Japan's equivalent of the Hugo Awards announced their 2020 winners at this year's Japan Science Fiction Convention (Nihon SF Taikai) in Fukushima. The most prized award is in the "Best Media" category, where Astra Lost in Space took home the honors, beating out Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Weathering With You , Promare and several other contenders. Many North American anime fans are happy to see Astra Lost in Space pick up the win, touting it as a hidden gem of the Summer 2019 anime season that was unfarily overshadowed by Demon Slayer, Dr. Stone, Fire Force and a few other popular series.
In addition, Dowman Sayman's How Many Light-Years to Babylon? manga and Masato Hisa's manga adaptation of WB Animation's Batman Ninja tied to take home the top prize in the "Best Comic" category.
Additional winners include the abstract painter Yūko Shiraishi (Best Artist), Issui Ogawa's Signpost to the Stars fantasy book series (Best Japanese Long Story) and Hiroe Suga's Mizu no Tsuki (Invisible moon) (Best Japanese Short Story).
Nominees were limited to works released between January 1 and December 31, 2019. Due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, winners won't receive their physical awards until a ceremony is held on March 13-14, 2021 (rescheduled from August 2020).