How to Enter

Submission Criteria

Theme: Light and Darkness
You can submit artwork made with any digital or traditional tool or software. If you create your submission using traditional tools, please submit a digital scan of the artwork. (Paper submissions will not be accepted)

• 8-32 page original work
• Comic / Bande Dessinée Categories: Color
  Manga Category: Black-and-white or color
• Submissions may be formatted for right-to-left or left-to-right reading.
• There are no restrictions on language depicted in works.
• File Formats: .png, .jpg/jpeg, .clip (Clip Studio format), less than 32MB per page
• You can create your comic in any size, but we recommend using 300 dpi resolution for color comics and 600 dpi for black-and-white works.

• An original webtoon (sized 800 x 20,000-300,000 pixels or a height ratio of 25 to 375 for an image 800 pixels or less when the width is set to 1).
• Color recommended.
• There are no restrictions on language depicted in works.
• File Formats: .png, .jpg/jpeg, .clip (Clip Studio format), less than 32MB per page

• A 4-16 page manga, comic, or webtoon drawn according to the supplied manuscript.
• Other requirements are the same as the Comic, Manga, Bande Dessinée, and Webtoon categories.
• You can edit the storyboard text (lines, characters, etc.) as needed.
• Manuscript text here

• An original color illustration
• File Formats: .png or .jpg/jpeg format, less than 5MB.
• There are no size restrictions, but we recommend the following:
  A4 sheet, 300 dpi (2480 x 3508 pixels)

Submission Rules

• Applicants must be students aiming to debut as a creative professional, for example, as a manga artist or illustrator, at the time of application.
• Submissions must be unpublished original artworks that have not won other contests and must be suitable for all ages. (You may submit artwork that has been published in fanzines or on websites that do not offer compensation for artwork.)
• There is no requirement to delete the items that have already been posted or published on social media or art-sharing sites before the time of application. However, please refrain from submitting or publishing until the examination results are announced.
• Winners have the opportunity to have their work critiqued by judges and sponsors. These comments will be uploaded to the organizer’s official website. Parts of the works may be publicly reproduced for the sake of these critiques.
• A teacher or member of school staff must register on behalf of the school or program in order for students to be eligible. If your status as a teacher or school staff member cannot be confirmed, you will not be able to register your school for participation. Students will need to enter the school ID (issued when a school is registered) when submitting their artwork.
• Supporting companies may also contact contest participants for permission to display the artwork in their media. A participant’s name, age, e-mail address, and school to which they are enrolled may be shared with these entities in such an event. In order to be eligible to receive any awards, you are required to consent to a written agreement, which includes responding in good faith to communications from sponsors. Winners’ addresses will also be shared with sponsors for the purpose of shipping prizes. We appreciate your understanding of these rules when submitting your works.
• The winning entries may be used in promotional materials for CELSYS, Inc. and collaborating companies.
• Text within entries may be translated into other languages to present the artwork to an international audience.
• Works are not eligible for submission or judging in the following cases and will not be posted on the entry page of the contest website.
• - Entries that are not suitable for all ages.
• - Entries that infringe on copyright or intellectual property.
• - Entries that feature offensive or objectionable content.
• - Entries that are not original works (e.g., depicting existing characters).
• - Other entries that are deemed inadmissible by the organizer. In such cases, the reasons for exclusion will not be given.
• Contest entries will be posted online after the results are announced. The artist name, school name, country name, and work title of all those who enter will be displayed along with their entries.
• If you are a digital artist and a winner of the Comic, Manga, Bande Dessinée, or Webtoon categories, please send us your original artwork files with separated layers so that we may translate your comic. As much as possible, save the data before merging layers.
• A single applicant may submit multiple entries.
• Groups where all members are students, may also enter a single collaborative entry. In such cases, groups must select a single representative to submit the entry. If such a group wins a prize, a single winner’s worth of awards and prize money will be sent to the representative of the group.
• Prize money will be transferred to your Paypal account.
• Celsys may send information about sponsor companies to the school email address provided when registering.
• Entries that have been submitted without a valid school ID may be judged as not belonging to a school.

How to Enter

A teacher must register on behalf of the school or program in order for students to be eligible. Students will need to enter the school ID (issued by Celsys when a school is registered) when submitting their artwork. If you are a student, please ask the teacher or member of staff at your school to register.

School Registration Guide
If you are a student and want to ask your teacher or a member of school staff to register your school for the contest, hand them this guide to show them how.

School registration

Please enter the necessary information below in the application form. The contest organizer will send a school ID via e-mail at a later date for submitting contest entries. It may take up to five business days for your registration to be accepted. School IDs issued for previous contests cannot be used. If you have registered your school for previous contests, you must register again to compete in this event.

Required Information:

School name, type of school, teacher’s name, e-mail address, phone number, school website URL, school logo*.

*Logo is optional. Provided school logos will be displayed on the official website at a later date.

To confirm that you are a school teacher or member of staff, you need one of the following when you register:

- a teacher or staff member's email address with your school’s domain
- a business or photo ID card
- a document proving the registrant’s status as a teacher or staff member.

Teacher

School registration

School ID sent by e-mail

Note: Contact us here about school registration.
If any circumstances with your teachers/school staff or homeschooling prevent you from registering your school, please fill out this form to contact us. Depending on your circumstances, you may be accepted as a special case.

How to enter (Comic / Manga / Bande Dessinée / Webtoon Categories)　

Students should submit their work individually using their school’s ID.

• Creating a Clip Studio Account
  Please create a free Clip Studio account to upload comic submissions. All you need is an email address to register an account.
  If you already have a Clip Studio account, skip to Step 2.
  

  Student

  Clip Studio Account

  Create a Clip Studio Account
• Upload your comic
  Upload your comic to Clip Studio SHARE. Clip Studio SHARE is an electronic viewer for easily embedding and reading comics and manga.
  

  Upload your comic

  Upload your comic
• Fill in the application form below and enter the URL of the entry published on Clip Studio SHARE.
  You will need your school ID when submitting your artwork.
  

  Enter your submission URL and school ID in the entry form

  Submit a story

How to enter (Illustration Category)

Students should submit their work individually using their school’s ID.

• Fill in the application form below and upload your illustration.
  

  Student

  Enter your submission URL and school ID in the entry form

• Please save the file name in the format: SchoolID_ArtistName
  Note: make sure your filename contains no spaces or special characters
  Submit an Illustration

Application FAQ

• Q1: Can student applicants register their school?
  A1: No, a school teacher or member of staff must register their school for participation.
• Q2: My school doesn’t have a website. Can I still apply?
  A2: Yes, you can apply even if there is no school website. Please attach a copy of your business card, teacher identification card, or other documentation proving your status as a teacher when applying.
• Q3: What’s the difference between the Comic, Manga, and Bande Dessinée categories?
  A3: Submissions are accepted for each category. Please submit to the category you personally believe your work fits in best with. However, note that color comics can be submitted for the Comic, Bande Dessinée, and Manga categories, but black-and-white submissions will only be accepted in the Manga category.
• Q4: Can I enter works that have been in other contests?
  A4: Yes, if they have not won any awards at other contests.
• Q5: Can I publish my work on social media or online after entering?
  A5: If a piece has already been published on social media or a website, it’s not necessary to delete it. However, please refrain from uploading an entered piece before the results announcement.
• Q6: In the case of home school, how should I register as a participating school?
  A6: Please fill out the following information in the contact form.
  - Select homeschool
  - Upload documents that prove that you are a student being homeschooled