The Embassy of Japan Announce Manga Jiman 2015 Winners

Date: 2016 March 22 17:43

Posted by Joe

The Embassy of Japan have been running the Manga Jiman for 9 years now. The premise of the completion is simple. Each year has a theme and the artists have to create a story around the theme. Previous themes have included "a chance encounter" and "voyages of discovery". This year's theme was "bright young things". Prizes include 2 return flights to Japan for the top prize winner, a laptop for the runner up, plus a top end digital camera.

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On Friday 18th March 2016 The Otaku News Team were invited to the Japanese Embassy in Central London for the awards ceremony and were treated to all the frills of diplomatic hospitality (there's something nice about having a silver tray of sushi offered to you). We were able to talk to a lot of the artists and see how passionate they are about manga and how much effort they put into their art.

The shortlisted entries were on display at the Embassy, before the winners were announced. Guests could read the entries. This always leads to fun conversations about who do you think will win?

It was really interesting seeing the quality of the entries. Each year the quality of the entrants work seems to get better. The quality bar seems to rise as artists refine their techniques and improve with experience. The judges are experts in sequential art and I'd love to see them discuss why the title they've picked is worthy of the top prize, when another judge has a differing opinion, after all art is subjective!

The winners of the 2015 Manga Jiman Competition are as follows:

1st - Sonnegarten by Luca Fruzza
2nd - #1 by Alex Brennan-Dent
3rd - Once Upon A Lunchtime by Katja Hammond
4th - Maleficium by Lauren Murphy
5th - Shadow of a Doubt by Pamela Lokhun
6th - Star Fish by Tammy Taylor
7th - Cyber Summer by Jennifer Epton
8th - Ain't No Sunshine by Ami Clark
9th - A Drop of Light in Your Photograph by Ho Ki Leung
10th - A Bright Future Ahead of You by Dalila Trovoada