Following their inaugural contest last year which saw more than 800 entries, anime/manga database and community forum platform MyAnimeList has confirmed they will be hosting a second English web novel writing contest, dubbed ‘I Was Browsing MAL as Usual Then I Realized My Web Novel Could Become Manga‘ (Aka. MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest (2022)).
The three prompt boards for MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest (2022) are ‘School’, ‘Rom-Com’ and ‘Cyberpunk’, with a $3,000 USD prize for each board for a total prize pool of $9,000 USD.
The contest will be held in collaboration with Honeyfeed, an English web novel community operated by qdopp, Inc., and winning entries will be chosen by a panel of judges and a user vote. Winning entries will also be reviewed by Kodansha Ltd. for possible publication and/or comicalization – thus the manga reference in the contests extended title.
The contest will commence on 1 June 2022, with submissions due by 1 September 2022. Following this, there will be a judges voting period from 2 September 2022 – 2 November 2022, followed by a final public voting round throughout November 2022. A winner is expected to be announced on 12 December 2022.
This contest was inspired by the voices of international anime fans on MyAnimeList. Many anime fans feel that only Japanese-authored works have a realistic chance of becoming anime, while foreign-authored works stand little to no chance. This contest was created as a stepping stone to fulfilling that dream of someday having one’s ideas made into an anime in Japan.
This contest will also contribute to spreading Japan’s anime culture even further and deeper than ever before. We believe there is a need to create an ecosystem where overseas anime fans can not only watch finished products but also contribute to the anime creation process.
MyAnimeList
For those interested, above are the three 2021 winners, who walked away with a prize pool of $10,000 USD. You can read the winning novels at the links below:
Winner: Realm Assassin by Pearlyn Mirabella
2nd Place: The Consequence of Saving the World by Harmonica
3rd Place: The Sequence of Kai by Oscar H.M.
