by The Seiun Award is the longest-established and one of the most prestigious science fiction award in Japanese science fiction and surrounding media genres. Held once a year, the award was first implemented in 1970 as an award for outstanding works in the field of science fiction by Science Fiction Fan Groups’ Association of Nippon (SFFAN). According to critics and journalists the award was designed and inspired by the Hugo Award of the The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The winners are decided from the works of the previous year by fan voting of the Japanese Science Fiction Conference participants. This year 52nd Seiun Award was voted by participants of the 60th Japan Science Fiction Convention (Nihon SF Taikai) Tournament from April 24th to June 15th.
Natsumi Eguchi‘s surreal black humor comedy series Hoozuki no Reitetsu and Toriko Gin‘s Kimi o Shinasenai tame no Storia manga both won the “Best Science Fiction Comic” award this year while 2021 Best Science Fiction Media was awarded to Kiyotaka Taguchi‘s live-action television series Ultraman Z.
Here’s the full list of the winners and nomination chart of this year. Take a look.
Best Manga
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotouge
- Kimi wo Shinasenai tame no Storia by Toriko Gin (Winner)
- Hozuki’s Coolheadedness by Natsumi Eguchi (Winner)
- The Promised Neverland by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu
- School-Live! by Norimitsu Kaihō and Sadoru Chiba
- Hinamatsuri by Masao Ohtake
Best Media (Theater, Cinema, TV, Video game, and whole Entertainment)
- Deca-Dence (TV anime series)
- NHK Drama Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai (live-action TV series)
- Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (live-action film)
- Ultraman Z (live-action TV series) (Winner)
- ID: INVADED (TV anime series)
- BNA: Brand New Animal (TV anime series)
- Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (anime film)
- Eiga Precure Miracle Leap: Minna to Fushigi na 1-nichi (anime film)
- Drifting Dragons (TV anime series)
- Maeda Kensetsu Fantasy Eigyōbu (live-action film)
Art section (Best Illustrator)
- Tokyo fantasy
- Yuko Shiraishi (Winner)
- Yoshitoshi Abe
- Yuji Kaida
- Jun Kawana
- Koichi Sakano
- Kia Asamiya
- Katsuyuki Hoshino
- Ume graphics
- Hidetaka Tenjin
【Best Japanese Novel】
- Seikai Izumo no Heitan (The Logistics of Star System Izumo) by Jyoji Hayashi (Winner)
- I Didn’t Know the End by Taku Mayumura
- One More Nuke by Taiyō Fujii
- Rail Wars! by Takumi Toyoda
- Ode to Joy by Hiroe Suga
- Titan by Mado Nozaki
- The Irregular at Magic High School by Tsutomu Satou
- Shuri no Uma (A Horse from Shuri) by Haneko Takayama
- Jinkōchinō de 10-oku Get-suru Kanzen Hanzai Manual (The Complete Manual of How to Get One Billion Yen by Artificial Intelligence) by Jinzō Takeda
Best Japanese Short Story
- “Clearing the Galaxy” by Taiyo Fuji
- “Shirahagi Family’s Dining with Visions” by Ren Hanna
- “Orbital Christmas” by Haruna Ikezawa (Winner)
- “The Emperor in Wasserfall Drache” by Issui Ogawa
- “Gekiga: Sekai-kei” by Renji Ohki
- “American Buddha” by Katsuie Shibata (Winner)
- “Kluntsman’s Hidden Buddha” by Katsuie Shibata
- “Fountain of Books, Book Fountain” by Fumio Takano
- “Celestial Stage” by Yuya Takashima
Best Translated Novel
- All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, translated by Izumi Ichida
- The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss, translated by Jun Suzuki, Fumiyo Harashima, Mayumi Ohtani & Izumi Ichida
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, translated by Kazuko Onoda
- The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal, translated by Akinobu Sakai
- Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, translated by Hideko Akao
- The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, translated by Nozomi Ohomori, Touya Tachihara, Kaori Uehara & Ko Tomari (Winner)
- The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas, translated by Ken Mogi
- Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell, translated by Kazuyo Misumi
- Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele, translated by Tohru Nakamura
Best Tranlated Short Story
- “Our Science Fiction World” by Baoshu, translated by Kousaku Ai
- “This is Not the Way Home” by Greg Egan, translated by Makoto Yamagishi
- “About My Space Hero” by Cho-yeop Kim, translated by Bang-hwa Kan
- “If We Cannot Move at the Speed of Light” by Cho-yeop Kim, translated by Ji-young Yoon
- “The Weight of Memories” by Cixin Liu, translated by Ko Tomari
- “The Snow of Jinyang” by Zhang Ran, translated by Naoya Nakahara
- “Zima Blue” by Alastair Reynolds, translated by Naoya Nakahara (Winner)
- “My Crappy Autumn” by Nitay Peretz, translated by Masami Uekusa
- “The Syllables of Silence” by Zhou Wen, translated by Masami Asada
Non-Fiction
- “100 Minutes de Masterpiece” Arthur C. Clarke “Special March 2020 Not Just” Fantasy ” by Hideaki Sena (Winner)
- “Now is the time to reread Sakyo Komatsu ” by Tetsuya Miyazaki
- “Birth of Japanese Anime” by Aritsune Toyota
- “Girls’ Manga Bushiku Girls’ Thoughts” by Yukiko Tomiyama
- “I don’t have time, I’m busy thinking about important things” by by Ursula K. Le Guin,
translated by Akemi Tanigaki - “Magic and Occult Power in the Trump Era” by Gary Luckman, translated by Takashi Yasuda, Sachiko Ozawa
- “What is science?” by Osamu Sakura
- “Rose is born in Shuraba-Shojo manga assistant struggle in the 70’s-” by Nami Sasou
Hey! How do you feel about this list ? Did you know about the Seiun Awards ? If no, I am glad to make you aware. Do you recognize some of the titles among the winners ? Let us know everything in the comments.
