, also known as Animax Awards, is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

scriptwriting competition organized by the Japanese anime

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

network,

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

, a subsidiary of

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

History and broadcasts

Held annually since 2002, the competition awards the best original anime scripts submitted across Japan, judged by a panel of noted

manga artists A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pri ...

, animators and anime creators, which has included

Ryōsuke Takahashi is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, and producer. He has worked for Sunrise on many anime shows in the real robot genre, including '' Armored Trooper VOTOMS'', '' Fang of the Sun Dougram'', ''Panzer World Galient'', and '' Blue Comet S ...

and

Kaiji Kawaguchi is a Japanese manga artist. He is known for works such as '' The Silent Service'', '' Zipang'', '' A Spirit of the Sun'' and '' Kūbo Ibuki''. Generally, his stories involve Japan and examine the moral choices that people make in extreme situati ...

among others, and which subsequently gets animated into an anime by a noted Japanese animation studio for broadcast on Animax's networks the following year. Winners of the Animax Award have gone on to forge successful careers in the anime and manga industry, with the second award winner, Yūko Kawabe going on to co-write ''

Ergo Proxy ''Ergo Proxy'' is a Japanese cyberpunk anime television series, produced by Manglobe, directed by Shūkō Murase and written by Dai Satō. The series ran for 23 episodes from February to August 2006 on the Wowow satellite television, satellit ...

'' and ''

Tweeny Witches is a Japanese anime television and original video animation series. Produced by Studio 4°C, the series is directed by Yoshiharu Ashino and written by Shinji Obara. Inspired by '' Through the Looking-Glass'', the story follows a young huma ...

'', among others, while the fourth winner, Ikuko Yoshinari, went on to publish a shōjo manga for ''

Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are '' Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. It is one of the best-selling manga magazines, having sold over 590million c ...

''. The first four award-winning screenplays were animated by each of

's co-founders, the studios

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

, and

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the is a Japanese animation studio owned by Sega Corporation. TMS is one of the oldest and most renowned animation studios in Japan, known for its numerous anime franchises such as ''Detective Conan'', ''Lupin the Third'' ...

, while the fifth and seventh were animated by

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio. Headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Production I.G was founded on December 15, 1987, by producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and character designer Takayuki Goto as I.G Tatsunoko, a branch studio of the animation giant Ta ...

and the sixth animated by Sony's

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio and production company founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The company was established by SMEJ's animat ...

. In 2007, the awards were made open to Animax's viewers across its networks worldwide, under the name Animax Awards, with one of the winning scripts going on to be animated into the anime movie '' LaMB''. The seventh iteration of the award, in 2008, was won by Kenji Saidō, for his entry ''Shoka'' (lit. "Calligraphy"), and will be animated by Production I.G and to be broadcast on Animax's networks in 2009. The seventh iteration of the competition received a record of 1,235 entries, the largest in the competition's seven-year history, and its judging panel included manga artist

, ''

Detroit Metal City is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kiminori Wakasugi. It was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine ''Young Animal'' from September 2005 to April 2010, with its chapters collected in ten volumes. The manga was licen ...

'' film screenwriter Mika Ōmori and ''

Densha Otoko is a Japanese movie, television series, manga, novel, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old ''otaku'' who intervened when a drunk man started to harass several women on a train. The ''otaku'' ultimat ...

'' film screenwriter Arisa Kaneko. The award ceremony for the seventh iteration was also broadcast in Japan on November 9, 2008.

Winners

Super Kuma-san

—the first winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2002. * Original concept/story: * Director: Yukio Kaizawa * Character design: Daisuke Yoshida * Cast:

Taiki Matsuno , (October 16, 1967 – June 26, 2024) was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Shinagawa, Tokyo. He was attached to Aoni Production. His real name, as well as his former stage name, was Tatsuya Matsuno (). Matsuno is most known for the role of ...

, others. * Production:

Azusa, Otetsudai Shimasu!

