Winning students of International Comic/Manga School Contest selected - 1,317 schools in 90 countries and regions participated

The winning entries of the International Comic/Manga School Contest 2022, a contest for students around the world organized by Celsys, were revealed on July 1. A total of 1,317 schools in 90 countries/regions registered for this year’s contest, and more than 1,600 comics and illustrations were submitted for consideration for the Grand Prix and category awards.

This year’s contest had the theme of “Journey”. Submissions for six categories (Comic, Manga, Bande Dessinée, Webtoon, Illustration, and Storyboard) opened in December 2021. Comic entries were split into five different categories and attracted entries from a wide variety of genres and cultures, with entries accepted in any language.

The Overall Grand Prize was awarded to kanins from Victory Christian International School in the Philippines, with her story “PAGPAG”, about a man and a ghost girl. The judges praised the entry, commenting “the theme of the grand ‘Journey’ that is life was well put across”, and “the emotions of the characters were well drawn and helped us feel attached to them all.”

As the contest is aimed at students aspiring to become professionals, judges and sponsors offered detailed critique on the winning entries to help improve the skills of the winners as well as those who read the works. Critiques from judges and sponsors will be published on the contest site going forward.

The contest is also a place for contestants to connect with sponsors who provide opportunities to publish their works. This time a total of 44 contestants received such offers from sponsors. The contest will also be exhibited during the Japan Expo in Paris, France between July 14 - 17. (Booth No.: Hall 5 - J222)

Celsys plans to hold the contest again next year, with the aim of creating a space to support talented students in making meaningful connections with the world’s comic industry.

Judge’s Comments: This was packed with lots of expertly constructed elements that made for a really fun comic read! It was able to present all of the necessary parts of a story - encounters, challenges, arguments - all while drawing in the reader with folklore elements that give a sense of Filipino culture. Right from the outset we knew this one was going to be good! The rest of the story was also easy to read and well-structured throughout. The character’s expressions were full of charm and the girl was especially cute! (Kodansha)

Judge’s Comments: This comic was a very positive piece with some amazing dance scenes in it! The expressions of the characters were electric, which I loved. The last part fell a little flat, though. It would have felt even more immersive as a piece if you had a strong scene where the characters were given the chance to dance bombastically back at the bullies. (Mangatari)

Judge’s Comments: The best part of this story is how it was made so you experience the main character's life alongside him. I thought that the story gained energy through the different scenes as it reached the climax well and worked very well as a one-off story. (Amutus Corporation)

Judge’s Comments: This was a journey through memories of a girl and her grandmother. Meeting, parting, growth, warm memories. The weather outside the window marks the flow of time well. You can also feel the kindness through the expressions and colors. The ending line also made this story very relatable. (Solmare Publishing (NTT Solmare Corp.))

Judge’s Comments: The characters, the color scheme, the artistic touches, everything is adorable! The strange cat's slightly sad but happy journey warmed my heart. (Wacom)

Judge’s Comments: Thanks to the charming visual, you feel the character's warmth as if you existed in the same time and world. The effect on the reader of the powerful drawings in each panel is impressive, and the direction is well thought out. The artist has a sense for depicting human drama, and we are pleased to present this award to them in the hope that they will create an original work that will make the most of this sense. (BookLive)

Judge’s Comments: The expression on the girl’s face as she sleeps contentedly in the warm light of the star lanterns was wonderful. The way it was drawn made me curious about the story that was packed into that small room - is she dreaming of going to a tropical island? Or perhaps she just got back from a trip. (LINE MANGA)

The new Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 (DTH167) for creators who want a user-friendly tablet

SHUEISHA is a Japanese publisher that publishes manga, fashion magazines, and literary books. They have published comic magazines such as Weekly Shonen Jump, Weekly Young Jump, Ribon, Margaret, and Bessatsu Margaret. They have also published internationally renowned comics such as One Piece.

We also provide manga apps like Shonen Jump+, Manga Mee, Young Jump! and ZEBRACK.

