Anime NYC 2025: The 2nd Annual American Manga Awards

Since the announcement of the first American Manga Awards last year, I knew I wanted to one day attend the awards in person. This year, my wish came true! I’m grateful to have been able to attend the award show this year as press for The Wonder of Anime, thanks to the incredible PR team. As this was my first time attending, I was not sure what to expect, but the entire experience was better than anything I could have ever imagined.

I can’t accurately express what it means to have been in attendance. I’ve been a manga fan since I was 10 (shoutout to the public library) and obviously read a lot of manga as part of my work on The Wonder of Anime. I’ve interviewed David Evelyn, a translator who was nominated last year for his work, and letterer Brandon Bovia, who worked on some of the manga nominated this year. I follow Deb Aoki’s work religiously, and have learned so much about the industry as a result. All this to say, I truly love the manga industry, and attending the American Manga Awards was a highlight of my manga reviewing career.

2025 American Manga Award Honors

The 2nd Annual American Manga Awards took place on Thursday, August 22, 2025, at Japan Society. They were hosted by manga industry veteran Matt Alt, who is a translator and the author of Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World. He was an incredible host and brought a lot of fun to the award ceremony. We all laughed and maybe even shed a few tears throughout the ceremony.

The American Manga Awards first honored three mangaka from Japan with the Anime NYC American Manga Award of Distinction. “This award honors Anime NYC manga creator guests who have created memorable stories that feature innovative, artistic, and compelling visual storytelling.”

The three recipients were:

• Takeru Hokazono, Creator of Kagurabachi (Shonen Jump / Manga Plus by Shueisha)
• Minetaro Mochizuki, Creator of Dragon Head, Hauntress (Kodansha), Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (Dark Horse Manga) and Chiisakobee (coming in 2026 from Kana / Abrams)
• Kengo Hanazawa, Creator of I Am a Hero (Dark Horse Manga) and Under Ninja (Denpa)

Next, the American Manga Awards Manga Publishing Hall of Fame Honors were dedicated to the founding members of Studio Proteus. Founded in 1986 by Toren Smith, Studio Proteus is a publishing and localization company responsible for bringing Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow, Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, Domu by Katsuhiro Otomo, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki to the West.

Tom Orzechowski, a founding member and award-winning comics letterer, accepted the award on behalf of Studio Proteus, including founder / editor Toren Smith, letterer/retouch artists Tomoko Saito and Lois Athena Buhalis, translators Dana Lewis, Alan Gleason, and Frederik L. Schodt, and artist / assistant translator Adam Warren.

2025 American Manga Award Winners

Best New Manga

Best Continuing Manga Series

Best New Edition of Classic Manga

Best One-Shot Manga

Best Translation

Best Lettering

Best Publication Design