Eisner Awards 2023 announces Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey and 4 other manga nominations

Hayao Miyazaki with Shuna
Hayao Miyazaki with Shuna's Journey cover (Image via Macmillan)

Comic-Con recently announced that Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey and four other manga were nominated for Eisner Awards 2023. The news comes as the San Diego Comic-Con 2023 inches closer and closer. The manga were nominated as part of Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia.

The Eisner Awards are presented during the San Diego Comic-Con. The convention is dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness and appreciation for comics and related art forms. As mentioned earlier, the best works are presented with The Eisner Awards during the convention.


Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey and others nominated for Eisner Awards 2023

The San Diego Comic-Con is set to take place in July and the Eisner Awards will be presented in a gala awards ceremony on Friday, July 21, 2023. The ceremony will be held at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel.

As part of the awards ceremony, six books have been nominated for the prestigious Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia award. Five of these books happen to be Japanese manga.

An illustration from Black Paradox manga by Junji Ito (Image via Shueisha)
An illustration from Black Paradox manga by Junji Ito (Image via Shueisha)

Here are the nominees for the award:

  • Black Paradox, by Junji Ito (translated by Jocelyne Allen and published by VIZ Media)
  • Look Back, by Tatsuki Fujimoto (translated by Amanda Haley and published by VIZ Media)
  • PTSD Radio vol. 1, by Masaaki Nakayama (translated by Adam Hirsch and published by Kodansha)
  • Shuna's Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki (translated by Alex Dudok de Wit and published by First Second/Macmillan)
  • Talk to My Back, by Yamada Murasaki (translated by Ryan Holmberg and published by Drawn & Quarterly)
  • The Hellbound vols. 1-2, by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok (translated by Danny Lim and published by Dark Horse)

Out of the six nominations listed above, The Hellbound volumes. 1-2 is the only one that isn't a manga, but a webtoon. Other popular manga artists who were nominated include Hayao Miyazaki, Junji Ito, and Tatsuki Fujimoto.

Illustrations from Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey manga (Image via Macmillan Publsihers)
Illustrations from Hayao Miyazaki's Shuna's Journey manga (Image via Macmillan Publsihers)

Fans should know that the award was previously won by Junji Ito's Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection. The same was translated by Jocelyne Allen and published by VIZ Media.

In addition, Black Paradox and The Liminal Zone manga creator Junji Ito has also been nominated for the Best Writer/Artist award in the Eisner Awards 2023.

Here, the mangaka will be competing against four artists/writers - Sarah Andersen (Cryptid Club), Kate Beaton (Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands), Espé (The Pass), and Zoe Thorogood (It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth).

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