What is the Kyoto International Creators Award “Comic Contest”?
The Kyoto International Creators Award is an international contest designed for aspiring creators of manga, anime, etc. to debut their works at Kyoto, Japan.
There are two "Open Theme" contests, the Comic Contest and the Animation Contest.
Please submit your best work!
Past winners have successfully joined the manga and anime industry!
2023 Ryuhnosuke Gojoh
2022 Nalu
22021 Nigou
2020 Gene
Gene's manga, "wei guang de zhao huan shi" (Summoner of Faint Light) currently in a serialization deal with a Taiwanese publishing company, Ever Glory Publishing.
2019 YingFu
YingFu's "Ouryo Kishi" is being serialized in "Monthly Shonen" by Tongli Publishing (Taiwan).
© Natsu Tenshima studio / Shueisha
2018 Hsun
Hsun's 2018 Grand Prize work "She and He" has been serialized on Jump + (Shueisha / Japan)
©隱藏關卡THL/Jōshō/Tongli Publishing Co., Ltd.
2017 Jōshō
©2018 nyaroro/SQUARE ENIX
2016 nyaroro
©ANTENNA牛魚／Shogakukan
2015 ANTENNA牛魚
There are 2 sections to the Kyoto International Creators Award!
Story Manga Section
Draw and create a manga about any theme.
Please submit the complete rough sketch if the complete manga drawings cannot be finished by the deadline.
Prize
Story Manga Section
Grand Prize(1 winner)
100,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Excellence Award(1 winner)
50,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Finalist(3 winners)
10,000 JPY
Special Jury Award
(for one or more works that did not win a prize, but have a distinctive art style that caught the jury's eye)
10,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
*Winners will be selected among all entries, including those submitted through the Anime Contest.
Drawing Section
Finalist(1 winner)
10,000 JPY
Animation Contest Entries Due August 31, 2024
The winners will be invited to Kyoto!
*Invitations are open to those residing in Japan only.
*Winning works will be introduced to all exhibiting editorial departments at the “Manga On-site Editorial Department” in early November.
The organizer will cover round-trip transportation expenses and accommodation fees (for one person per prize)!
For winners living overseas, we will send traditional souvenirs from Kyoto as a replacement for the invitation to the award ceremony.
A shortcut to becoming a professional!
【For the winners】
The secretariat of the Kyoto International Creators Award will share the prize-winning works of the "Kyoto International Manga Anime Award Manga Contest" with all editorial departments attending the "Manga Editorial Department Gathering" by KYO-MAF. It is planned to take place in late November to early December. There's a chance your work will get picked up by a successful editor!
【Other benefits besides winning!? 】Introducing the Scouting System!
About 30 manga editors will participate in the Manga Editorial Department Gathering at KYO-MAF. If your artwork catches their eyes, they might want to offer a job to you at their firm. So, even if you don't win the contest, there's still a chance to join the industry! All communications will be done through MediBang.
Special Review!
Judge
Manga editor, Shonen Jump+ editorial staff
Shihei Rin
Shihei Rin joined Shueisha in 2006.
He is currently in charge of editing “SPY × FAMILY”, “Chainsaw Man”, “HEART GEAR”, “Dandadan”, “Beat & Motion”, and “Kindergarten WARS”.
Works he has worked on in the past include "Blue Exorcist", “Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life”, “Fire Punch”, “Kemono Jihen”, “Left-handed Ellen”, “Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku”, “Kakko Kawaii Sengen!”, “Look Back” and many others.
Judge
LINE Digital Frontier Corp's General Manager and Content Production Department.
Hiroshi Haruki
He was involved in the operation of the online game portal “Hangame” for over 8 years.
After that, he worked for 10 years in the Comico division, where he was involved in discovering new authors and editing their works. One of his best-known collaborations is “ReLIFE”.
In 2024, he joined LINE Digital Frontier Corporation.
Judge
MAG Garden Corporation's Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Kansai Division.
Ryosuke Goto
Since joining the company in 2014, Ryosuke Goto has been involved in the reissue of the Monthly Comic Garden and the launch of MAGBOX, a collaborative label with Manga Box.
Ryosuke Goto is currently involved in MAGKAN, a web comic magazine run by MAG Garden Kansai Division (Umeda, Osaka). He is working to discover and nurture newcomers in remote area of Japan.
He has been teaching at the Character Creative Arts Department of Osaka University of Art since 2022.
Judge
Manga Editor, Head of Kodansha Creators' Lab
Ryoichi Suzuki
After joining Kodansha in 2006, he worked for "Weekly Shonen Magazine" and "Young Magazine" as an editor for works such as "As the Gods Will", "Bokutachi ga Yarimashita", "My Roomie Is a Dino", etc.
He launched "DAYS NEO" in 2018 and "Kodansha Game Creators Lab" in 2020.
He has been the director of Kodansha Creators Lab since 2021.
In addition...we have also started collaborating with the manga submission site DAYS NEO.
This is your chance to have your work looked at by the the editors at DAYS NEO!
From the submitted entries, the ones that remain after the second round of judging will be sent to 490 editors across 15 companies and 56 editorial departments, including Kodansha's.
Once you receive an "Assignment Request" from one of the editors, you are the one who decides if you'd like to be assigned to the project.
Don't miss out on this chance!
