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Loveplus, 1/1 Gundam, Shaft Win Japan Otaku Awards
posted on by Egan Loo
The 9th Annual Japan Otaku Awards were presented at Tokyo's LOFT/PLUS ONE hall on January 9. The organizers have described it as an informal "event of the otaku, by the otaku, for the otaku" to commemorate the things, people, and events that left a lasting impression on the otaku world in the past year. A panel of six judges, led by novelist/manga creator Hōsai Tsuruoka, first nominated several entries. Then the panel held a free-form discussion with the audience to determine the winners of the awards presented by each judge, as well as one Grand Prix winner.
Grand Prix
Loveplus (Nintendo DS virtual girlfriend)Genpachi Tōkaimura Award
Wingnut Wings (model maker)Hidekuni Shida Award
Final Fantasy XIII (PlayStation 3 role-playing game)Hisashi Maeda Award
Shaft (anime studio)Korosuke Narasaki Award
Daisuke Nishijima (manga creator)Hōsai Tsuruoka Award
Charger Girl Ju-den Chan (Fight Ippatsu! Jūden-chan!! TV anime)Ryōta Fujitsu Award
1/1 Gundam (event statue)Grand Prix Nominees
| Nominees | Votes | Judges' Votes | Audience Votes (Hands Raised) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loveplus (Nintendo DS virtual girlfriend) | 4 | 3 | 1 (18) |
| Yatterman (live-action film, TV anime) | 3 | 3 | 0 (7) |
| Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Ha anime film) | 2 | 2 | 0 (17) |
| Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection (anime film) | 2 | 2 | 0 (9) |
| 1/1 Gundam (event statue) | 1 | 0 | 1 (35) |
| K-ON! (anime) | 1 | 1 | 0 (8) |
| Daisuke Nishijima (manga creator) | 1 | 1 | 0 (2) |
| Kamen Rider Decade (special-effects drama) | 0 | 0 | 0 (6) |
| Chihayafuru (manga) | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) |
Although they were not nominated, other titles that were discussed during the event included Macross Frontier: Itsuwari no Utahime, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Daikaijū Battle: Ultra Ginga Densetsu The Movie, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
The Japan Otaku Awards event is slated to be streamed for a fee on Nico Nico Douga's Loft Channel at the end of January. On February 7, there will be a female counterpart called "Japan Otaku Awards 2009 Girl's Side" to recognize the past year's milestones for female otaku.
The Grand Prix winners in the previous eight years' Japan Otaku Awards are as follows:
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Mōretsu! Otona Teikoku no Gyakushū |
| 2002 | Kaiyodo |
| 2003 | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed |
| 2004 | Moe Anthromorphism (In particular, Bincho-tan) |
| 2005 | Akihabara |
| 2006 | Ultraman 80 (from the live-action Ultraman Mebius special-effects series) |
| 2007 | Video-sharing sites (Example: Nico Nico Douga) |
| 2008 | Kitarō anime (Hakaba Kitarō & 5th Gegege no Kitarō TV anime series) |
Source: MyCom Journal
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