Sai no Sai Novel Grand Prize Announcement & Future Song/Video Production

The "Sai no Sai" novel open call received far more than expected, with130 submissions.

We are announcing the Grand Prize winner selected through a rigorous judging process.

Please note that the announcements for the xu Award, rira Award, and Kacchi Award are scheduled for 12/1.

Sai no Sai Novel Grand Prize

Choko: "What does 'I don't love you anymore' mean?"

Congratulations, Choko-san.

"What does 'I don't love you anymore' mean?" will serve as the original draft for the "Everyone's Christmas Song" track and video.

For the selection process, we used the following criteria: 1) Completeness as a novel, 2) Alignment with the theme of "Love between two people," and 3) Empathy. It goes without saying that among the 130 submissions, there were many works that were difficult to choose between.
Ultimately, we added the point that "it should be easier for many people to participate and empathize with as we create lyrics, music, and videos," and had the two judges (xu-san and rira-san) make the final selection.

The critiques will be provided at a later date (12/1) along with the announcement of the judge's awards.

Announcement of Song and Video Production Staff

From here on, we will finally begin creating Christmas songs and videos from both the male and female perspectives, based on the original draft "What does 'I don't love you anymore' mean?"

We would like to introduce the staff.

Titles omitted

■ Original Draft Choko

① Male Perspective Song
■ Lyrics: Open call (Today - 11/30, details below)
■ Music: Junpei
■ Vocals: Open call closed, currently under selection

② Female Perspective Song
■ Lyrics: Open call (Today - 11/30, details below)
■ Music: PJ
■ Vocals: Koyomi

③ Video (Both male and female perspectives)
■ Illustration: Shirokuma Kirin Shun Ninomiya
■ Video: Mimuko

The open calls for male vocalists and illustrators have been running in parallel with the novel submission.

The open call for male vocalists has closed and is currently under selection.

Shirokuma Kirin-san and Shun Ninomiya-san have been selected as the two illustrators.
They will serve as official "Sai no Sai" staff and be in charge of the video illustrations.

Congratulations, Shirokuma Kirin-san and Shun Ninomiya-san.

Lyrics Open Call

We are accepting lyric submissions for song and video production starting today until 11/30.

【Details】
Song lyrics based on the original work 'What does "I don't love you anymore" mean?'
Accepting lyrics from both male and female perspectives
You may submit for one or both perspectives, and multiple submissions are allowed
Please submit one work (either male or female perspective) per article
【Period】
11/24 (Wed) – 11/30 (Tue)
【Judges】
Junpei, PJ, xu, rira, Choko (Special judge currently being approached)
【Submission Hashtag】
#才の祭歌詞 (Common for both male and female perspectives)
【Other】
Lyrics may be arranged after consultation with the author during song production.

【Submission Details】

Guide article for writing lyrics (Recommended for beginners)

Sai no Sai Novel Awards Special Prize

There was one work that was debated until the very end during the selection of the Grand Prize.

Naoko Shichida: "RiNNe"

Both judges evaluated it as being a cut above the rest in terms of its completeness as a novel. However, considering that "it should be easy for many people to participate in the process of lyrics -> song -> video creation," we reluctantly decided to make it the runner-up this time. The staff also judged that it would be difficult to produce a song and video without destroying the world of the work within the short deadline before Christmas.

However, it would be a great waste to end it here.
We consider "RiNNe" to be in a separate category and would like to work on its video adaptation carefully.
This is the staff's sentiment.

Although it will not be in time for a Christmas song, we would like to launch a separate project aiming for next year's Valentine's Day, gathering the best possible staff to realize the world of "RiNNe" through a song and video.
Of course, this will be done in consultation with Ms. Shichida.

We have awarded it a Special Prize this time.

Congratulations, Ms. Naoko Shichida.

The critique will be provided at a later date (12/1) along with the announcement of the Jury Prizes.

Don't stop creating

There were some people who tried their hand at creative work for the first time through "Sai no Sai." It would be a great shame to stop here. We would like to introduce two related creative projects.

1. "Sai no Sai" Spin-out: A Wish to Santa (Project by xu)

xu, who is also a judge for "Sai no Sai," will be holding a spin-off project. The project title is "A Wish to Santa." Please post your wishes for Santa this year using Canva or illustrations.

【Project Details】

2. The 2nd "Pirika Grand Prix"

The short-short "Pirika Grand Prix" held in June is scheduled to be held again in December. For me personally, this is an important project that served as the catalyst for me to start working on novels.
The project details are scheduled to be announced by Pirika soon. Please wait a little longer.

[1st Pirika Grand Prix Collection of Works]