Manga Presence at 2026 Eisner Awards Nominations

The 2026 Eisner Awards nominations reflect manga’s growing influence in the North American comics market, with manga securing nine nominations across six categories. San Diego Comic-Con’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards announced nominations on May 14, and the ballot includes nominees such as Hirayasumi, Tokyo Alien Bros., Yan, and other works.

Widely regarded as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards, the Eisner Awards remain one of the industry’s most influential honors for graphic storytelling in North America, annually held during San Diego Comic Con. While most awards categories are dominated by Western comics, the manga nomination count reflects manga’s sustained presence in the U.S. market.

Nominations are voted on by comic book professionals, including creators, librarians, retailers, and academics. The 38th Eisner Awards jury panel consists of Jerry Dear (librarian), Randy Duncan (comic scholar), Tiffany Babb (reviewer/journalist), Regine Sawyer (writer), and Katie Pryde (retailer).

Manga Nominees at the 2026 Eisner Awards

2026 Eisner Awards nominees represent over 170 print and online titles from some 75 publishers, up from over 150 titles from 70 publishers in 2025. Among those, manga titles appear in the categories of Best Short Story, Best Graphic Memoir, Best Writer/Artist, Best Archival Collection, and the dedicated Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia.

The Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia category features three manga nominees: Kazumi Yamashita's Land, Keigo Shinzo's Hirayasumi, and Tokyo Alien Bros. The two other nominees in the category are Sanho's manhwa, Purgatory Funeral Cakes, and Chang Sheng's Yan.

2026’s nominee count is down from six manga nominees in the same category in 2025, which included Kagurabachi, Ashita no Joe, Search and Destroy, and Tokyo These Days, with the last title winning the award. Yamashita earned an additional nomination in the Best Writer/Artist category, as did Chang Sheng in the same category.

Shintaro Kago's short manga stories Blood Harvest and The Curse Room, both collected in Brain Damage, received nominations in the Best Short Story category. Renowned for anime features like Neo Tokyo and Metropolis, director Rintaro's My Life in 24 Frames per Second is nominated for Best Graphic Memoir.

Katsuhiro Otomo's seminal work, AKIRA Volumes 1–5 Hardcover Collection (Kodansha USA), is nominated for Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Books. Yen Press’ the Complete Box Set of Natsuki Takaya’s manga Fruits Basket got nominated for Best Publication Design.

However, most prestigious among all, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama received a nomination for induction at the 2026 Eisner Hall of Fame, with manga author Go Nagai already selected to be inducted. Among the new 16 nominees, four will be selected for induction based on votes. 2026 Eisner Awards voting closes on June 5, with the awards ceremony scheduled for July 24 at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con.