Enter in 4 easy step
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1Draw a manga
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2Check the box next to the banner
Required!
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3Submit the participant formSubmit to ART street
Required!
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4Submit to ART street
Submit
Users outside of Japan can use MediBang translation
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1Submit manga
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2MediBang translates
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3Judging commences
*Limited to English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional).
Submission Details
- Entry Period
- Friday, May 31, 2024 - Saturday, August 31, 2024 5PM*JST
- Entry Format
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Applicable to all sections
・MDP, JPG, PNG (File size: less than 30MB)
・No page order specified (right-to-left, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, any order is acceptable)
・Acceptable languages are Japanese, English, Spanish and Chinese (Simplified / Traditional).
Story Manga Section
・No page limit (recommended between 16 and 45 pages)
・Entries must be original manga works.
・Free choice of manga themes
・No genre restrictions
Colored Drawing Section
・The number of pages is in principle two (a one-page entry is acceptable).
- Qualification Requirements
- Aspiring Indie Manga creators who want to make their debut in Japan, or professional Manga creators who are currently not publishing in any commercial outlets.
- Please Note
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・AI-generated works are not eligible for this contest.
・Entries must be original works where the applicant has the copyrights. You cannot submit works that have been published in a commercial outlet or an app (both Japanese and International), works that have won awards in a competition in Japan including new artist awards, or works that are currently participating in another competition. You may submit works that you have already posted on an art website or social media.
・Depictions that infringe upon the rights (image rights, copyrights, etc.) of a third party are prohibited.
・Anyone can enter the contest, regardless of whether you are a pro or just drawing as a hobby.
・Derivative work (e.g. alt. world, side story, doujinshi, fanfiction, etc.) of commercialized content is not allowed.
・The prize-winning works (such as the title, pen name, part or all of the work, etc.) may be used by the organizer without compensation for the announcement of the results, printed materials, and use on the homepage to publicize the event.
・Entrants must keep the original file before the results are announced.
・The rights of the work submitted for the prize belong to the entrant. Additionally, an editorial department may contact the entrant through the organizer for magazine publications.
・The prize may be revoked if we discover that an entry condition was not fulfilled after the result announcement.
・You can submit any artwork that is drawn by any paint tool either in analog and digital.
・After the submission period, you may receive a notification from info-contests@medibang.com sent to the email address registered through your MediBang account. If you do not reply within the deadline, your work may be excluded. Please remember to check your inbox regularly for the notification. You can check your registered email address here.
*Not everyone will receive an email from info-contests@medibang.com after the entry period. Only those selected will be contacted.
*We do not accept any questions sent through info-contests@medibang.com.
・Please note that works submitted to the contest will be used without compensation by the city of Kyoto and MediBang, Inc. The works will be used for social networking services/sites, catalogs, etc., for contest promotion, advertising, announcement of the results, etc.
・At the award ceremony, photos of the winners will be taken. Please note that those photos may be posted on websites and social media managed by the city of Kyoto and MediBang Inc.
- How to Enter
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【Try to enter the contest from from this page】
1.Register or log-in ART street.
2.Click "enter" at the bottom of this page.
3. Select a file format, and upload your manga.
4. Change settings for "Age restrictions" "Details" "Cover and Pages" etc.
5. Check the banner Kyoto International Manga Anime Award 2024 Manga Contest under "Participate in the contest"
6. It will take you to the entry form. Please fill it in.
7. Click "Publish to ART street".
【Artwork/Manga that has been submitted to ART street】
1.Select "manga" from "Your submissions"
2.Choose the submission and press "Details"
3.Add "Kyoto International Manga Anime Award 2024 Manga Contest" banner from "Apply for a Contest"
4. It will take you to the entry form. Please fill it in.
5. Click "Publish to ART street".
【Enter from MediBang Paint】
1. Search for "Kyoto International Manga Anime Award 2024 Manga Contest" under "Contest" or "Apply for a Contest"
2. Click "Yes" when the message ”Open your browser" appears.
3. Select a file format, and upload your manga.
4. Change settings for "Age restrictions" "Details" "Cover and Pages" etc.
5. Check the banner Kyoto International Manga Anime Award 2024 Manga Contest under "Participate in the contest"
6. It will take you to the entry form. Please fill it in.
7. Click "Publish to ART street".
MediBang Pro does not support the submission of entries. Please save your work locally, and then follow the instructions on the “To submit your work from the contest page”.
- Prize
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Story Manga Section
Grand Prize (1 winner): 100,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Excellence Award (1 winner): 50,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Finalist (3 winners): 10,000 JPY
Special Jury Award (for one or more works that did not win a prize, but have a distinctive art style that caught the jury's eye): 10,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Colored Drawing Section
Finalist (1 winner): 10,000 JPY
*The winning works will be shared with all exhibiting editorial departments at the “Manga Editorial Department Gathering” in early November.
*Invitations are open to those residing in Japan only.
- How to Claim your Prize
- Prize money will be credited to the Medibang account you applied with. To receive the prize money, please register a PayPal account or provide your bank account information. Please note that any transaction fee will not be covered by us.
- Attention!
- By entering the contest, you are agreeing to the Entry Terms , please read the full text. In addition, PLEASE NOTE that after the contest entry period is over, except for the addition of tags, submitted works cannot be edited or deleted.
