13 Titles Nominated for 4th Manga Taisho Awards

The executive committee for the fourth Manga Taisho awards has announced this year's 13 nominated works on Monday. (The official English name of the awards is the "Cartoon Grand Prize.") The nominating committee is composed mainly of bookstore staffers who are in charge of their respective stores' manga. Any manga title that was released in 2010 and has eight volumes or less is eligible. The volume cap is intentionally added so that the prize winners would be relatively new works that have not already earned their popularity through sheer longevity.

The second round of voting will determine the three winners of Manga Taisho 2010, which will be announced at an awards ceremony held in late March. Last year, Mari Yamazaki's Thermae Romae won the award, while Shinichi Ishizuka's Gaku - Minna no Yama and Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru won the first two Manga Taisho in 2008 and 2009, respectively. One of this year's nominees, Kengo Hanazawa's I am a Hero was also nominated last year, and Chika Umino's March comes in like a lion was nominated the year before.

Manga Taisho 2011 Nominees

I am a Hero Kengo Hanazawa
The Bride's Stories Kaoru Mori
Omo ni Naitemasu Akiko Higashimura
Kokkoku Seita Horio
Sayonara mo Iwazu ni Kentarō Ueno
Saru Daisuke Igarashi
March comes in like a lion Chika Umino
Un chocolatier de l'amour perdu Setona Mizushiro
Shingeki no Kyojin Hajime Isayama
Drifters Kouta Hirano
Don't Cry Girl Tomoko Yamashita
Hana no Zubora-Meshi Masayuki Kusumi, Etsuko Mizusawa
Mashiro no Oto Marimo Ragawa


Sources:
Anime News Network