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Yamato 2199, Moyashimon, Aoi Honō Win Seiun Awards

The 54th Japan Science Fiction Convention (Nihon SF Taikai or Japan SF Con/Comecon) announced the winners of the 46th Seiun Awards at Yonago City on Saturday.

The Monogatari), Taiyo Fujii's Orbital Cloud novel, and the English-language novel The Martian.

"Seiun Shō" literally translates to "nebula awards," but the Japan SF Con's Seiun Awards are more akin to Worldcon's Hugo Awards, in that the of each respective convention vote on the winners. There is another set of awards, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan's Nihon SF Taishō honors, that are the rough Japanese equivalent of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Awards. Like the Hugo Awards, the Seiun Awards honor all forms of speculative fiction — including but not limited to science fiction — and related materials.

Previous winners of the Seiun Awards Madoka Magica, Pacific Rim and more.

The winners include:

The Best Japanese Long Story

Orbital Cloud
By Taiyo Fujii
The story follows a freelance web developer who gets embroiled in a battle with space terrorists. Fujii actually self-published the novel first, and then leading science-fiction publisher appeared at several s at Sasquan, this year's Worldcon held in August in Spokane, Washington.

The Best Japanese Short Story

"Umi no Yubi"
By Hirotaka won Seiun Awards in 2005 and 2010 for his short stories "Katadorareta Chikara" and "Interview with the Columns of Clouds." "Katadorareta Chikara" also won a Nihon SF Taishō award.

The Best Translated Long Story

The Martian
By Andy Weir (translation by Kazuko Onoda)
The novel is inspiring a film with director Ridley Scott and lead actor Matt Damon.

The Best Translated Short Story

"The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi"
By Pat Cadigan (translation by Yōichi Shimada)
The story also won a Hugo Award in 2013.

The Best Dramatic Presentation

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Odyssey of the Celestial Ark
The brand-new Space Battleship Yamato television anime series won the same award in 1975.

The Best Comic

Moyashimon
By Masayuki Ishikawa
The story follows a college student named Tadayasu Sawaki who discovers that he can see and communicate with the germs all around him — germs that appear as took over Del Rey's titles in 2010.

Other manga nominees included Mysterious Girlfriend X.

The Best Artist

Keinojou Mizutama (MAOYU, Brigadoon, Kasei Monogatari)

In addition to her illustrations for science-fiction stories, Mizutama drafted character designs and ran manga essay columns. She also created the masccot characters Wanda and Reset for the hobby convention Wonder Festival.

The other nominees included Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis (manga).

The Best Nonfiction

Sanrio SF Bunko Sōkaisetsu
Edited by Shinji Maki, Nozomi Ōmori
A retrospective on the former science-fiction imprint from the media and character goods company Sanrio

Free Section

Aoi Honō
The live-action television Takami Akai (creator, designer, director of Princess Maker). The series received the award as the "first work based on the theme of [Japanese] 'science-fiction fandom history,' and a fictional drama based on actual events."

Source: animeanime.jp