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Behind most great anime, there is a great manga to be read. This is why it is so exciting that the American Manga Awards are back for their second annual awards ceremony on August 21, 2025. New York City’s Japan Society is hosting the event, which is held in conjunction with Anime NYC, and is bringing companies like Viz Media, Yen Press, Kodansha, and Seven Seas Entertainment together to celebrate the best manga and the biggest achievements in the industry.

What is so significant about the American Manga Awards is not just that they celebrate some of the great manga that has come out over the past year – the awards also highlight the people who bring manga to the English-speaking world with a category for Best Translation. There are seven total categories to keep an eye on.

Wondering if your favorite manga got tapped with an American Manga Awards nomination? Here are all the categories and the nominees:

Best New Manga

• Hikaru in the Light! Volume 1 by Mai Matsuda (Scholastic Graphix / Azuki)
• Dragon and Chameleon Volume 1 by Ryo Ishiyama (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All Volume 1 by Sumiko Arai (Yen Press)
• Spacewalking with You Volume 1 by Inuhiko Doronada (Kodamsha USA)
• A Witch’s Life in Mongol Volume 1 By Tomato Soup (Yen Press)

Best Continuing Series

• The Summer Hikaru Died Volume 5 by Mokumokuren (Yen Press)
• Innocent Omnibus Volume 3 by Shin’ichi Sakamoto (Dark Horse)
• Search and Destroy Volume 2 by Atsushi Kaneko (Fantagraphics/MSX)
• The Apothecary Diaries Volume 12-13 Manga by Natsu Hyuuga, Nekokurage, and Itsuki Nanao (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• Hirayasumi Volumes 3-5  by Keigo Shinzo (Viz Media)

Best One-Shot Manga

• H.P. Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space by Gou Tanabe (Dark Horse)
• Brain Damage by Shintaro Kago (Fantagraphics)
• A Smart and Courageous Child by Miki Yamamoto (TOKYOPOP)
• Tamaki and Amane by Fumi Yoshinaga (Yen Press)
• Stardust Family by Aki Poroyama (Yen Press)

Best New Edition of Classic Manga

• They Were 11! By Moto Hagio (Denpa Books)
• Short Game by Mitsuru Adachi (Denpa Books)
• Mansect by Koga Shinichi (Living the Line/Smudge)
• The Legend of Kamui Volume 1 by Sanpei Shirato (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow Volumes 1-2 by Asao Takamori (Tetsuya Chiba/Kodansha USA)

Best Lettering

• Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow Volumes 1-2 by Asao Takamori, Tetsuya Chiba with Lettering by Evan Hayden (Kodansha USA)
• Cat Man by Parai with Lettering by Rebecca Sza (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Love Laid Bare by Ouchi Kaeru with Lettering by Robert Harkins (FAKKU)
• My Tiny Senpai Volume 1 by Saisou with Lettering by Joven Voon (J-Novel Club)
• Search and Destroy Volume 2 by Atsushi Kaneko with Lettering by Phil Christie (Fantagraphics/MSX)

Best Translation

• Otaku Love Connection Volume 1 by Chu Amairo with Translation by minami (Square Enix Manga & Books)
• FaceMeat by Boten Taro with Translation by Ryan Holmberg (Living the Line/Smudge)
• Search and Destroy Volume 2 by Atsushi Kaneko with Translation by Ben Applegate (Fantagraphics/MSX)
• UltraHeaven Volume 1 by Keiichi Koike with Translation by Ajani Oloye (Last Gasp)
• The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant Volume 1 by Mizagaki Egao, various authors with Translation by Andreas Kronborg Danielsen (Blue Feathered Quill Publishing)

Best Publication Design

• The Legend of Kamui Volume 1 by Sanpei Shirato with Design by Lucia Gargiulo and Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Planetes Deluxe Edition Book 1 by Makoto Yukimura with Design by Riley VanDyle and Carle Gustav Horn (Dark Horse)
• Seaside Beta by ohuton with Design by emuh ruh (Glacier Bay Books)
• Viel Volume 1 by Kotteri with Design by Kohei Nawada Design Office (Udon Entertainment / MSX)
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Part 7: Steel Ball Run Volume 1 by Hirohiko Araki with Design by Adam Grano (Viz Media)

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Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Why the finales of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece feel like the end of an era in manga
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• Dan Da Dan is weird, profoundly inappropriate, and the perfect anime this season
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect anime hero for the dark times ahead
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Dan Da Dan's most emotionally devastating sequence proves that sometimes words aren't necessary
• Gnosia, the "Among Us meets Everything Everywhere All at Once" visual novel is getting an anime adaptation that needs to be as weird as possible
• Assassination Classroom is a Shonen anime well worth revisiting, ten years on
• Sony is making big moves to own the anime industry by buying Kadokawa, publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Konosuba
• 2025 is the year One Punch Man season 3 finally adapts the cosmically weird Monster Association Arc and I can't wait