TBS NEWS x note '#MangaDeHoudoukyoku Submission Contest' Results Announcement!
For the TBS NEWS x note '#MangaDeHoudoukyoku Submission Contest' held until March 15, we received 511 entries from 141 participants. Thank you for submitting so many wonderful works. Please see here for a list of entries on note.
The judging process for '#MangaDeHoudoukyoku' will be broadcast on the CS channel 'TBS News Bird' on March 30 at 9:00 PM. (Rebroadcast on the 31st at 3:00 PM.) Please be sure to watch this as well.
As a result of the selection by the judges, the winning works have been decided as follows.
[Grand Prix]
Nukki-san / What I Saw Living in the Countryside (Gunma)
[Runner-up]
tuzy-san / Discretionary Labor 2
[Judge's Special Award (Chiki Ogiue)]
Keso@Homerareya-san / Anti-Laughter Movement
Judge's Comments: As a critic, apart from 'reporting' which conveys facts, I place importance on how 'attitudes' and 'opinions' are formed. I constantly remind myself to be sensitive, especially regarding issues involving human rights, to attitudes that 'mock' or 'sneer,' or opinions that 'disparage' or 'discriminate.' This work asks how we should behave, based on the premise that society can change depending on how the 'receiver' reacts, and it was also a depiction of daily life that made me nod and think, 'that's so true.' I chose it as my personal award because I resonated with the power of a work that captured such psychology in just a few panels. (
Chiki Ogiue)
[Judge's Special Award (Chin Nakamura)]
Yuki Mado-san / The Forgotten Waste Problem
Judge's Comments: The waste problem we learned so much about... I had completely forgotten it, and I even felt like, 'I haven't heard about it lately, so maybe it's mostly solved.' While this work is a topic that makes your ears burn and tires you out if you read it looking for an entertaining reading experience, I think it is 'manga reporting' that embodies #MangaDeHoudoukyoku. The post-reading feeling of 'I forgot until it was reported,' 'I didn't notice until it was reported' (...and sometimes, 'thinking is a hassle, so I didn't want to encounter this news right now') was exactly what it feels like to come into contact with 'reporting.' (
Chin Nakamura)
[Judge's Special Award (Petit Kashima)]
Fumu Tsunoda-san / 'Predictive Text on Her Smartphone'
Judge's Comments: My definition of a manga work that reflects society is one where 'even the side being depicted can't help but smile bitterly.' Things that become harsh when put into words or text can make you smirk when in manga form. It's lighthearted but sharp. I like that style. I believe this is the same as the definition of current affairs topics, so it is also a goal for my own performance style. (Petit Kashima)
[Judge's Special Award (Yoshifumi Kakiuchi)]
Tono-san / Can childcare and work be balanced?
Reviewer's comment: I believe the strength of manga lies in having a "protagonist." Through the existence of the protagonist, you can experience the story as if it were your own. You can feel the same sweat in your palms as the protagonist. I highly evaluated how this work maximizes the characteristics of manga to transform world news, which at first glance seems like "someone else's business," into the reader's "own business," making them think, "This is my problem!" or "Could this be about me!?" Balancing childcare and work is, after all, just a pipe dream, isn't it! (Yoshifumi Kakiuchi)
[Judge's Special Award (Takayuki Fukatsu)]
Mupi-san / Before and after birth
Reviewer's comment: This work depicts the changes in married life before and after the birth of a child. It uses a simple series of before-and-after comparisons to effectively express these life changes. The rhythm is excellent when viewing the work on a smartphone. I selected this as a way to evaluate the exploration of manga expression for a new era. Since it is a format that is easy to expand, I think it will become even more attractive as more works are added. (Takayuki Fukatsu)
[Honorable Mention]
Nui Yomogii-san / Internet Literacy
Ashinoyoshi-san / My daughter clutches her New Year's money and heads to Ikebukuro, the holy land for anime-obsessed girls # Yesterday's Highlight
Amairo-san / People who can't meet
oweno-san / [Manga] With respect to the girl who carries a driver's license with a message of love written on it
Seta-san / The troubles I had when traveling abroad with gender identity disorder
Kanekyo (Manga/Illustration) / [My Home] A Tough Job
Junsei Senda / Do You Want to Die?
Sogo / A Story About Dual-Income Households, My Daughter's Illness, and Money
SoNo / Short-Short ⑤: Active for Life
sk234354 / The Incident with Returning the Test
[General Review]
Despite the short duration of the contest, we received works with various styles and from diverse perspectives.
The relationship between manga and journalism is not limited to political satire. What may be a trivial daily occurrence for one person can become a documentary for someone else who is directly affected by a social issue. Even for events with significant social impact, everyone's perception is different. I was reminded of the potential of expression through manga to foster empathy and raise issues by capturing things in a way only manga can.
Nowadays, there is an increase in high-quality works, such as manga reportage, works that highlight previously overlooked fields, and autobiographical works by those directly involved. There are also many manga that spark discussion when published and shared on social media. I would be happy if we had more opportunities to encounter works that raise issues in a non-sensational way. (Chiki Ogiue)
As expected of a manga award that requires a hashtag to submit, the number of entries was truly impressive! Thank you for your hard work in completing your manuscripts.
