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Moyashimon Wins Major Japanese Comic Prize

This weekend, the winners of the 12th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, were announced in Japan. The awards, which were named after the Astro Boy creator, recognize the best in manga and comics that follow Tezuka’s influential approach. The winner of 2 million yen (about $20,000) and this year’s Manga Grand Prize is artist Masayuki Ishikawa, whose Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture had also been nominated for the top honor in the two previous years.

Part scientific education and part bizarre entertainment, Moyashimon follows a college student who discovers that he can see and communicate with the germs and micro-organisms all around him. The off-beat franchise was first published in manga form in 2004, before it was adapted into a short-lived anime series late last year. Watch a clip of the show (with English subtitles!) after the jump.