Exciting news, everyone! Official Announcement and personal statement:
“L’Obsolescence Programmée de Nos Sentiments” by Zidrou and Aimée de Jongh is one of the Silver Award winners of the 12th Japan International Manga Award 2019. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan founded the award to honor the manga artists who are contributing to the development of manga culture in the world. The Gold and Silver Award winners are invited to the Award Ceremony in Tokyo and will stay for 10 days, visiting Japanese manga studios, animation studios, publishers and museums in Tokyo and Kyoto.” https://www.manga-award.mofa.go.jp/index_e.html
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That’s the official part. Now the personal part.
This award means a lot to me. Manga has been an influence for 16 years (that’s half of my life) and it’s still one of my main sources of inspiration. I remember buying Akira vol. 1 when I was 14, and being blown away by the art. Later, I discovered many more giants: Tezuka, Junji Ito, Taiyo Matsumoto. They had a huge influence on my style of drawing. But there was more. It was manga that got me my first publication at 17 (Aimée TV). It was manga that made me study Animation at 18. It was manga that made me meet the most special people, some of them are close friends till this day. It is a great honour to receive a Japanese prize dedicated to manga, and being selected by Japanese manga artists themselves. If I have been promoting manga culture in any way, it was always with pleasure. I think it’s one of the richest and most beautiful art forms in the world.
I want to thank Zidrou and my editors Ryun and Yves at Dargaud Benelux – without them, we would never have won this award in the first place. But I mostly want to dedicate this prize to the manga community of the Netherlands. These are people who are still passionately organizing manga and anime conventions every year, publishing magazines, and drawing dojinshis. Without the support of my own dojinshi circle, Cheesecake Studio, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Thank you guys, for everything, and for making me feel at home.
Unfortunately, Zidrou is not able to come to Japan, so tomorrow, I will fly to Tokyo on my own. It will be a crazy trip… but lots of fun. See you in 10 days.
More info: https://www.manga-award.mofa.go.jp
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