To be critical, an overwhelming number of manuscripts felt like they were drawn to express the author's own feelings rather than to deliver information to others—I found myself thinking, "This is a news contest, not an essay!" However, what was good was that this became a manga award with the power to break down rigid assumptions like "small personal stories aren't journalism!" It was a difficult selection process where the pros and cons were two sides of the same coin.
Small news stories are also important records that reflect the times. That is likely why "trivial daily events" were included in the scope of the call for entries. Since it is a manga award, we have to divide them into winners and losers, but regardless of the outcome, all the manuscripts you drew were reported to us, and now they have become news that we know.
Even if there is a next time, please don't read past works to strategize for winning; just deliver the news you want to convey. That is what I believe journalism is. (Chin Nakamura)
This contest was very interesting. When I was a child, I grew to love current events by reading "Yorinuki Sazae-san" left in the dentist's waiting room and "Shoji Yamato's Black Angle" in the weekly magazines my father bought. The power of manga is that it conveys things in an instant. This contest made me re-recognize the power of manga, or rather, the power of entertainment. I found myself reading through them, but perhaps what matters is what happens "after reading." Thank you for letting me experience society from various angles. (Puchi Kashima)
When I was first asked to be a judge, I honestly doubted how manga and news could possibly connect. However, once I started judging, I realized that because of the expressive method of manga, it captures "perspectives" and "realizations" so concisely that I had to change my mind and consider that there might not be a better combination.
As you can see from the list of winning works, news is actually found in daily life, not just on television. I hope you will hone that sense and apply again if there is another contest. Whether you are good at drawing or not is completely irrelevant. I believe that how you perceive the trivial events of every day is what makes your individuality into news. (Yoshifumi Kakiuchi)
I was surprised to see a wider variety of themes and expressions than I had expected. This time, the contest theme was restricted to "criticism of news and current events." Because of this, even though there were many excellent and high-quality works, several were disqualified due to category mismatch, which was a shame. Since the works that were not selected were not necessarily lacking in quality, I think some could have won if the timing or theme had been different.
Overall, works that conveyed their message in one go were rated higher than those that were too explanatory. (Takayuki Fukatsu)
First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who submitted their work to the "#MangaNewsBureau" contest, as well as everyone who viewed the works. Thank you very much.
From the work selected for an honorable mention, "[My Home] A Tough Job," I felt that "news is the same." I felt that news reported by the media, such as television, and news from the perspective of ordinary people submitted via manga are just as... no, perhaps in terms of "thinking about the margins," manga might even lead to the resolution of social issues in some cases. Since there was a greater response than expected, I would like to positively consider a "next time." (Makoto Ikeda)
The judging process for the '#Manga News Bureau' contest will be broadcast on the CS channel 'TBS News Bird' on March 30th starting at 9:00 PM. (A rebroadcast will air on the 31st at 3:00 PM.) Please be sure to watch it.
[Regarding the holding of this contest]
My first impression when I heard about this was that it might be a very interesting experiment. During the submission period, I enjoyed searching for and reading everyone's posts on note, wondering 'what kind of works are coming in?', but I was surprised by the sheer number of entries when I participated in the judging session for the '#Manga News Bureau' contest. Every work told the news from the creator's own perspective, and each one conveyed their personality through their art style and phrasing. The judges were also discussing things very seriously and passionately.
As a personal impression, I feel that whether the work was drawn based on the contest's purpose—'interesting focus (such as personal involvement or critical perspective)' and 'whether it leads to raising social issues (enlightenment and post-reading impact)'—greatly influenced the final judging results. Also, as other criteria, I felt that points like whether the meaning of using manga was conveyed, whether one could understand what was being depicted at a glance, whether the content allowed for vicarious experience, and whether it provided insights or made the reader think were key to the judging. Personally, I am drawn to styles where the main point is easy to understand, but if you read carefully and think about it, other meanings are hidden underneath, and I was happy to see such submissions.
By carrying out this project, I think it became an opportunity for both creators and readers to think about the joy of expression, the difficulty of conveying information, and the meaning of journalism while having fun. It seems very important to me not just to receive daily events through television and the internet, but to analyze why they happened, whether there are solutions, and what I would do myself, and then come up with an answer. And if this kind of contest can become a catalyst for many creators to play an active role, I felt that expression would continue to evolve from here, and new forms of journalism would be born. While dreaming of that happening, I am personally grateful to have been involved in such a new project. (Kenji Itoso)
Kenji Itoso Profile
Film director, Head of the Department of Plastic Arts and Professor at Osaka Seikei University. After studying under director Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, he has released works across genres, focusing on live-action and animation. He has worked on illustrations for the 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game', direction for the theatrical anime 'Dreaming Machine', direction for 'SMAP Concert Tour' videos, producer for the theatrical version of 'Attack on Titan', chief director for the theatrical anime 'Santa Company', and design for the official Embassy of Finland character 'Fintan'. He is well-versed in production using crowdfunding, with a cumulative total of over 800 million yen raised.
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It develops domestic and international news covered by JNN (Japan News Network), a Japanese commercial television news network with TBS Television as its key station, via the web and social media. On Facebook, it has about 150,000 followers, the largest for a commercial news official account. On note, it is updated as 'A Note to Like News Just a Little' from TBS, focusing on 'small stories' that show the faces of people.
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