—the second winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2003. * Original concept/story: * Director:

Hajime Kamegaki is the Japanese word meaning . In Japanese traditional martial arts such as karate, judo, aikido, Kūdō and kendo, it is a verbal command to "begin". Hajime is also a common Japanese given name for males. In the Amami Islands, Hajime (元) is a ...

* Original character design: Rie Nakajima * Cast:

Mamiko Noto is a Japanese actress and singer. Some of her prominent anime roles include Kotomi Ichinose in ''Clannad'', Rin in '' Inuyasha'', Kotori Monou in '' X'', Aoi Kannazuki in '' Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel'', Durandal in '' Honkai Impact 3rd'', Ishm ...

, others. * Production:

(TMS Entertainment)

Hotori ~ Tada Saiwai wo Koinegau

—the third winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2004. * Original concept/story: * Director:

Takeshi Annō Takeshi ( in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Forms in kanji can include: *武, "warrior" *毅, "strong" *猛, "fierce" *健, "healthy" *剛, "sturdy" *彪, "spotted" *威, "intimidate" *壮, "robust" * ...

* Character design:

Shin'ichi Yamashita Shin'ichi or Shinichi (しんいち, シンイチ) is a masculine Japanese given name. ''Shin'' and ''ichi'' are separated and it is pronounced . Written forms Different kanji that are pronounced are combined with the kanji for " to give diffe ...

* Creative producer:

* Cast:

Ryōko Shiraishi is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Kashiba, Nara. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Possessing a husky voice, Shiraishi voices young to teenage men as well as young girls and teenage women. However, in a break from tradition, one ...

, others. * Production:

Lily to Kaeru to (Ototo)

—the fourth winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2005. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's ''

'' shōjo magazine. * Original concept/story: * Director: Yuriko Kado * Character design: Kozue Komatsu * Cast:

Chinami Nishimura is a Japanese voice actress from Chiba Prefecture, and affiliated with 81 Produce. Her major roles include Fake Yuna and Miki Shiratori in '' Galaxy Fraulein Yuna'', Neko Musume in '' GeGeGe no Kitaro'', Junsa (Officer Jenny) in ''Pokémon ...

, others * Production:

Yumedamaya Kidan

—the fifth winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2006. Animated by Production I.G., the script was the first winner not to be animated by one of Animax's co-founding studios. * Original concept/story: * Director: Itsurō Kawasaki * Original character design: Yōsuke Takahashi * Character design: Shōko Nakamura * Cast:

Yūka Iguchi Yuka may refer to: *Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music *Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia *Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation People *Yuka (name), a Japanese pers ...

* Production:

Takane no Jitensha

—the sixth winner of the annual Animax Taishō in 2007. This was the first Animax Taishō to be open to an international audience as it was made available to Animax's broadcast networks worldwide. It was animated by

, which was also established by one of

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

's subsidiaries,

Aniplex Aniplex, Inc. (株式会社アニプレックス, ''Kabushiki-gaisha Anipurekkusu'') is a Japanese entertainment company and a subsidiary of Sony, Sony Group Corporation, founded in September 1995 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The company fo ...

. The supervising animation director and character designer was Sachiko Kamimura and featured

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a Voice acting in Japan, voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime ''Little Twins'', and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in ''The Vision of Escaflowne''. Other ...

as the title character. * Original concept/story: * Director: Naru Ikeda * Character design: Sachiko Kamimura * Cast:

, others. * Production:

References

External links

Animax's official website
*

*

** ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120104231556/http://www.animaxawards.com/ Animax's ''Lily to Kaeru to (Ototo)'' website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Animax Taisho 2002 establishments in Japan Animax Anime awards Awards established in 2002 Japanese literary awards ja:アニマックス大賞

History and broadcasts

Winners

Super Kuma-san

Azusa, Otetsudai Shimasu!

Hotori ~ Tada Saiwai wo Koinegau

Lily to Kaeru to (Ototo)

Yumedamaya Kidan

Takane no Jitensha

See also

References

External links