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Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine To Hold Sports Only Manga Award ‘Blue Lock Cup’

The editorial department of Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine revealed on Feb 1, 2023 that they will be holding a sports only manga award titled the Blue Lock Cup.

The award is being held to find the next generation of sports manga to be serialized in the magazine.

WSM's Blue Lock Cup

Professional or amateur authors with a completed manuscript (less than 50 pages) of their unpublished sports manga can submit their work for Blue Lock Cup. Entries will be accepted from Feb 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, and three winners will be selected.

The winners of the Grand Prize and Egoist Prize will receive 500,000 yen as cash prize and guaranteed publication rights in either Weekly Shonen Magazine, Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, or Magazine Pocket. The Excellence Prize winner will receive 100,000 yen.

Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura will be participating in the Blue Lock Cup as special judges. They will be selecting the winners of both Grand and Egoist prize. The editorial department of Weekly Shonen Jump too will be involved in choosing the winners of the Grand Prize along with the special judges.

According to Shintaro Kawakubo, Editor-in-Chief of Weekly Shonen Magazine, sports manga has been on the rise in the last year, which prompted them to hold the Blue Lock Cup.

“When it comes to sports, we think of magazines. And when we think of magazines, we think of sports. To commemorate the anime broadcast of ‘Blue Lock,’ we are holding an award exclusively for sports manga. One of the best aspects of sports is that the whole world watches with bated breath in anticipation of the same moment. The same goes for the series that makes us anxiously await the moment of the release of the latest episode or the latest volume of the series. Let’s start this run together. Best regards!” he said in his comment.

Source: Weekly Shonen Magazine official website.