An all-around entertainment company, KADOKAWA, runs a wide range of businesses in publishing, videos, games, web services, education, merchandising, intangible services, and inbound sales. The company’s free comic site, Comic Walker, features popular KADOKAWA manga. It boasts more than 3,500 titles ranging from mixed-media works to popular isekai comics.

Comics, novels, culture, journalism, fashion, picture books, anime, games - Kodansha has developed an all-around publishing business that creates and makes “stories” from all genres public, together with talent from across the world. As well as publishing a range of comic magazines for all ages, from Weekly Shonen Magazine, Young Magazine, and Nakayoshi, the company also runs the Magapoke and Comic DAYS manga apps.

Since its establishment in 2011, BookLive has been one of the largest comprehensive e-book stores in Japan, with a selection of around one million books, including manga, novels, novellas, and magazines. BookLive focuses its efforts on the user experience with unique promotions like a coupon gacha to the highly acclaimed bookshelf function and multiple payment options. There are over 10,000 titles available to read for free without even needing to register for an account! Check out BookLive!’s easy-to-use interface with a free title. The company also produces original e-books, aiming to create titles that capture the hearts and minds of the smartphone manga generation.

LINE MANGA is an e-comic service where users can enjoy a number of manga titles on their smartphones and tablets. Since its launch in 2013, it now offers more than 1,120,000 titles, including over 1,100 original, exclusive, or preview titles that can only be read on the service. LINE MANGA is now putting its efforts on vertically scrolling, color digital comics, known as webtoons, that are especially suited to be read on smartphones.

Pioneer of pen and display tablets made for creatives, used to create the world’s most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion, and design.

Click here to learn more about educational use.

A social network for creators that makes getting creative even more fun! With over 71 million users worldwide, more than 100 million illustrations, comics, and novels have been posted. New, fun projects for illustrators, manga artists, and writers pop up every day.

Ki-oon is a French publishing house founded in 2003 by two people who love Japan. They are currently the third largest publisher in France, publishing "My Hero Academia," "Jujutsu Kaisen," "A Bride's Story," "Prophecy," "BEASTARS," and many more. In addition to purchasing licenses, they also produce and publish original works in a variety of genres.

These works are initially published in France and then licensed for worldwide distribution. For instance, "Tsugumi Project" and "Lost Children" are published in Japan through licensing to Kodansha and Akitashoten.

Dupuis is a Belgian publisher with over 100 years of history, and the main creator of many great Franco-Belgian comic heroes, such as Spirou, the Marsupilami and Gaston Lagaffe, to name a few. It is also known as the publishing house with the most diverse library in Europe, with titles in teen & young adult comics, manga, webtoons, graphic novels, news and many other genres.

RED SEVEN is a company founded with the combined powers of REDICE STUDIO, creators of "Solo Leveling," and L SEVEN, creators of "Omniscient Reader."

We aim to provide a superior media experience for our readers and set the full potential of both companies into motion.

A comic book publisher with a mission to "bring FUN to life through the power of stories,” FUNGUILD plans and edits original comics that resonate with their readership of girls, women, and young men, making them available via various Japanese and worldwide online comic sites.

NTT Solmare Corp. runs "Comic c'moa," one of the largest e-book websites in Japan, through its e-manga editorial department "Solmare Publishing." As well as adapting a vast number of properties, they provide full support to new artists to help them create smash hit works.

Planeta Cómic, part of Grupo Planeta, was created in 1982. It offers a wide range of shonen manga such as Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, Naruto, One Piece and Haikyu, as well as kodomo, seinen, shojo, yuri and BL manga works. It also has its own successful magazine: Planeta Manga.

The Star Wars books and other independent works form part of its North American offering, deserving of special mention. Also noteworthy is its collection of graphic novels, including titles such as “Nada,” “Voces que cuentan” and “From Hell.”

We are a Manga Artist Entertainment Production company with a vision to create the stage where the next generation of manga artists can be active and accelerate the evolution of Japanese manga. Working closely with manga artists' careers, we push the envelope on manga as an artform. For companies, we provide services such as the Original Story Advertising Manga "Orist" service, which produces manga for commercials. We also deliver manga to publishers through our Team-based Serialization and Comic Production "Manpro" business.

