Publishing conglomerate Kodansha announced on Thursday that Attack on Titan manga author Hajime Isayama bagged the 3rd Noma Publishing Culture Award. The prize money is one million yen (8,800 USD).

Isayama won the award due to the global impact of his Attack on Titan manga and its story. Attack on Titan’s cumulative circulation exceeds 100 million copies.

Kodansha presented the reasons for the awards in detail as:

The feature-length dark fantasy “Attack on Titan” (serialized in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine until 2021) has won the hearts of readers around the world with its meticulously calculated story, and has printed more than 100 million copies in total. It has been adapted into anime, merchandising, and games on a global scale, and a Hollywood live-action film is in the works. The impact it has had on manga culture around world is immeasurable.

Creators YOASOBI (two-member rock unit), Shizuka Ijuin (novelist), and Kadokawa Culture Museum (special prize) also won awards.

Mariko Hayashi, Kenshi Hirokane, Kenichiro Mogi, and Yoshinobu Noma, President of Kodansha, are in charge of the selection committee for the 3rd Noma Publishing Culture Award.

The award event started in 2019 as part of Kodansha’s 110th-anniversary celebration project. The award honors those who have made excellent contributions to publishing, particularly to “reinventing publishing.”

Isayama’s Attack on Titan manga was serialized in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine from September 2009 to April 2021, and compiled in 34 tankobon volumes.

Source: Comic Natalie