Rumiko Takahashi nominated for Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame

Manga artist Rumiko Takahashi has received her second nomination for the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, and fans are hoping she’ll be inducted this time.

Takahashi is undeniably one of the most successful manga creators of all time, giving us such memorable characters as the adorable "oni" demon Lum (from "Urusei Yatsura"), gender-switching martial artist Ranma (|Ranma 1/2"), the half-dog demon Inuyasha ("Inuyasha") and Kyoko-san, the beautiful widowed manager of the Ikkokukan Boarding House ("Maison Ikkoku"). In fact, manga fans generally seem to agree that they would probably be hard-pressed to name a comic by Takahashi that hasn’t been a big hit.

So, it’s really not surprising that Takahashi has been selected as an Eisner Awards Hall of Fame nominee, as the long list of popular works she’s produced over the years certainly makes her a worthy candidate for what might be considered the Academy Awards of the comic world.

Takahashi was also nominated to the Hall of Fame in 2014 but was not selected as an inductee at that time. This year, the Eisner Awards judges have already announced two artists who, as the judges’ choices, will automatically be inducted to the Hall of Fame, namely Carl Burgos who created the character of the Human Torch and Tove Jansson who is responsible for the Moomin series. And now, Takahashi is one of 14 candidates from which four additional Hall of Famers will be selected.

The other 13 candidates (in alphabetical order by last name) are:

Lynda Barry Kim Deitch Rube Goldberg Edward Gorey Bill Griffith Matt Groening Jack Kamen Francoise Mouly George Perez Antonio Prohias P. Craig Russell Jacques Tardi Herb Trimpe

Japanese manga fans are hoping that this will be the year Takahashi is inducted, considering her numerous contributions to the industry as one of the best-selling manga artists ever, but they realize she’ll be facing tough competition with such a strong list of contenders.

Will Takahashi be able to join fellow Japanese artists Osamu Tezuka, Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki and Shigeru Mizuki in the Hall of Fame? We’ll find out when the inductees are announced on July 22 at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. Good luck, Takahashi-sensei.

Sources: Yurukuyaru.com, Anime Herald

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