Kevin Winata swept the 16th Itten Toppa Award and was published in the June 2025 issue of Monthly Comic ZENON, as well as on the official Comic ZENON website!!


Kevin is a creator from Indonesia who also received an Honorable Mention and the Special Judges’ Award in the 29th Comic ZENON Manga Taisho Award earlier this year! His 39-page one-shot, …And Justice for All, was highly rated by guest judge, Makoto Shiozuka-sensei (“The War of Greedy Witches“), as well as Tsukasa Hojo-sensei, Tetsuo Hara-sensei, Tsugihara Ryuji-sensei, and others! 

Now, with his new piece, Torn in Two, Kevin Winata has also won an Excellence Award in the 16th Itten Toppa!

The Itten Toppa Award is hosted twice a year, and works anywhere from 5 to 17 pages are accepted. Itten Toppa literally translates to “one point breakthrough”, and is a prize for creators to show off one, specific strength! You can check out the Itten Toppa contest details (in Japanese only) here. This year, Hatsumi Kodama, the author of Konoyo wa Tatakau Kachi ga Aru, participated as the guest judge! Kodama-sensei had this to say about Torn in Two:

“You really hit the spot with the eerie atmosphere! Overall, the drawings swept me away. I really loved it! If I’m being picky, I felt that the size of your onomatopoeia could be adjusted to fit the sounds they represented a little better, and there was one part of the story that I felt was a bit questionable, but overall, the quality of the story is really high. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and fans will naturally gravitate to your work!”  

Torn in Two is the story of a pair of twin sisters, Greta and Gretel, and their mother. On the outside, Greta is a perfectly ordinary girl. However, her mother’s blatant favoritism towards her twin isn’t ordinary at all… nor is Gretel’s strange appearance. No matter how much Greta tries, her mother doesn’t pay her any attention. Jealously slowly eats away at Greta, until… 

READ TORN IN TWO IN ENGLISH HERE!

Want to hear more from Kevin Winata? This talented creator is now on Instagram! Check out his social media for more stunning artwork!

Instagram: @theartofkev

Want to get published? The deadline to join SMA23 is October 1st, 2025. Enter for a chance to fulfill your dream and develop your potential as a manga creator with us in Japan!