ike)
Aki Irie
40 points
Kongōji-san wa Mendōkusai (Kongōji-san is Annoying)
Minoru Toyoda
39 points
Metamorphose no Engawa (The Balcony of Metamorphose)
Kaori Tsurutani
38 points
Hakumei & Mikochi - Tiny Little Life in the Woods (Hakumei to Mikochi)
Takuto Kashiki
33 points
Nagi no Oitoma (Nagi's Long Vacation)
Misato Konari
25 points
Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi)
Ryōko Kui
23 points
Golden Gold
Seita Horio
22 points
1122
Peko Watanabe
19 points
Sources: Manga Taisho, Comic Natalie
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