{"id":54497,"date":"2025-12-03T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=54497"},"modified":"2025-12-02T18:03:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T09:03:34","slug":"kadokawa-launches-world-manga-contest-in-search-of-international-talent-and-new-hit-ips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kadokawa-launches-world-manga-contest-in-search-of-international-talent-and-new-hit-ips\/","title":{"rendered":"Kadokawa launches World Manga Contest in search of international talent\u00a0and new hit IPs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On November 28, Kadokawa<\/strong> launched its first ever World Manga Contest<\/a>, calling aspiring manga artists from around the globe to submit their manuscripts for a chance to debut in Japan. Anyone is free to apply, regardless of their nationality, occupation, or if they’re working alone, as a team, or a corporation. The only exception are mangaka whose works have been serialized in any Kadokawa-owned magazines or websites and published between January 1, 2022 and March 31, 2026, as well as those whose works are currently being serialized by Kadokawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kadokawa\u2019s World Manga Contest contest is spurred by the success of last year\u2019s Wordless World Manga Contest (which saw 1,126 entries from 104 countries and regions worldwide.) This contest adds a new \u201cManga with Dialogue\u201d category to the roster. While the Wordless category includes several specific rules (such as the allowance of symbols and text used as visual elements, as well as speech bubbles without dialogue), the only unique stipulation of the Manga with Dialogue category is that the languages used must be either Japanese, English, Spanish, French, or Chinese. An unusual rule that both categories share, however, states that at least one character must appear human for the submission to be valid.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Submissions will be judged by participating editorial departments and the Kadokawa World Manga Contest Secretariat Office. On top of having their manga picked up and serialized by the publisher, winners will also receive a $10,000, $5,000, and $3,000 monetary reward for first, second, and third place respectively. A few honorable mentions will receive $300 USD but will not be serialized.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winners of both categories will receive continued production and editorial support for commercialization from Kadokawa\u2019s newly established Overseas Manga Editorial Department via remote meetings and emails. The company will also provide preparation for the completed works\u2019 serialization in Japan. They will also be published on Kadocomi<\/a>, Kadokawa\u2019s official comic portal site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kadokawa\u2019s Overseas Manga Editorial Department Editor-in-Chief Noboru Segawa, last year\u2019s Wordless World Manga Contest brought over three times the number of expected submissions (source: Otaku Soken<\/a>). Amazed by the amount of worldwide talent<\/a>, Kadokawa decided to hold the contest on a larger scale and \u201cprovide continuous support to the winners until their debut in Japan.\u201d He also hinted at the direction of future events, saying that the company aims to collaborate with their group bases in other countries to \u201ccreate an environment where works can be read worldwide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kadokawa World Manga Contest runs from November 28, 2025 to March 31, 2026. The official rules and regulations can be found on the official website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: \u201cNot all manga has to be from Japan,\u201d Major manga publisher Kadokawa looks for new manga artists overseas amidst labor shortage<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backed by Sony investment, Kadokawa is raising its target for original IP creation to 9,000 titles per year<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winners of the contest will have the opportunity to debut in Japan, with editorial and publishing support from Kadokawa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":54502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-54497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nKadokawa launches World Manga Contest in search of international talent\u00a0and new hit IPs - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winners of the contest will have the opportunity to debut in Japan, with editorial and publishing support from Kadokawa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kadokawa-launches-world-manga-contest-in-search-of-international-talent-and-new-hit-ips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kadokawa launches World Manga Contest in search of international talent\u00a0and new hit IPs - 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