Congratulations to Ishikawa Masayuki for winning for Moyashimon!! Finally, they notice the genius of processed foods and the power that bacteria has in our favorite foods!

The 32nd Annual Kodansha Manga Awards has just been announced and Moyashimon got an award for Best General Manga. It also won the grand prize for the Tezuka!! Yay! I’m not so sure if the anime played in its popularity or at least exposure, but a lot of interesting things did happen to the manga last year so it’s quite amazing that way. :3

Another personal favorite of mine won. It’s called Kimi ni Todoke and it won for Best Shoujo. I’m not so sure if it’s licensed yet, but yeah, this is another great shoujo story and I hope it gets translated in english too. Its story is similar to The Wallflower without being too repetitive and stubborn. Its delightful without containing too much drama from shoujo mangas.

Manga awards are a great way to find titles outside your usual haunts. Some people are always iffy about award-winning mangas because some think it’s for those with sophisticated tastes and all that. However, it would never hurt to understand why it was shortlisted or why it even won for that award. I was a Naoki Urasawa fan and was pleased to see Pluto win for a Tezuka before. That same year, there was that shortlisted manga named Nodame Cantabile that got me curious. After checking it out, I was blown away with Nodame’s insanity. That experience convinced me that there’s a greater world out there other than those deemed as ‘popular’. So don’t be afraid to check these mangas out if you can. It’d be quite an experience. :3

So for a short quip, congratulations to Moyashimon for winning the lot this year!!

みんな！かもすぜー！