The winner of the user-participation manga award "Next Manga Awards 2024" was announced, with Kagurabachi, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, taking the top spot in the Comics category, and Girl Meets Rock!, serialized on Shonen Jump+, winning in the Web Manga category. To commemorate this, a collaborative illustration was released on the official Kagurabachi X (formerly Twitter) account.

This collaboration was realized because the protagonists of both works share the name "Chihiro." The illustration features characters from Girl Meets Rock! drawn by Kagurabachi creator Takeru Hokazono.

Reactions online include comments like "This is amazing!" "Wow!" "The art in Kagurabachi is really good... I love how the characters move and fight," "The beauty of Kagurabachi's art is stunning," "The Kagurabachi creator is insanely skilled," and "An unexpected collaboration!?"

This manga award, established in 2014 by Da Vinci and Nico Nico, is a user-participation-based manga award. It accepts entries from users for manga they believe are the "next big thing." From these entries, the most popular works are selected as nominees, and users then vote for the grand prize winner from the nominated works.
This award aims to answer questions like, "Which manga are on the brink of breaking out?" and "What manga are trending on the internet right now?"

Comics Division

1st Place: Kagurabachi
2nd Place: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun: If Episode of Mafia
3rd Place: Ogami Tumiki to Kinichijo

Web Manga Division

1st Place: Girl Meets Rock! (Futsuu no K-ON bu)
2nd Place: Ruri Dragon
3rd Place: Vtuber Kusamura Shigemi

Synopsis of Kagurabachi

Chihiro, a boy aspiring to be a master swordsmith, trains under his father, who is a swordsmith. The playful father and his taciturn son share a life filled with laughter, a routine Chihiro thought would last forever—until tragedy strikes one day. Tied by blood and with a life that will never return, Chihiro ignites his hatred and harbors a flame of determination in this Japanese sword battle action series.

Synopsis of Girl Meets Rock!

Chihiro Hatono, a new high school freshman with a love for slightly obscure Japanese rock, acquires the guitar he’s always dreamed of despite being a beginner and joins the much-anticipated light music club. Despite being baffled by the unique personalities of the other club members, they eventually form a band! This is an ultra-relatable drama about raw youth and musical struggles.

Source : ORICON NEWS