Nihon Anime Tanjõ (The Birth of Japanese Anime) book and Yukiko Tomiyama s
Shōjo Manga no Busaiku Joshikō (The Reports of a Plain Woman on Shōjo Manga) book were both nominated for the Nonfiction category.
The Free category also nominated the Gundam Factory Yokohama complex with the moving Gundam statue, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Other entries in the Free category include the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch, the return of the Hayabusa 2 asteroid probe sample capsule, and the mythical Amabie creature whose image wards off illness, which went viral in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The awards this year are again separated into nine categories: Japanese Novel, Japanese Short Story, Translated Novel, Translated Short Story, Media, Comic, Art, Nonfiction, and a Free category. Each category has between 6-10 nominees. The nominees were chosen among works that were released between January 1 and December 31, 2020.
Hiroko Nobara
Kieta Mama Tomo centers on a group of mothers who meet in their children s kindergarten and become friends. One of them, Yuki, is happily married, and lives with her husband, child, and mother-in-law, but one day stops coming to the kindergarten with her child. Rumors begin to circulate that she had an affair, and her friends realize that they don t really know her that well.
Tsuma wa Kuchi o Kiite Kuremasen centers on a family of four: a husband, wife, son, and daughter. One day, the wife starts not to say anything except the absolute bare minimum, and the husband wracks his mind for a reason why.