The winners of this year’s 29th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize were announced today. Top honors went to the semi-autobiographical manga 1-Byo 24-Koma no Boku no Jinsei (My Life at 24 Frames per Second) by famed anime director Rintaro, best known for directing Metropolis, the Galaxy Express 999 film, X/1999, and many more.
The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize began to commemorate manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka and is awarded to manga that promotes the progress of the medium. Previous winners include Naoki Urasawa for Monster, Uoto for Chi: On the Movements of the Earth and Satoru Noda for Golden Kamuy.
Alongside the Grand Prize, Shiho Kido won the New Creator Prize for their work When the Chameleon Flowers Bloom and Shunji Enomoto won the Short Work Prize for The Kinks. Rintaro will get a bronze statue and 2 million yen for the Grand Prize, while Kido and Enomoto receive a bronze statue and 1 million yen. The prizes will be given out at a ceremony on June 5.
1-Byo 24-Koma no Boku no Jinsei (My Life at 24 Frames per Second) Manga Cover
The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize was established in 1997 by Asahi Shimbun, which sponsors it every year. Unlike the Tezuka Award, another award commemorating Osamu Tezuka from Shueisha, the Cultural Prize is selected based on both creators and manga readers, with judges getting the final say on the winners by consensus.
A special award is also given each year to those who have greatly contributed to the development of manga culture, with Yokote Masuda Manga Museum set to receive the award this year for their work over the last 30 years in archiving original manga drawings.
Source: Comic Natalie
