The "Manga Taisho 2026" awards (organized by the Executive Committee), in which booksellers with extensive knowledge of manga select "the manga they would most recommend to their friends right now," were announced on March 26, and the grand prize was awarded to "Hon Nara Uru Hodo" by Ao Kojima, which is currently serialized in "Haruta" (KADOKAWA).
"The More Books You Sell" is a series of short stories set in Jūgatsudō, a used bookstore run by a listless young man with his hair pulled back, depicting the subtleties of the lives of various book lovers. Attracted by the owner's personality and wonderful selection of books, Jūgatsudō is visited by a variety of customers, including book-loving regulars, high school girls trying to act more grown-up, men who come to throw away unwanted books, and widows who come to sell their husbands' book collections. A single book picked up by chance connects unexpected relationships.
The Manga Taisho Award, established in 2008, is a manga award characterized by the fact that manga artists, editors, book designers, and other stakeholders with a direct vested interest in manga sales are not involved in the judging process. Works selected for the grand prize attract attention, see a surge in sales, and sometimes lead to media adaptations such as anime or movies.
This is the 19th time the award has been held, and it is open to manga series (excluding past winners) that were released as comics or ebooks between January 1st and December 31st, 2025, and have a total of 8 volumes or less.
Past winners of the Grand Prize include Yuki Suetsugu's "Chihayafuru," Chica Umino's "March Comes in Like a Lion," Satoru Noda's "Golden Kamuy ," Mitsuharu Yanagimoto's "Hibiki: How to Become a Novelist," and " Frieren: Beyond Journey's End ," based on a story by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe . In 2025, the award went to Kiko Urino's "Alice, To the Universe."
◇ Nominated works for the "Manga Taisho 2026" (titles omitted)
"My Little Sister Knows" by Ganki Mari; "Welcome Back to the Horizon" by Watanabe Taiyo; "Dissecting Monsters" by Saito Mado; "Thank You Pitch" by Sumiyoshi Kyu; "The Evil God's Bento Shop" by Ishiko; "Dan Mitsu" by Seino Toru; "The Person Who Used to Be My Friend: A Collection of Works by Kinuta Miya" by Kinuta Miya; "The Man-Eating Apartment and the Landlord's Maison" by Tanaka Sora and Akima; "The More Books I Sell, the More I Want to Sell" by Kojima Ao; "The Ichi the Witch" by Usazaki Shiro and Nishi Osamu; "RIOT" by Tsukada Yuta; "Roadside Fujii" by Nabekurao
◇Past Grand Prize Winning Works (titles omitted)
"Gaku" by Shinichi Ishizuka; "Chihayafuru" by Yuki Suetsugu; "Thermae Romae" by Mari Yamazaki; "March Comes in Like a Lion" by Chica Umino; "Silver Spoon" by Hiromu Arakawa; "Our Little Sister" by Akimi Yoshida; "A Bride's Story" by Kaoru Mori; "Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey" by Akiko Higashimura; "Golden Kamuy" by Satoru Noda; "Hibiki: How to Become a Novelist" by Mitsuharu Yanagimoto; "BEASTARS" by Paru Itagaki; "Astra Lost in Space" by Kenta Shinohara; "Blue Period" by Tsubasa Yamaguchi; "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe; "The Darwin Incident" by Shun Umezawa; "Kore Kaite Shine" by Minoru Toyoda; "To Walk Through Space with You" by Inuhiko Doronoda; "Alice, Dokomademo"by Kiko Urino
