What Is Japan’s “Next Manga Award”? The Fan-Voted Prize That Keeps Predicting Hits

If you like finding a series before the anime, before the TikTok edits, before your group chat starts posting about it — Japan basically has a scoreboard for that. It’s called the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Taishō, which translates to something like “The Next Big Manga Award.” And its track record is a little unsettling.

Quick answer

The Next Manga Award is a fan-voted award that highlights manga Japanese readers think are about to break out. Past winners include My Hero Academia, Spy × Family, The Apothecary Diaries, Oshi no Ko, and Kaiju No. 8 — each one before it became a global anime. If a title wins or places high here, it’s worth putting on your radar.

How the award actually works

  • It was created in 2014 by Niconico and Da Vinci, both part of Japan’s KADOKAWA group.
  • It’s not a critics’ panel. Regular readers recommend titles, a committee turns those into a nominee list, and then readers vote for the winner.
  • There are two categories:
    • Comics division — print series readers “want to see take off.”
    • Web Manga division — web/app manga readers “want to see get a print release.”

That split is the useful part: one category catches rising print series, the other digs into web manga that hasn’t fully crossed over yet.

Why its track record matters

Here’s what gets people’s attention. A few past winners:

  • 2015 — My Hero Academia (Comics)
  • 2019 — The Apothecary Diaries (Comics), Spy × Family (Web)
  • 2021 — Oshi no Ko (Comics), Kaiju No. 8 (Web)

All of them went on to become major anime. By the award’s own count, as of 2018, 9 of the 18 top-three finishers had already gotten an anime adaptation. It’s not a crystal ball — but as an early-warning system, it’s hard to ignore.

The Japan perspective

It helps to know what this award actually measures. It’s not “best-selling this week,” and it’s not “critics’ pick.” It’s closer to momentum — what readers are excited to push next. Because the recommendations and votes come from fans on Niconico (a platform with a very online, otaku-leaning crowd), the results tend to favor series with strong word-of-mouth energy over already-established mega-hits. That’s exactly why it keeps surfacing titles a year or two before the rest of the world catches on. Among Japanese manga circles, “it got nominated for Tsugi-Man” is a real signal, and some readers treat the nominee list as a reading to-do list.

Who should care about this?

  • Readers who like being early — finding a series before the anime hype.
  • Anime fans who want a sense of what might get adapted next.
  • Anyone tired of only hearing about a manga once it already has three seasons.

What’s happening in 2026

The 2026 edition is live right now: 100 nominees (40 in the Comics division, 60 in Web Manga), with the winner announced on September 16, 2026. We broke down the nominees overseas fans should actually watch here → [2026’s Next Big Manga nominees].

How to follow it — and read the winners

  • The official site (tsugimanga.jp) posts nominees and results each year.
  • Many past winners are available in English through official manga apps and stores; we point to legal sources in each title breakdown.

FAQ

Is this an official industry award? It’s run by KADOKAWA-affiliated companies but decided by public vote — so it’s more “fan-powered” than “industry jury.”

Does winning guarantee an anime? No. But a high placement has lined up with adaptations more often than not.

How is it different from Kono Manga ga Sugoi! or the Manga Taishō? Those lean more critic- and industry-driven. The Next Manga Award is built around fan votes and the specific question of “what’s coming next.”

Categories: