The executive committee for the eighth Manga Taisho awards listed this year's 14 nominated works on Monday. (The official English name of the awards is the "Cartoon Grand Prize.")

Manga Taisho 2015 Nominees

Innocent

Shin'ichi Sakamoto

Ousamatachi no Viking (Kings' Viking)

Sadayasu, Makoto Fukami

Kakukaku Shikajika (Such-and-Such)

Akiko Higashimura

Kasane

Daruma Matsuura

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun)

Izumi Tsubaki

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)

Yoshitoki Ōima

Kodomo wa Wakatte Agenai (Children Wouldn't Understand)

Rettou Tajima

Dimitri Tomkins

Fumiko Takano

Blue Giant

Shinichi Ishizuka

Hōseki no Kuni (Kingdom of Gems)

Haruko Ichikawa

Ballroom e Yōkoso ( Sweep Over the Dance Floor or literally, Welcome to the Ballroom)

Tomo Takeuchi

Boku dake ga Inai Machi (The Town Where Only I Am Missing)

Kei Sanbe

Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia)

Kouhei Horikoshi

Mahou Tsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus' Bride)

Kore Yamazaki



The nominating committee is composed mainly of bookstore staffers who are in charge of their respective stores' manga. Any manga title that was released in 2014 and has eight volumes or less is eligible. The volume cap is intentionally added so that the prize winners would be relatively new works that have not already earned their popularity through sheer longevity.

The second round of voting will determine the winner of Manga Taisho 2015, which will be announced at an awards ceremony held later this year .

Last year, Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story won the award. Hiromu Arakawa's Silver Spoon , Shinichi Ishizuka's Gaku - Minna no Yama , Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru , Mari Yamazaki's Thermae Romae , Chika Umino's March comes in like a lion , and Akimi Yoshida's Umimachi Diary won the first six Manga Taisho in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively.