Video summary

The Best & Worst Manga Contests for Beginners (Tier List)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Product Review

Key product being reviewed

The video is a tier-list ranking of manga contests for beginner creators. It evaluates which contests are worth entering based on:

  • Beginner-friendliness
  • Workload
  • Competition level
  • Submission difficulty
  • Quality of feedback/communication

Tier list results (as stated)

  • S-tier (Best for beginners): Silent Manga Audition
  • A-tier: Kyoto International Creators Award
  • B-tier: Kyoto International Creators Award; Japan International Manga Award; Kadokawa World Manga Contest
    • (Also: Kodansha Manga Academy Award is placed at B tier.)
  • C-tier: Webtoon; (also Global Comic Awards is placed at C tier)
  • D-tier: Manga Plus Creator Monthly Award

Overall note: some contests are praised for opportunity, but penalized for bureaucracy, lack of feedback, or heavy competition.

Unique points mentioned about each contest (features, pros/cons, UX)

1) Webtoon contest — C-tier

Main features / requirements

  • Access to a huge audience/platform, but contest-specific requirements are heavy
  • Typically requires ~40 panels per episode and three complete episodes

Pros

  • Webtoon platform is praised as an excellent place to build an audience

Cons (major)

  • Too much workload for beginners
  • High competition: prize money attracts professionals and even small studios; solo beginners may get “crushed”
  • Reader engagement influences attention before judges review, giving creators with existing audiences an advantage
  • Online discussions mention controversies/contract concerns (e.g., exclusive rights / additional agreements after winning)

User experience (creator anecdote)

  • Entered twice:
    • First time finished only one episode
    • Second time finished all three, but quality dropped due to rushing

2) Japan International Manga Award — B-tier

Main features

  • “Huge deal,” designed for non-Japanese creators
  • Goal: promote manga internationally; strong chance if you want publication in Japan
  • No theme attached
  • If you already have manga, you can submit after meeting minimum length of at least 16 pages

Pros

  • Opportunity is described as genuinely fantastic (dream of Japan publication)

Cons (major)

  • Submission bureaucracy feels like “fighting a final boss”:
    • Enormous application form (said as ~50 pages)
    • Local Japanese embassy/consulate contacts you
    • Then another link for uploading work

User experience

  • The creator plans to enter soon and jokes about “panicking,” mainly due to confusion/complexity

3) Global Comic Awards (Manga Draft + Clip Studio Paint) — C-tier

Main features

  • Collaboration with Manga Draft and Clip Studio Paint (noted as a plus since the creator uses Clip Studio)
  • Submission length: ~8 to 16 pages (manageable)
  • The creator reused a polished version from an earlier Webtoon contest entry; upload was easier

Pros

  • More manageable page requirements than Webtoon
  • Prize pool is implied to be less massive, so fewer professionals may compete

Cons

  • Like Webtoon, reader engagement affects what gets attention before judges
  • If you don’t already have a strong fit for the theme/story, it may not be worth the time

Overall

  • Considered “slightly better” than Webtoon due to competition/prize pool being smaller
  • Still penalized for engagement-driven visibility

4) Kadokawa World Manga Contest — B-tier

Main features

  • Big publisher (Kadokawa), huge prize money
  • Simple submission process: short form, upload in different formats
  • Flexibility for art presentation (double-page spread can be split/cropped/uploaded flexibly)

Pros

  • Requirements/rules are beginner-friendly
  • Real opportunities due to Kadokawa scale and prize appeal

Cons (major)

  • After entry, the creator received no feedback/notifications:
    • no email, no thank-you message, no communication
  • The creator felt like submitting ended up in a “black hole,” even if losing is understandable

User experience (creator anecdote)

  • “Got absolutely nothing” after participating; this communication gap is the main reason for B-tier

5) Kyoto International Creators Award — A-tier

Main features

  • International contest; everyone can participate
  • No theme attached
  • Deadline mentioned: end of August
  • Winners invited to Kyoto (described as exciting/fun)
  • Paperwork is bureaucratic “because it’s Japan,” but simpler than Japan International Manga Award (no 50-page form mentioned)

Pros

  • Strong overall balance: accessible entry + decent prize + attractive winner experience
  • Simpler submission than the most bureaucratic option

Cons

  • Not enough direct experience for the speaker, so they give “benefit of the doubt” due to it being relatively new to them

