The American Manga Awards will be presented by AnimeNYC creators and organizers LeftField Media, and co-organized by LeftField and Japan Society, a non-profit that has been connecting Americans with Japanese arts, culture, language, business, and society since 1907.
The first winners will be announced an invitation-only event at Japan Society’s Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium in New York on August 22, the eve of AnimeNYC.
At that event, the winners of awards in eight categories will be announced: Mangaka Hall of Fame, Manga Publishing Hall of Fame, Best New Manga, Best Continuing Manga Series, Best New Edition of Classic Manga, Best Translation, Best Lettering, and Best Publication Design.
Best New Manga, Best Continuing Manga Series and Best New Edition of Classic Manga nominees will be selected by a committee of five subject matter experts (journalists, librarians, reviewers).
Best Translation, Best Lettering and Best Publication Design nominees will be selected by two nominating judges with expertise in these categories.
Winners will be selected by votes of professionals working in an editorial capacity with U.S. or Canada manga publishers. Registration to vote will open June 15.
Hall of Fame honorees are selected by the American Manga Awards committee. Schodt, the first such honoree, wrote an early work that’s been key in the expansion of manga in the U.S., Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, in 1983, which is still in print today. He has been a lifelong translator of manga by key creators and has written extensively about manga in articles and books.
Manga judges include ICv2 Contributing Editor Brigid Alverson, Anime News Network Executive Editor Lynzee Loveridge, comic creator and manga editor and localizer Shaenon K. Garrity, manga fan and advocate Minowsky, and New York young adult librarian Renee Scott. Translation judges are localizer and journalist Matt Alt and AltJapan Co-Founder and President Hiroko Yoda. Lettering Judges are letterers Nate Piekos and Tom Orzechowsky. Publication design judges are Kinokuniya executive Shigekazu Watanabe and graphic designer and production artist Sasha E. Head.