“All the works were of an equal level of excellence in this Round. Any one of them could easily be number one with the quality of work on show! Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing more entries with laughs in the next Round.”
Creator of: ‘Cat’s ♥ Eye’, ‘City Hunter’, ‘Angel Heart’, etc.
“The quality of art keeps increasing with every round, particularly with character expressions. Many artists have a great sense of paneling and I could see each gave their all with every entry.”
Creator of: ‘Fist of the North Star’ , ‘Keiji’, ‘Ikusa no Ko’, etc.
“Every artist proved their mastery of manga with their works for this Round. From the art and paneling to the narrative flow, they are all top quality works in my eyes.”
Creator of: ‘Yoroshiku Mecha-Doc’, ‘Restore Garage 251’, ‘Shonen Readom’, etc.
“Because of the theme, I felt that many of the stories represented situations that were personal to each artist’s life or culture. It was refreshing to see stories not really featured in Japanese manga.”
Creator of: ‘Commander Zero’, ‘Kigyō Senshi Yamazaki’, ‘Koroshiya Menkichi’, etc.
“In general, everyone was able to translate the theme into captivating stories. I felt everyone worked very hard, just by seeing the quality of drawing. It’s easy to notice that each artist poured their souls into their work.”
CEO, Coamix Inc. (Former Chief Editor of ‘Weekly Shonen Jump’ and ‘Monthly Comic Zenon’)
UNESCO Guest Judge Akané Nozaki
“UNESCO Bangkok is delighted to see inspiring silent manga entries illustrating diverse themes that reflect our mission. Dear artists, thank you for contributing to peace through your unique storytelling that amplifies our message and reaches out to a wider audience.”
UNESCO Guest Judge
GRAND PRIX RUNNER-UP
300,000 JPY
UNESCO AWARD
TITLE Invisible
CREATOR João Eddie
COUNTRY Brazil
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Tsugihara-sensei :
“Outstanding skill in storytelling! Expression through art was achieved with breathtaking results. The work is exceptionally “complete”… well-done!”
The UNESCO Award for Education:
The UNESCO Award for Education winner will be invited to attend the opening of the UNESCO “Together 4 Peace” Manga exhibition at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The exhibition will run from Tuesday, October 6th to Sunday, October 25th 2020.*
* Please note, given travel conditions related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), UNESCO reserves the right to cancel or restrict the invitation to the UNESCO Award winner, subject to recommendations set by the Government of Thailand, the WHO and UNESCO Headquarters.
GRAND PRIX RUNNER-UP
300,000 JPY
TITLE Homeless
CREATOR Simone Sanseverino
COUNTRY Italy
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Hojo-sensei :
“The art is extremely cute with an adorable style and full of emotional expressions with each character. Well composed and nicely paneled, the work was executed excellently. I read it with a smile.”
Tomizawa sensei :
“There is nothing but to say but amazing artwork! The line work it’s very good, but I felt it maybe used too much tone that overwhelmed the lines.”
UNESCO Guest Judge Akané Nozaki :
“This is another beautifully drawn work. Because of the use of penguins as the main character, I had assumed the story would be about climate change. However the plot nicely embodies the ideas of UNESCO global citizenship, living together with others respectfully and peacefully.”
EXCELLENCE AWARD
100,000 JPY
UNESCO AWARD
TITLE Neither Bright Nor Dark
CREATOR Laica Chrose
COUNTRY Brazil
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The UNESCO Award for Empathy:
The UNESCO Award for Empathy winner will be invited to attend the opening of the UNESCO “Together 4 Peace” Manga exhibition at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The exhibition will run from Tuesday, October 6th to Sunday, October 25th 2020.*
* Please note, given travel conditions related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), UNESCO reserves the right to cancel or restrict the invitation to the UNESCO Award winner, subject to recommendations set by the Government of Thailand, the WHO and UNESCO Headquarters.
EXCELLENCE AWARD
100,000 JPY
TITLE The Lost Boy
CREATOR gawin
COUNTRY Thailand
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SMAC Editors :
“Excellent opening and character introduction for a manga, which then leads into a smooth and emotional plot flow to a satisfying and rewarding ending.”
TITLE A wordless apology
CREATOR Marika Mangaka DZ
COUNTRY Algeria
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Hara-sensei :
“Isn’t she a promising talent?! I instantly fell in love with her amazing skill. A developed artistic articulation and execution for her such young age is very impressive indeed. With a lot of information packed into each page, I found the reading experience very fulfilling.”
EXCELLENCE AWARD RUNNER-UP
30,000 JPY
SPONSOR AWARD
TITLE Chrysalis
CREATOR Carriere Alexandre
COUNTRY France
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Sponsors :
“The message from the artist was conveyed effectively without dialogue with an expert use of expression and surreal, intuitive imagery.”
EXCELLENCE AWARD RUNNER-UP
30,000 JPY
SPONSOR AWARD RUNNER-UP
TITLE Prototype
CREATOR Bakti Abdul Jabar & Jabbar wardana
COUNTRY Indonesia
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Sponsors :
“The artist expresses the emotions of the inorganic robot in a rich and satisfying way.”
SMAC! Award
For more amazing manga, check out the SMA13 Nominees and Candidates!
View Nominees and Candidates!
A message from SMAC! Editor-in-chief, Shuichi “Mocchi” Mochida
Shuichi “Mocchi” Mochida
Coamix Inc. Board of Directors Chairman, The SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Committee. Chief Editor, SMAC! The WEB/MANGA Magazine
For Round 13, the SILENT MANGA AUDITION® and UNESCO joined forces to deliver a very important message to the world. UNESCO’s “Together 4 Peace” project focuses on the importance of Education, Communication, Empathy, Cooperation and Human Rights to help pave the way towards global peace.
I would like to thank all the artists, new and returning, who joined forces to help deliver this vitally important message in manga! It’s thanks to you we were able to gather 274 works from 117 countries under the theme “Together for Peace”.
The competition was very challenging, with a lot of strong entries. Myself, along with the SMA judges and our special UNESCO Guest Judge, Akané Nozaki, were amazed by the level of skill each artist poured into their works. Although all the entries exhibited an exceptionally high level of quality artwork, paneling and storytelling, the finalists lacked a certain “surprise element” making it difficult to decide on a Grand Prix winner this time.
Manga is a source of entertainment, but just like most creative art forms, manga also has the power of storytelling. No matter the genre, setting or characters, manga has the ability to deliver strong messages in a relatable and entertaining way. This key principle of manga was definitely proven in Round 13!
In these difficult times, I hope the message “Together 4 Peace” resonates with you all and helps to bring more kindness and empathy in the world around us.