Gachiakuta won the award in the Shōnen category.
Back in April, the nominees for this year’s 59th Kodansha Manga Awards were announced. The publisher announced the winners in the three categories on Monday, 11 May, 2026. Gachiakuta has finally won the award in the Shōnen manga category after also being nominated in 2023 and 2024.
Who are the 50th Kodansha Manga Awards winners?
Best Shōnen manga:
Winner: Gachiakuta
Story and art: Kei Urana, Hideyoshi Ando
Publisher: Kodansha
Reading platform: KManga
KManga describes the story as:
In the slums where the descendants of criminals are forced to live, trash-picker Rudo is constantly the object of discrimination. Then one day, he is framed for a crime he didn't commit, and is thrown into the dreaded Pit. At its bottom, Rudo catches a glimpse of the truth of the world and manifests an ability to give an object life and draw out its powers. He faces a world that may be infinitely powerful, but he will not let anyone else decide his worth. The curtain rises on this raging battle action series where the enemies are social norms, political power, and prejudice! It's all to change this steaming dung heap of a world!! In the slums where the descendants of criminals are forced to live, trash-picker Rudo is constantly the object of discrimination. Then one day, he is framed for a crime he didn't commit, and is thrown into the dreaded Pit. Down below, Rudo meets the Cleaner Enjin, starts to see the truth of the world, and manifests an ability to give an object life and draw out its powers. It's all to change this steaming dung heap of a world!!
Other nominees in the category included:
- Utsura nai ndesu by Ruka Konoshima (Shogakukan)
- The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity by Saka Mikami (Kodansha; also nominated in 2023, 2024, 2025)
- Ichi the Witch by Osamu Nishi, Shiro Usazaki (Shueisha)
Best Shōjo manga:
Winner: Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn't Remember Me
Light novel author: Eiko Mutsuhana
Light novel illustrator: Yugiri Aika
Manga illustrator: Gin Shirakawa
Publisher: KADOKAWA
Reading platform: Seven Seas publishes the English version
Seven Seas describes the story as:
Oriana, a seventeen-year-old magic student, suddenly dies alongside her boyfriend, Vincent. However, she returns from death in the body of her seven-year-old self with the memories of her past life intact—except for the knowledge of what killed her. She fantasizes for years about reuniting with her beloved, but when they finally meet, Vincent doesn’t remember her! Can she make Vincent fall in love with her again and avoid the death that started this mysterious time loop?
Other nominees in the category included:
- In the Clear Moonlit Dusk by Mika Yamamori (Kodansha; also nominated in 2022, 2023, 2024)
- A Star Brighter Than the Sun by Kazune Kawahara (Shueisha)
- Gazing at the Star Next Door by Ammitsu (Kodansha, also nominated in 2025)
Best general manga:
Winner: The Darwin Incident
Story and art: Shun Umezawa
Publisher: Kodansha
Reading platform: KManga
KManga describes the story as:
The Animal Liberation Alliance, an eco-terrorist organization, rescues a pregnant chimpanzee from an animal testing lab-only for it to give birth to a half-human, half-chimpanzee “humanzee” named Charlie! Fifteen years later, Charlie’s human foster parents are finally ready to send him to a normal high school, where he makes his first friend: a human girl named Lucy. In the meantime, however, the ALA’s stance has become ever more extreme, and now they’re here to drag Charlie into their terrorist plot…
Other nominees in the category included:
- Spacewalking With You by Inuhiko Doronoda (Kodansha, also nominated in 2025)
- Nezumi’s First Love by Riku Oseto (Kodansha, also nominated in 2025)
- Heisei Haizan-hei Sumire-chan by Satomi U (Kodansha)
- Mii-chan and Yamada-san by Nene Azuki (Kodansha)
Last year’s winners include ONE, Kyōtarō Azuma, and BOSE’s Versus as the Best Shōnen Manga, while Coco Uzuki’s Fall in Love, You False Angels as Best Shōjo Manga. Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Historie was named the Best General Manga.