I truly enjoy seeing the level of works improve each round. This time around, I was stunned by the gorgeous drawings! While the artwork has improved consistently, I would like to see entrants get more creative with their stories. Please dig deeper into your characters. What kinds of loveable characters can you imagine? What kinds of unique dreams might those characters possess? I challenge you to create more character-driven stories in the next SMA!
Creator: City Hunter, etc.
This round, I felt there were quite a few promising works. In particular, I thought that the methods of expression were extremely strong. I felt myself moved by many of the powerful visuals I saw this round. Unfortunately, it was still difficult at times for me to understand your stories fully. I hope you will continue to produce those kinds of visuals while also continuing to improve on the fluidity of your story writing!
Co-Creator: Fist of the North Star, etc.
I really felt the passion and drive in your works this round! We received works brimming with the hopes and dreams of creators from around the world. However, I would like to challenge creators to take a more ‘reader-first’ approach with their storytelling. Rather than creating a reality-driven story, try incorporating a “beautiful lie” in your workーsomething that will delight readers and make them think, ‘I wish this were real!’.
Creator: Yoroshiku Mecha-Doc, etc.
I very much enjoyed the theme this round! It was a pleasure to read about the dreams of creators from around the world. There were many works that made me smile and chuckle. Thank you for entertaining me with your stories!
Creator: Koroshi-ya Menkichi (Menkichi the Avenger), etc.
Every single round, the level of the works improves little by little. This round, in particular, I felt that the entries improved greatly in comprehensibility. Entrants were able to communicate their stories skillfully without dialogue, and the overall flow of the works was smoother than ever! In addition, I was happy to see talented artists as young as 16 applying to SMA!
CEO, COAMIX Inc.
Author: Keiji’s Kabuki Adventure, etc.
(Former Chief Editor, Weekly Shonen Jump)
Monthly Comic ZENON Editorial Dept.
We loved seeing your beautiful, human stories! In particular, we enjoyed the stories where the human element was complemented by a human touch to the drawings. In the age of digital drawings, it’s easy to create clean, robotic lines. We hope creators will continue to put their own touches on their drawingsーshow us the unique modes of expression that are only possible in YOUR art!
Publications: Record of Ragnarok, etc.
GRAND PRIX
500,000 JPY
Offer to Enter the MasterClass
Introduction to our Artists Village Aso 096k Project
To Be Published on the Manga App “MangaHot”
To Be Featured in Monthly Comic ZENON
TITLE Eternal Smile
CREATOR Obosobo
COUNTRY Poland
Read this MANGA
Nobuhiko HORIE:
This is an excelently crafted work that feels entirely complete. The story has an unexpectedness to it, and the ending is difficult to predict, even for veteran manga readers. The characters are also extremely expressive, and every new expression that runs across their faces pulls at your heartstrings. You could add dialogue to this piece and it would work perfectly as a one-shot. Thank you for showing us your manga, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!
GRAND PRIX RUNNER-UP
300,000 JPY
Offer to Enter the MasterClass
Introduction to our Artists Village Aso 096k Project
To Be Published on the Manga App “MangaHot”
To Be Featured in Monthly Comic ZENON
TITLE One Good Reason
CREATOR Keanne Lawsin
COUNTRY the Philippines
Read this MANGA
Tsukasa HOJO:
It’s incredible that you can already draw these kinds of expressions at 19! The expressions of the female characters were extremely well rendered, and the expression of the middle-aged man was also expertly drawn. You really know your target audience, since this is a story that male mangaka can definitely relate to! All jokes aside, when you can draw emotions as delicate as these, you have a bright future ahead of you!
TITLE Jackpot
CREATOR Tooridou Rin
COUNTRY New Zealand
Read this MANGA
Tetsuo HARA:
The story itself is quite simple, but you were really successful in creating an atmosphere and drawing us into it. The enormous amount of detail in your drawings and the level of attention you gave to the backgrounds created a complete and intricate world that perfectly complimented the main character’s ambitions. You still have a lot to learn about mangaーin particular, I think you would benefit from studying paneling more deeplyーbut I think you have immense talent and promise!
