The winners of the Seiun Award, Japan's premier prize for speculative fiction, have been announced for the 55th annual event, and the list is packed with fan favorites and creative powerhouses.
Grabbing the spotlight are CygamesPictures' animated feature The Concierge, which won in the Media category, and legendary mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita, celebrated for his work on projects like Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, who took home the prize for Best Artist. The official awards ceremony will be held during the 62nd Japan SF Convention in Fukushima from July 6-7, 2024.
The Seiun Awards are presented annually, with winners chosen by attendees of the Japan SF Convention to honor the best works completed in the previous year. The categories span novels, animation, comics, art, and more, with divisions for both Japanese and translated works.
Here’s the full list of the 55th Seiun Award winners:
Best Japanese Novel (Long Form): The Name of the Brand is Human by Rokudo Ningen
Best Japanese Novel (Short Form): "Toki Toki Channel: I Tried Making Non-Existent Weather" by Iori Miyazawa
Best Translated Novel (Long Form): Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
Best Translated Novel (Short Form): Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang
Best Media: The Concierge, directed by Yoshimi Itazu, produced by CygamesPictures
Best Comic: The Concierge Pusu Pusu by Izumi Takemoto
Best Artist: Ikuto Yamashita
Best Non-Fiction: The Collected Reviews of Norio Ito by Norio Ito
Free Category: Myaku-Myaku, designed by mountain mountain for the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
It was a huge night for the animated film The Concierge and its manga spin-off, The Concierge Pusu Pusu, which scored wins in the Media and Comic categories, respectively.
The story is set in the "Ginga Tower," a high-class hotel that blends traditional elegance with modern robotics. A century ago, humanity fled Earth due to a devastating plague, but the hotel's robot staff have diligently maintained operations ever since, awaiting their return. When aliens who mimic human appearances begin to check in, the robots provide them with the same five-star service. This charming and original sci-fi premise clearly won over voters with its unique world-building and clever storytelling.
In the Best Artist category, the award went to the legendary mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita. While he is widely known for his work on iconic series like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Sentou Yousei Yukikaze, his recent personal project, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, has been a major focus.
Yamashita has spoken about his design philosophy, emphasizing that mecha design is about more than just specs and performance; it's about conveying information through form. He prioritizes designs that capture a sense of human-like movement and vitality.
On his personal X account, Yamashita noted that while the Seiun Award doesn't name a specific work, he considers GQuuuuuuX his representative project from the past year and expressed his gratitude for the prestigious honor.
via： 日本SFファングループ連合会議のページ