The award is divided into two categories: print and digital.
The Next Manga Award (Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Taisho), presented by Kadokawa Corporation’s Da Vinci Magazine and streaming website Niconico, has unveiled its list of winners for the 2025 iteration.
The award is eligible for manga that have been published in print or online, have no more than five volumes, and have started serialisation after the first day of the year. Winners are decided through fan voting.
Next Manga Award: Print Category winners
The print version winners for 2025 are:
First Place: Ichi the Witch (Madan no Ichi)
Story: Osamu Nishi
Art: Shiro Usazaki
Ichi the Witch is made by an all-female duo, and began serialisation in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in September 2024. The manga currently has four tankobon volumes as of August 2025, with Chapter 35 to 50 yet to be collected into a single volume.
Viz Media and Manga Plus are simulreleasing chapters for Ichi the Witch in English, and describes the story as:
In this world, witches must hunt down their magic! Deep in the forest, the terrifying king of magic and the strongest witch are locked in deadly combat. But suddenly, a young boy joins the fray. His name is Ichi and he is just a hunter. But he has the power to flip the magic world upside down in this magic hunting fantasy epic!
Second Place: COSMOS
Story and art: Ryuhei Tamura
COSMOS was created by Ryuhei Tamura, who is best known for his work “Beelzebub”. COSMOS began serialisation in Shogakukan’s Monthly Sunday Gene-X seinen manga magazine in April 2023, with a total of seven tankobon volumes as of September 2025.
Viz Media licensed an english version for the manga in October 2024, with the first volume released last May 2025.
The story is officially described as:
When high school student Kaede is hired to use his uncanny ability to sniff out fact from fiction for Cosmos, an intergalactic insurance agency, he embarks on a journey that is out of this world…
Kaede’s search for a missing classmate leads to the shocking discovery that his friend is actually an alien in a human flesh suit. Grateful for Kaede’s help with her case, cute and ruthless insurance investigator Rin headhunts him. Kaede’s job interview leads to an epic battle on a commuter train, alien treachery, and a hidden spaceship. But before he can decide whether to accept the position or not, Kaede discovers another alien hidden in plain sight—one with a tragic story to share.
Third Place: Super Psychic Policeman Chojo (Chōjun! Chōjō Senpai)
Story and art: Shun Numa
Written and illustrated by Shun Numa, Super Psychic Policeman Chojo is a comedy manga that began serialisation in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The series ran from February 2024 to June 2025, with a total of eight tankobon volumes.
The manga originally stemmed from a one-shot that Numa published through Weekly Shonen Jump in April 2023, and had already earned tenth place in the 2024 iteration of the Next Manga Awards.
Manga Plus published the series in English, and describes the story as:
The creator of Samon the Summoner returns to Jump with a new series about a super-powered policeman! In Chinjuku, the city that never sleeps, there is a psychic senior police officer who has powers beyond human comprehension! His name is Meguru Chojo! Along with his judo expert partner Nao Ippongi, this hilarious duo will keep the streets clean by any means necessary!
Next Manga Award: Digital Category winners
The digital version winners for 2025 are:
First Place: Strikeout Pitch
Story and art: Kyu Sumiyoshi
This sports manga began serialisation through Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ web service in September 2024, and currently has two tankobon volumes in circulation as of May 2025.
Strikeout Pitch is also available to read in english through the Manga Plus website. The story is described as:
The Souha Public High School Baseball Team is one step away from the pinnacle that is the Summer Koushien. They only need a star pitcher to have a chance. Could the Baseball Club Slasher, the powerful pitcher who appears every night and terrorizes other players, be their guy? There's only 1 problem: he can only pitch 3 full-power balls a day!
Second Place: Centuria
Story and art: Tohru Kuramori
This dark fantasy series has been serialised in Shonen Jump+ since April 2024, and currently has five tankobon volumes as of July 2025. Viz Media has revealed that they had acquired the license for an English publication for Centuria, and is projected to release the first volume sometime in 2026.
Manga Plus also simul-releases the english translation of each chapter, and summarises the story as:
Stowing himself away on a slave ship, Julian sets sail for the great continent with a hundred slaves, all yearning for freedom, until...?! Embark on a groundbreaking journey through this action-packed dark fantasy saga!!
Third Place: I Will Fall With the Emperor
Story: Tenichi
Art: SORAJIMA
This title seems to not have much available information online, but from initial searches it looks to be a Korean manhwa. The series is available in kakao page, and through a machine translation officially describes the story as:
“You, too, will be corrupted. Then I will make it all come true.”
If I had only joined hands with him and agreed to become his mistress then, could I have lived a little longer? At least I would not have known the pain of my eyes being gouged out. But instead I shouted: "I refuse. I will not betray my country," not realizing that my country, my family, had betrayed me long ago. Sacrificed, used, abandoned, and finally executed by my own family... I only realized after returning to 10 years in the past that the reason why you wanted me to stand by your side is because you and I were so much alike. Let us fall together this time.
Other awards
These works have been distinguished with special awards:
Special Nichirei Award: A Fine Day for Going Home After School (Houkago Kitaku Biyori)
Story and art: Mai Matsuda
This slice-of-life manga began serialisation in Futabasha’s Manga Action magazine in 2023, and has a total of four tankobon volumes as of March 2025. An anime adaptation has also been confirmed.
U-Next Manga Award (Print): Gokurakugai (Paradise District)
Art and story: Yuto Sano
This supernatural adventure manga has been serialised in Shueisha’s Jump Square since July 2022, and has a total of five tankobon volumes as of May 2025. Viz Media releases Gokurakugai in English both in print and online.
U-Next Manga Award (Digital): Witch and Mercenary
Story: Kaeru Chōhōkiteki
Art: Makoto Miyagi
This manga adapts the popular light novels by Kaeru Chōhōkiteki, and has been in serialisation through Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket website since January 2024. The manga has six tankobon volumes so far, and is simul-pubbed through Kodansha’s K Manga app under the title “The Witch and the Mercenary”.
