Photo/Illutration An illustration drawn by Mari Yamazaki and Miki Tori to mark their winning of the Manga Grand Prix at the 28th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Provided by Mari Yamazaki and Miki Tori)

“Plinivs,” a historical manga created by Mari Yamazaki and Miki Tori focusing on the eventful life of Pliny the Elder, a naturalist who also served as an admiral in Roman times, won the Manga Grand Prix at the 28th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

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Sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun Co., the competition honors “Astro Boy” creator Osamu Tezuka and the indelible mark he left on Japan’s manga culture.

The Originality Prize, given for fresh talent and novel modes of expression, went to Akihito Sakaue for his “Kanda Gokuracho Shokunin Banashi” (Stories of craftsmen in Kanda-Gokuracho).

The Short Story Prize was given to Miri Masuda’s “Tsuyukusa Natsuko no Issho” (Life of Natsuko Tsuyukusa).

The Asahi Special Prize went to the executive committee of Comitia, an exhibition and sale for original works of “dojinshi” fanzines and manga.

The awards ceremony will be held at the leading daily’s Tokyo head office in the Tsukiji area on June 6.

Each winner will receive a bronze statuette.

The winner of the Manga Grand Prix will also take home 2 million yen ($12,600), while the Originality, Short Story and Asahi Special Prize winners will each receive 1 million yen.

Manga titles published or released in Japan in 2023 were eligible for the awards. For the top Manga Grand Prix, seven judges each awarded a total of 15 points and no more than five to any one manga.

Ten titles with the most points advanced to the final round of deliberations. They included one title that was ranked first in the recommendations by bookstore staff and many experts. 

Released by Shinchosha Publishing Co., “Plinivs” was hailed for raising profound questions about life, much in the same vein as Tezuka, and for expressing awe for Utopian and alien worlds in a similar fashion to the late horror manga creator Shigeru Mizuki.

“Kanda Gokuracho Shokunin Banashi,” published by Leed Publishing Co., drew attention because of Sakaue’s extraordinary drawing abilities.

“Tsuyukusa Natsuko no Issho,” also from Shinchosha Publishing, was regarded as Masuda’s best work to date.

The Asahi Shimbun decided to give the Asahi Special Prize to the executive committee of Comitia, which marks the 40th anniversary this year.

Yamazaki and Tori spent 10 years or so to recount the adventures and turbulent life of Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) in “Plinivs.”

The author of the celebrated “Natural History,” whose topics covered animals and plants to minerals and monsters, died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the city of Pompeii.

“His love for all things that cause natural phenomena and his fate to live with a volcano and earthquakes. It may be a manga that couldn’t have been created by anyone other than Japanese authors,” Yamazaki said.

In 2010, she won the Short Story Prize for her “Thermae Romae,” which connected ancient Rome and modern Japan through bath culture.

The artist approached Tori, who provided background art in minute detail for the comedy series as it neared the end, to work together on “Plinivs.”

Tori, whose representative works include “Sekishin-Densetsu” and other fantasy and sci-fi manga, also loves parodies. He secretly drew a statuette of Mighty Atom from “Astro Boy,” one of the most beloved characters created by Tezuka, in Pliny’s study.

“It was worth drawing because I never thought that I can also receive one,” he said.

Yamazaki is currently serializing a sequel titled “Thermae Romae Redux.”

“It seems like I’m meant to tell ancient Roman stories,” Yamazaki added. “I want an emperor to put a laurel wreath on my head in the netherworld.”

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