Just a friendly reminder that there's only two days left to vote in the 2008 Manga Readers' Polls. It's been a pretty interesting few weeks as I've watched the votes come in. I've noticed some front runners as they got an early lead, and then saw them falter in the last few days as support comes in for some up-and-comers. Other polls have two or three strong contenders who have been trading places in the lead position for a while.
Here's what's going on in the 11 poll categories, and how you could either push the leader over the top, or help a manga that's in second or third place get a last-minute surge of support:
VOTE: Best New Shonen Manga Poll
Already one of the most popular shonen manga ever published, Slam Dunk has racked up a significant lead here. But it's pretty much neck and neck for 2nd and 3rd place, as Fairy Tail, .hack//G.U.+ and Higurashi: When They Cry have been almost even at several points during this polling period.
VOTE: Best New Shojo Manga Poll
For most of the poll, Kazune Kawahara's High School Debut has been trading the lead with Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara, with Ai Morinaga's Your and My Secret coming in as a strong contender for 3rd place.
VOTE: Best New Seinen Manga Poll
A lot of popular picks are competing here, with Gantz in the lead now, with Astral Project, Solanin and Black Lagoon holding up the front of the pack.
VOTE: Best New Josei Manga Poll
While not as lively as the seinen or shonen polls, the leading nominee for Best New Josei Manga has been at various points Maka-Maka, Be With You and now dark horse entry, Object of Desire, which is the current leader.
VOTE: Best New Classic or Reissued Manga Poll
After a slow start, Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka is pretty much leading in the vote count here, but Yoshihiro Tatsumi's Good-Bye is competing for second with the VIZ Big Edition of Vagabond, Slam Dunk and One-Pound Gospel.
VOTE: Best New All-Ages Manga
So far, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is in the lead, with COWA! and Suihelibe! competing for second place, although you can't either of them out since each were in the lead at one point or another.
VOTE: Best One-Shot Manga / Short Story Collection Poll
This one you could sum up as Zombies vs. Maids, Yaoi vs. Emo Manga, with Tokyo Zombie giving a good shot to win this one, with Seduce Me After the Show, Solanin and Shirley nipping at its heels.
VOTE: Best Original English Language / Global Manga Poll
Surprisingly, this one is the most hotly contested poll, between two competitors who really want to take home the prize: Anima by Dany & Dany vs. Yokaiden by Nina Matsumoto, with a strong showing for Daemonium by Kosen. At this point, Anima is leading by a good margin, but given how fast and furiously the votes have been coming in for this poll, it's really anyone's guess how this one will turn out.
VOTE: Best Yaoi / Shonen-Ai Manga Poll
Again, another poll with a strong fan following, as A Foreign Love Affair by Ayano Yamane came out with an early lead, only to be met by a surge of votes for Anima by Dany & Dany. Future Lovers is holding up third place behind these two popular boys love titles.
VOTE: Best New Manga Magazine
When this poll first opened, it seemed like no one would be able to catch up to Otaku USA's early lead. Then came a big blast of votes for Apple, the luxe Korean manhwa anthology from Udon. Yen Plus and Shonen Jump are getting their share of votes, but at this point, they'll be hard-pressed to catch up with Apple's 300-vote lead.
VOTE: Best Manga Art Book / Book About Manga
This one's a bit of an odd man out category, and as the last one to go live, it's got the fewest votes logged. But so far, Bleach: SOULs, Bat-Manga and Death Note 13: How to Read are a few votes apart from each other, so it really could be any one of these three front-runners' poll to lose.
Remember, voting is open until Sunday, January 25 at midnight, Pacific Time. Get out there and pick and click in all 11 polls, or if you've already voted, thanks for voting! I'll be rolling out the results during the last week of January.
Image credit: © 1990-2008 Takehiko Inoue and I.T. Planning, Inc.
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