U-NEXT will be a special sponsor of the “Next Manga Award 2024”, a manga award where readers are the main characters.

U-NEXT, where you can also enjoy manga, supports the “next manga”

“The Next Manga Award 2024” is a collaboration between KADOKAWA Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Tsuyoshi Natsuno) and Bookwalker Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Gaku Morita) This is a co-hosted manga award with user participation, which will be held for the 10th time this year.

U-NEXT is a special sponsor of this award for the first time in 2019. Although we are a video distribution service, we are also a bookstore that also handles manga, and we have been working on initiatives that can be enjoyed by manga fans. In addition, we selected the “U-NEXT Award” as a “NEXT breakout work that we would like to recommend to you (U)!”, a free manga campaign on U-NEXT, and a collaboration project with the mahjong professional league match “M League”. We have also implemented our own unique measures.

2023

Comics category: “Ryu and Chameleon” (Author: Ryo Ishiyama/Publisher: Square Enix)

©Ryo Ishiyama/SQUARE ENIX

Web Manga Category: “Banoh” (Original work: Tomoya Watabiki, Illustration: Spring Summer Winter Garaku/Publisher: Shueisha)

©Tomoya Watabiki/Spring/Summer/Winter Painting/Shueisha

2022

Comics category: “Kujima Singing House Hororo” (Author: Akira Konno/Publisher: Shogakukan)

©Akira Konno/Shogakukan

Web Manga Category: “Thank you for another world” (Original story: Azuki Arai, Illustration: Gianas/Publisher: Shogakukan)

© Azuki Arai/Jianas/Shogakukan

2021
Comics category: “SAKAMOTO DAYS” (Author: Yuto Suzuki/Publisher: Shueisha)

©Yuto Suzuki/Shueisha

Web Manga Category: “A reincarnated aristocrat rises to fame with his appraisal skills – I inherited a weak territory, so if I had increased the number of talented people, it would have become the strongest territory -” (Original story: Future Person A, Manga: Natsumi Inoue, Original character design) :jimmy/Publisher: Kodansha)

© Natsumi Inoue/Miraito A/jimmy/Kodansha

2020
Comics category: “Natsume Arata's Marriage” (Author: Nogizaka Taro/Publisher: Shogakukan)

©Nogizaka Taro/Shogakukan

Web Manga Category: “Paripi Komei” (Original work: Yubori Yotsuba, Manga: Ryo Ogawa/Publisher: Kodansha)

©Yobori Yotsuba/Ryo Ogawa/Kodansha

2019
Comics category: “Rydon King” (Author: Yasushi Baba/Publisher: Kodansha)

© Baba Yasushi/Kodansha

Web Manga Category: “Uncle from Another World” (Author: Almost Dead/Publisher: KADOKAWA)

©Almost dead/KADOKAWA

U-NEXT will continue to carry out various initiatives this year so that manga fans can enjoy it. Please look forward to future developments.

[“Next Manga Award 2024” project overview]

This is a user-participatory manga award created with the aim of discovering and introducing “manga that is likely to break out next” through nominations and voting by all manga fans. Users are asked to recommend manga that they think will come next (entries), and the “Next Manga Award Steering Committee” selects candidate works from the submitted works (nominations). We will once again accept user votes for the nominated works and determine the grand prize winner.

【Official site】

[Entry method]

Reception period: May 9, 2024 (Thursday) 11:00 to May 23, 2024 (Thursday) 11:00

Entry method: Entry from the official website of “Next Manga Award 2024”

Number of entries: Up to 5 works in the Comics category / Up to 5 works in the Web Manga category

[Recruitment category & entry conditions]

●Comics section

– Manga works whose series has been published within 5 volumes or whose serialization start date is after January 1, 2023 are eligible.

-Manga works that are serialized in paper magazines as the main medium as of May 9, 2024

-R18 works are not eligible.

– Genre doesn't matter

●Web manga category

– Manga works that are serialized on the web as the main medium as of May 9, 2024 (Thursday) are eligible.

– Genre doesn't matter. However, this is limited to original works (secondary creations and works designated for adults are not eligible)

– If the work has already been published as a book, the series has less than 5 volumes published, or the serialization start date is after January 1, 2023.

【Future plans】

User voting starts: June 21, 2024 (Friday)

User voting deadline: July 8, 2024 (Monday)

Results announcement: Scheduled for Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Management of “Next Manga Award”

[Sponsor]KADOKAWA Co., Ltd./Book Walker Co., Ltd.

[Special Sponsor]

Nichirei Foods Co., Ltd.

U-NEXT

[Sponsor]

Design Pocket / ebookjapan / GANMA! / Kinokuniya Bookstore Kinoppy / Comic Seymour / DMM Books / d book / Hybrid bookstore honto / BOOK☆WALKER / Book Live / MAGCOMI / Manga DX + / Mecha Comic / LINE Manga / Reader Store / Renta!

[Cooperation]Yomiuri Shimbun

What is U-NEXT?

U-NEXT is the video distribution service with the No. 1 number of unlimited viewing works*. In addition to enjoying over 370,000 movies, dramas, and anime, you can also watch live music and performances as well as the world's best sports such as soccer, baseball, golf, and martial arts in real time. Furthermore, we distribute more than 1.05 million manga and books, and provide an entertainment experience that transcends genres, allowing you to seamlessly enjoy “videos,” “books,” “sports,” and “live” in one app. By integrating our services with Paravi in ​​July 2023, we will have a large lineup of dramas and variety shows from TBS and TV Tokyo, delivering even more attractive services.

U-NEXT Co., Ltd. is a group company of U-NEXT HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director, President and CEO: Yasuhide Uno).

U-NEXT：

U-NEXT SQUARE：

*According to GEM Partners/As of April 2024

A survey of Western movies/Japanese movies/foreign dramas/Korean/Asian dramas/domestic dramas/anime on major domestic flat-rate video distribution services. Separately, there are paid works.