6) Manga Plus Creator Monthly Award — D-tier

Main features

  • Run by Shueisha; publishing platform is praised
  • Everyone publishes on Manga Plus and is automatically in the monthly award
  • Ranking is pushed by reader engagement (likes/comments)
  • Judges review the top 10 entries

Pros

  • Platform itself is great
  • Readers’ feedback can motivate creators

Cons (major)

  • Contest mechanism is confusing and frustrating:
    • Judges can decide no one wins in a month
    • The creator observed average works getting huge engagement while “incredible manga” stays lower
  • Feels like social media promotion can manipulate outcomes
  • Possible “score manipulation” dynamics; the creator explicitly states they don’t like the system

7) Kodansha Manga Academy Award — B-tier

Main features

  • More of an opportunity to get noticed than a traditional contest
  • Submit your best work; possible editor connection
  • Minimum submission: at least 8 pages
  • Deadline: end of July
  • Promise of individual feedback for the top 100 entries
  • Application process looks straightforward

Pros

  • Feedback guarantee is a strong perk for beginners
  • Potential editor contact makes it valuable

Cons

  • Still not positioned as a “perfect beginner contest”
  • The creator implies you may need to adapt/polish an older work rather than create something entirely new

8) Silent Manga Audition — S-tier (Top recommendation)

Main features

  • Called the #1 recommendation for beginners
  • Silent format: no dialogues required
  • No need to worry about English dialogue naturalness or translation
  • Story told entirely through visuals and emotions (still difficult, but educational)
  • Submissions receive feedback from the editorial department
  • Judges are actual professional mangakas
  • Happens multiple times per year
  • Previous entries are saved on their servers; with an account you can review/analyze past work

Pros (major UX and learning advantages)

  • Every submission gets feedback
  • Clear communication:
    • notifications, emails, feedback, announcements
  • Feels like engaging with people who “genuinely care,” making it beginner-friendly

Cons

  • Winning is described as extremely hard (but educational value remains unmatched)

Comparisons and cross-contest themes (unique points overall)

  • Reader engagement advantage appears in multiple contests (Webtoon, Manga Draft/Global Comic Awards, Manga Plus Creator Monthly Award), affecting visibility before judges review
  • Workload intensity
    • Webtoon is the worst example of heavy output requirements
    • Page-length requirements (8–16 pages) are positioned as beginner-manageable in Manga Draft/Global Comic Awards and Kodansha Manga Academy Award
  • Bureaucracy vs opportunity tradeoff
    • Japan International Manga Award: high opportunity, extreme paperwork (~50 pages)
    • Kyoto International Creators Award: seen as more streamlined than Japan International Manga Award
  • Feedback/communication matters
    • Silent Manga Audition: praised for consistent feedback and notifications
    • Kadokawa: penalized for giving no response after submission

Pros vs cons summary (by the speaker’s perspective)

Biggest beginner positives

  • Silent Manga Audition
    • Silent storytelling
    • Professional judges
    • Feedback for every entry
    • Good communication
    • Archives for self-study
  • Kyoto / Kodansha / Kadokawa (depending on constraints)
    • International access
    • More manageable entry forms (relative)
    • Decent prize appeal

Biggest beginner negatives

  • Webtoon and Manga Plus systems
    • Engagement-driven ranking
    • Heavy workload
    • Competition/visibility dynamics that disadvantage new creators
  • Japan International Manga Award
    • Bureaucratic submission complexity
  • Kadokawa
    • Lack of feedback/notifications after applying

Verdict / Overall recommendation

For beginner manga creators, the video’s overall recommendation is:

  1. Enter “Silent Manga Audition” first, due to its silent format, professional judge feedback, and supportive communication/UX.
  2. If you want international opportunities with less beginner friction, consider:
    • Kyoto International Creators Award
    • Kodansha Manga Academy Award
  3. Avoid (or be cautious with) Webtoon and Manga Plus Creator Monthly Award because outcomes heavily depend on reader engagement and/or the workload is too demanding.

Speakers’ views

  • Single primary speaker throughout, sharing personal experience:
    • Entered Webtoon contest twice
    • Entered Silent Manga Audition three times
    • Plans to enter Japan International Manga Award
  • No separate additional speakers are clearly present; all opinions are attributed to the same narrator.

Original video