KADOKAWA World Manga Contest Crowns Vietnam and Taiwan Creators
Winners receive an assigned editor and creative support aimed at a Japan debut and serialization, moving the contest's global talent pipeline one step closer to the domestic manga market.
Reporting from 1 source: Magmix.
The KADOKAWA WORLD MANGA CONTEST 2026 held its award ceremony on September 7, drawing 1,959 entries from 118 countries and regions. Gold Prizes went to Vietnam's Syo.Era in the Manga Category and Taiwan's Eli Lin in the Wordless Manga Category, with a French unit taking the Silver Prize.
The award ceremony for the KADOKAWA WORLD MANGA CONTEST 2026 took place on September 7, with six works selected across the Manga and Wordless Manga categories from a record 1,959 entries submitted by 118 countries and regions.
KADOKAWA Executive Officer Kei Sensui attended the ceremony. Winning creators receive prize money, an assigned editor, and support toward a debut and serialization in Japan. The contest grew out of the Wordless Manga Contest established in 2024 and added its Manga Category in 2025.
Noboru Segawa, Editor-in-Chief of KADOKAWA's Overseas Manga Editorial Department, said the technical gap between winners and finalists was small, and that winners stood out for an originality recognizable at a single glance.
- Cry or the witch will come: Manga Category Gold Prize, by Syo.Era from Vietnam
- Deus Sniper: Manga Category Silver Prize, by French manga artist unit Shinamori
- Cells Within the Body.: Wordless Manga Category Gold Prize, by Eli Lin from Taiwan
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.