EXCELLENCE AWARD
100,000 JPY
To Be Published on the Manga App “MangaHot”
To Be Featured in Monthly Comic ZENON
TITLE Notice Me, Please!
CREATOR Yoikaha
COUNTRY Indonesia
Read this MANGA
Ryuji TSUGIHARA:
This work made me chuckle! While I enjoyed the story, I think the character designs could stand out more and be even more charming. Furthermore, your paneling felt a bit monotonous, which made the piece less dynamic than it could have been. In the future, I’d like to see you change your paneling up a bit more.
TITLE Fret-Less
CREATOR elbicnivni
COUNTRY Indonesia
Read this MANGA
Ryuji TSUGIHARA:
You are a skilled artist, and you created a story that is very easy for readers to follow. That’s a bigger accomplishment than you may think, so I applaud you for that! However, I think you could achieve greater heights if you worked on eliciting deeper emotion from your readers. Your characters’ expressions were rather calm and cool, and there were not a lot of scenes that made me empathize with them. Showing us your characters’ emotions in more detail would have taken your work to the next level!
TITLE Inner Child
CREATOR Musa Dramay & Cyrus Romanes
COUNTRY Australia & the Philippines
Read this MANGA
Nobuhiko HORIE:
I enjoyed your story, and I could really feel the emotions of the main character. That being said, the story progressed more or less how I expected it to. I wish there was a bit more of a twist or a surprise to keep even veteran readers hooked. I also felt that the story was wrapped up very cleanly. I would have liked to have seen the protagonist overcome more difficult, more unexpected challenges.
TITLE Ad Astra
CREATOR Al_chemist & Morethancat
COUNTRY Russia
Read this MANGA
Jun TOMIZAWA:
This piece left a really deep impression on me. I was really struck by the idea of a dream being passed down from generation to generation, and I thoroughly enjoyed the depth in your story. I was also very impressed by your drawing skills. Keep up the fantastic work!
TITLE space walk with me
CREATOR pileofants
COUNTRY United States
Read this MANGA
Nobuhiko HORIE:
This work felt extremely complete and well put together. You could add dialogue to it, and it would read very well. The story itself is familiar, but one that most everyone can enjoy. If you were to improve this piece, I would say a little more of a twist may help make the story developments less expected. Also, some of the drawings towards the end look a little rushed, so make sure to leave plenty of time before the deadline!
TITLE Light in darkness
CREATOR Ace felmer
COUNTRY the Philippines
Read this MANGA
Tetsuo HARA:
I understood what you were trying to communicate, and I enjoyed the theme of this piece! However, the twist was a bit difficult to understand the first time around, so I would advise you to work more on comprehensibility. While I thoroughly enjoyed your work, I also think you could have linked your story a little more clearly to the theme!
TITLE Daydreamer
CREATOR Bariatte Zeros
COUNTRY Thailand
Read this MANGA
Jun TOMIZAWA:
It seems to me like you combined all the things you likeーyour favorite characters, clothing, and general atmosphereーin this piece. That made it a really fun read for me, knowing that you probably had fun drawing it! There are just two pieces of advice that I would give you. First, I recommend working on your drawing skills a little bit. This piece would shine even more if the lines were firmer and less sketchy. Second, I would advise you to think a little bit more deeply about the theme. The sleeping twist at the end is a very literal take on the theme.
TITLE Princess, May I See Thee?
CREATOR Kawjia
COUNTRY United States
Read this MANGA
Jun TOMIZAWA:
I really enjoyed the humor, and the fantasy setting was very easy to understand! I liked your drawings, too, but I got the impression that your lines are rather thin and come to a sharp point. If you drew thicker, warmer lines, I think there would be more weight to your characters. In terms of storytelling, it seems like you may have gotten stuck in your own head a bit, so I would just advise you to think more about the reader perspective in your next work!
