Marco Kohinata’s Akari manga has won the Prix Ouest-France award at France’s Quai des Bulles comic festival — the first time a Japanese title has ever won the prize. The French-language edition of the one-volume manga took the honour at this year’s event in Saint-Malo.
Akari manga (Credits: Anime News Network)
The award was decided by a committee made up of festival organizers and reporters from Ouest-France, the country’s most circulated daily newspaper, who selected the manga through a vote. The Quai des Bulles festival ran from October 9-11 in Saint-Malo, France.
The win continues a strong year for Akari. The story also won the ABCD Asia Award 2026 in July, and Kohinata was hosted as a guest at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) earlier this year, from June 6-7.
What Is the Akari Manga About?
Glacier Bay Books, which publishes the title in English, describes Akari as a quietly beautiful standalone story about mistaken identity, found family, and the profound power of art. Kohinata’s warm, softly textured lines and shading are said to evoke the colour and shape, the fullness and complexity of human emotion.
Hero’s Inc. released the one-volume manga in Japan in 2022. Its French award win marks a notable milestone: a Japanese title breaking through at a major French comics festival, in a country with one of the world’s most passionate comics cultures.
For a standalone, single-volume story to collect two international awards in one year — and to make history at Quai des Bulles — speaks to how far Akari’s quiet, emotional storytelling has travelled from its Japanese debut.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.
