Winners of the 31st Kodansha Manga Award have been announced. Kodansha Manga Award is awarded annually to works published in the previous year by Kodansha. This year the winners are:

Children's manga category:

- Tenshi no Frypan (Angel's Frypan) (天使のフライパン) by Etsuji Ogawa (小川 悦司) [ Comic BonBon ]

Shounen manga category:

- Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (さよなら絶望先生) by Koji Kumeta (久米田 康治) [ Weekly Shounen Magazine ]

- Dear Boys Act II (DEAR BOYS ACT Ⅱ) by Hiroki Yagami (八神 ひろき) [ Monthly Shonen Magazine ]

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The Tezuka Cultural Awards official site has been updated with the nominees for the 11th Osamu Tezuka Culture Award. Eight manga have been nominated for the award, they are:

• Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga [ Hakusensha ]
• Osaka Hamlet by Hiromi Morishita [ Futabasha ]
• Koukoku no Shugosha (Imperial Guards) by Story: Daisuke Sato; Art: Yu Ito [ Shueisha ]
• Danchi Tomoo by Tobira Oda [ Shogakukan ]
• Death Note by Story: Tsugumi Ohba; Art: Takeshi Obata [ Shueisha ]
• Hyouge-mono by Yoshihiro Yamada [ Kodansha ]
• Maihime Terpsichore by Ryoko Yamagishi [ Media Factory ]
• Moyashimon (Tales of Agriculture) by Masayuki Ishikawa [ Kodansha ]

The winners will be announced on May 10th. Go here for last year's winner.

The nominees for the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Awards have been announced, ManagBlog has a list of the manga-related nominations:

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan:

After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro (Go! Comi)
Antique Bakery, by Fumi Yoshinaga (Digital Manga)

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The nominees for the 2007 Seiun Award has been announced. Nominees for the comics category are:

• Death Note
• Buso Renkin
• Karakuri Circus
• Alfheim no Kishi (Knights of Elfhiem)
• Yokohama Shopping Log

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Kodakawa Shoten's 2007 Light Novel Award is now open to public voting. The award contain five categories:

• Love Comedy category
• School Life story category
• Action category
• Mystery category
• Novelize category

According to the awards page, those who vote will receive a chance to win gifts:

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Icarus Blog reports that Diamond has announced the result of the 2006 Gem Awards, where retailers cast their vote based on "quality, creativity and sales performance" in the market.

Viz Media was picked for "Video Manufacturer of the Year" and "Manga Trade Paperback of the Year for Naruto volume 9." Also, Dark Horse receives the "Special Recognition of Achievement in Publishing" award.

Source: Icarus Blog

The annual Japan Otaku Prize is an event that gives out award to the most memorable otaku-related events or products each years.

The winners of the Japan Otaku Prize 06/07 has been recently announced:

• Grand Prize: Ultra-man 80 (from Ultra-man Mobius)
• Okada Toshio Prize: Aso Taro
• Karasawa Shin'ichi Prize: Lion-maru G
• Fujitsu Ryota Prize: Gintama
• Ishiguro Naoki Prize: Inukami
• Miya Shotaro Prize: Yomigaeru Sora – RESCUE WINGS-
• Tsuruoka Hosai Prize: Monthly COMIC Ryu

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Zassosha's manga magazine PUFF is known by many fans as one of the definite study guides for those who appreciate manga. Every year, PUFF holds a special manga award feature called "Manga Best Ten," where readers vote for their favorite manga of the year, some even call this award the "Manga Oscar."

The winners of the 2006 Manga Best Ten were announced in the April issue of PUFF (2/28). Below are the winners of the long/short stories award:

Long Stories

1. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya [Hana to Yume / Hakusensha]
2. Gintama by Hideaki Sorachi - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
3. Bleach by Tite Kubo - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
4. Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa - [Monthly Shonen Gangan / Square Enix]
5. xxxHOLiC by CLAMP - [Weekly Young Magazine / Kodansha]
6. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
7. D.Gray-man by Katsura Hoshino - [Weekly Shonen Jump / Shueisha]
8. Kyo Kara Maoh! by Temari Matsumoto - [Asuka / Kadokawa Shoten]
9. Honey and Clover by Chika Umino - [Chorus / Shueisha]
10. Saiyuki Reload by Kazuya Minekura - [Comic Zero Sum / Ichijinsha]

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Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga 7 People’s Choice Award is now open to public voting. The voting will end on March 12, and the winning entry will be featured in the upcoming volume of Rising Stars of Manga, the winner will be awarded a cash prize of $500.

The winners of the first American Anime Awards has been announced at NYCC, and Fruits Basket won the award for best manga. Winners in other categories can be found here.