The official website of Manga Taisho Award announced on March 27, 2022 that Shun Umezawa’s Darwin Jihen (Darwin’s Incident) bagged the grand prize at the Manga Taisho Award 2022. A special illustration was released to commemorate the manga’s win.

Tatsuji Fujimoto’s Look Back was the runner up and Keigo Shinzo’s Hirayasumi came in at the third position. The award ceremony was held at Nippon Broadcasting System’s Imagine Studio in Tokyo on March 28, 2022.

The winner of the Manga Taisho Award is decided upon the votes of the selection committee, which includes mainly bookstore staff and other volunteer manga enthusiasts. The committee members vote on the manga that they would recommend to someone else. The winners are decided after a second round of voting.

Any manga that was released in 2021 having eight volumes or less is eligible for the selection process. This year’s award ceremony was attended by 99 judges, and 235 titles were selected for the initial process.

The other nominees for the 14th Manga Taisho Award included John Tarachine’s Umi ga Hashiru Endroll, Aka Akasaka’s Oshi no Ko, Yukinobu Tatsu’s Dandadan, Arare Matsumushi’s Jitenshaya-san no Takahashi-kun, Uoto’s Chi: Chikyū no Undō ni Tsuite, Yama Wayama’s Onno no Sono no Hoshi and Ryoichi Ikegami & Riichirou Inagaki’s Trillion Game.

Shun Umezawa’s Darwin’s Incident follows the story of a human-chimpanzee hybrid named Charlie. He was born to a female chimpanzee rescued from a bioscience laboratory by a terrorist organization known as the Animal Liberation Alliance (ALA). Charlie is raised by human parents, and when he enters the first year of highschool he meets Lucy, a girl who is intelligent but is ridiculed as a “shady character. While Charlie and Lucy deepen their friendship, the ALA attempts to drag Charlie into the war.

The manga is serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine. A fourth volume of the manga will be released this summer.

Manga Taisho Award was first handed out in 2008, with Shinichi Ishizuka’s Gaku: Minna no Yama manga winning the grand prize. Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe’s Sousou No Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End) won the grand prize at Manga Taisho Award 2021.

Source: Manga Taisho official website