TITLE To the little girl within me
CREATOR King Shu
COUNTRY Malaysia
Read this MANGA
Tsukasa HOJO:
This was an excellent work, and I think many readers can relate to the feeling of reclaiming their abandoned childhood dreams. However, a little more attention to detail would have elevated this work even further. For example, I would like the female character’s design to have indicated her disillusionment and bitterness even more. It would also have been better if her injuries as a child were more apparent.
TITLE A Single Spark
CREATOR citro
COUNTRY Germany
Read this MANGA
ZENON Editorial Dept:
You are a very skilled artist and we really enjoyed your drawings. Unfortunately, a lot of your character designs are very similar, so, at times, it was difficult to follow the story. We recommend building up an arsenal of different character designs, so that even characters of the same gender/age look distinct from each other.
TITLE The Promised Dream
CREATOR Otaku Outlaw
COUNTRY Malaysia
Read this MANGA
Tsukasa HOJO:
All of the judges generally enjoyed this story! This is a solid, well-written story that has the potential to move a great number of people. Still, I think the ending has room for improvement. While the ending cleared up some questions about the story, it wasn’t as emotional or impactful as it potentially could have been. Moreover, the characters’ expressions were a bit restrained. More emotion in their expressions would have helped the final emotions hit harder, too.
HONORABLE MENTION
10,000 JPY
TITLE De Aquí a las Estrellas
CREATOR I-Deiji
COUNTRY Chile
Read this MANGA
ZENON Editorial Dept:
This was a fun work with solid content, which also fit the theme perfectly! We noticed that, at the end, you attempted to incorporate a twist, but the twist was essentially just the result of telling events out of order. We hope you will think a little more carefully about what kind of twist would be truly surprising in the future. Moreover, we think you could put a little more effort into drawing the characters’ eyes in more detailーthat would help communicate their passion even more effectively!
TITLE FELIX CULPA
CREATOR Jennyfer CABALLE
COUNTRY France
Read this MANGA
ZENON Editorial Dept:
You are a very talented artist, and you did a fantastic job creating an atmosphere that completely overtook us. We think your art and the atmosphere you created work very well together. That being said, we think you have room to grow in comprehensibility. It was a bit difficult to interpret what you wanted to say and how it related back to the theme. If your next story is a little clearer, but still makes use of the unique atmosphere you are capable of creating, we think it will be extremely successful!
TITLE I’m still singing
CREATOR Wendy☆
COUNTRY Malaysia
Read this MANGA
Tetsuo HARA:
I appreciated the pure, artistic passion that you conveyed in this manga. However, it would have been nice if the protagonist’s emotional state changed more drastically between the beginning and the end of the story. Your paneling was very smooth, and I understood the events of your manga perfectly, but I felt that you could have used your page layouts more creatively to create more drama.
SMA Editorial Dept. Award
TITLE Mazapan
CREATOR HANovak
COUNTRY Mexico
Read this MANGA
TITLE Summer Ends
CREATOR QKKO
COUNTRY Spain
Read this MANGA
TITLE Goodbye Dreamstealer
CREATOR Vu Manh Duc
COUNTRY Vietnam
Read this MANGA
TITLE a yearning for freedom
CREATOR psychoe
COUNTRY France
Read this MANGA
TITLE One Small Shovel
CREATOR Delemnti
COUNTRY Philippines
Read this MANGA
TITLE Hooked to the Past
CREATOR carson
COUNTRY United States
Read this MANGA
TITLE Dear Santa
CREATOR C.M.Kevin
COUNTRY the UK
Read this MANGA
TITLE Sweet Doll
CREATOR Ranvionist
COUNTRY Indonesia
Read this MANGA
TITLE Like Son, Like Father
CREATOR The Fruschia
COUNTRY Indonesia
Read this MANGA
TITLE Daccapo
CREATOR Ir0kami
COUNTRY Italy
Read this MANGA
For more amazing manga, check out the SMA23 Nominees and Candidates!
View the SMA23 Finalists – Nominees and Candidates!The new SILENT MANGA AUDITION® round is already open!
We can’t wait to display YOUR work in the next round!
A message from SMA Chief Editor, Shuichi “Mocchi” Mochida