Award-winning Works

Manga Division

RON
© MURAKAMI MOTOKA 1998
Excellence Prize

RON

Youth / General Manga
(Shogakukan Big Comics)

Artist : Motoka Murakami

(Japan)

Profiles

Motoka Murakami

Motoka MURAKAMI

1970 First weekly cartoon "Run and Burn (Moete Hashire!)" debuts in Weekly Shonen Jump. 1972 "Dragon of the Hot Wind (Neppuu no Tora)" serialized in same magazine. 1977 Weekly Shonen Sunday publishes "Red Pegasus (Akai Pegasus)" a story of a deadly race. 1981 "The Sword of Musashi (Musashi no Ken)", a story of a young boy who wants to be a Kendo master, is serialized. 1991 to Present, "Ron" is serialized in the Big Comic Original Magazine. Other: Published "Gakuto Retsuden", "Escape the Wind! (Kaze wo Nuke!)", "Nagisa 1996" and other note worthy works. "The Sword of Musashi (Musashi no Ken)" won the 29th Shogakukan Manga Award. "Gakuto Retsuden" won the 6th Kodansha Manga award and "Ron" won the 41st Syougakukan Manga Award.

Comment

"Ron" is still a developing story and I am very pleased to receive this award. From the time I decided to set this story in pre-war and war time Japan and China I was determined to overcome many obstacles. The characters in my story are living lives of desperation in gradually worsening times. There is still a long way to go before the end. This award is like a loud, heart felt cheer in the middle of a race.

Reason for Award

This is a youthful romance full of ideals and passion, set against the backdrop of the turbulent Showa era. The illustrations are powerful, placing the young entrepreneur and the movie actress he loves within the context of an enormous cast of characters and the artist's impressive command of historical detail. The result is a splendid amalgamation of narrative structure, characterization, and historical insight.