Mecha Comic, one of Japan's largest e-book sites, plans and produces with its production partners the original brand "Mecha Comic Original," which is distributed on e-book sites in Japan and abroad. Note: Books are sold under the Amucomi brand in bookstores other than Mecha-Comic.

The leading digital publisher of webcomics and novels, Tapas is a pioneer mobile storytelling platform with more than 8.7 billion views to date from more than 9M registered users reading 99,000 series by 64,000 creators.

SHOGAKUKAN is a general publishing company that publishes magazines such as comic magazines, children's magazines, information magazines, women's magazines, books and picture books. The comic magazine genre covers a wide range of readers from boys and girls to adults, such as CoroCoro Comic, Weekly Shonen Sunday, Sho-Comi, and Big Comic. The company also runs the comic app, Manga One, which has been downloaded over 20 million times.

Pocket Comics is a manga/novel app that features a vast collection of vertically scrolling, full-color manga. In addition to the Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese versions, the English version of the app is available in France, Taiwan, the United States, and other English-speaking countries, having been downloaded more than 35 million times worldwide.

Founded in June, 1991, Ever Glory Publishing Co., Ltd. has mainly had educational- and entertainment-oriented children’s books published and distributed. It once gained authorizations from SHOGAKUKAN, Kodansha, SHUEISHA, and Akita Shoten to issue comic in Chinese versions in Taiwan. Moreover, local cartoonists cultivated by the company are widely recognized nowadays and bring the eyes of the world to the international comics market.

One of the biggest international manga competitions, exclusively without dialogue. It is organized by COAMIX Inc., a manga publisher founded by iconic creators such as Tetsuo Hara and Tsukasa Hojo. The competition aims to discover, nurture, and publish the next generation of international manga creators through exclusive opportunities, such as the MasterClass and Kumamoto-based Artists Village projects.

Our goal is to support everyone in creating their own manga while having fun drawing it. We have produced many award-winning and debut artists. In addition to storyboard lessons that cover how to structure a complete 32-page storyboard, we also hold individual consultations and storyboard exchange sessions to answer concerns about the creation of comics.

A creator agency whose mission is to change each and everyone’s world through the power of storytelling. The agency aims to create a world where comics can shine brightly, where excitement is generated from creators and fans connecting directly and building a model for entertainment in the Internet age that goes beyond traditional publishing and distribution.

Fanfan Inc., located in Hangzhou, China, is an all-around IP business that deals in importing international cartoons, fostering domestic Chinese cartooning talent, and selling character merchandise. Since its founding over a decade ago, Fanfan Inc. has grown to a mid-sized company in the Chinese animation industry.

Founded in 1945, Shonengahosha is a publisher with a long history that specializes in manga. The publisher covers a wide range of genres, from magazines aimed at young people such as "Young King," "Ours," and "Young Comic," to convenience store comic titles such as "Neko Punch," and "Omoide Shokudo." In particular, Shonengahosha publishes works with a strong point of view that manga connoisseurs favor. In recent years, they have also garnered a larger audience with the Manga DX+ app.

The Japan Cartoonists Association was established in December 1964 as the only nationwide organization of Japan's manga artist at that time and became an Incorporated Association in 1985 before becoming a Public Interest Incorporated Association in 2014. It is engaged in a variety of projects, such as research on comics, efforts in popularizing comics and comics culture, and comics cultural exchange with other countries.

Manga Japan is an organization that aims to promote the development of manga culture and artists, contribute to society through the manga industry, promote international exchange, and improve production environments for manga authors and others involved in the industry.

The Digital Manga Association is an organization of volunteers established to explore creative technologies for the creation of digital manga and comics and research copyright issues caused by digitization.

Celsys continues to support creators to create artistic content with digital technology.

Celsys provides solutions for content creation, distribution, and browsing, including support of creative activities through the “Clip Studio Paint” app for illustration, manga and animation production, as well as the “Clip Studio” web service, and the “Clip Studio Reader” e-book solution.