The winning posters for 2025!

Congratulations to Skytofu
1st place!

Congratulations to Shumijin
2nd place!

Prizes as follow

1st place – Two(2) artist tables or its value in cash (350$), your choice.

2nd place – One(1) artist table or its value in cash (175$), your choice.

Criteria for your work

This year’s theme is Legendary duo.

We are talking here about two inseparable characters in the collective imagination given their dynamics, their complementarity or the adventures they have experienced together.
“A duo” it is often the characters at the center of the plots and reflects universal themes such as friendship, rivalry, loyalty and the quest for oneself. They can be allies, rivals or even enemies.

Here are some details concerning the theme including some notable examples:

• • Ash and Pikachu – Jesse and James (Pokemon) As shown on the right.
  • Naruto and Sasuke (Naruto)
  • Goku and Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
  • Cloud and Sephiroth (Final Fantasy)
  • Gon and Killua (Hunter X Hunter)
  • Edward and Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
  • Tanjiro and Nezuko (Demon Slayers)
  • Mario and Luigi (Mario Bros.)
  • Ryu and Ken (Street Fighter)
  • Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo (MHA)
  • Dante and Virgil (DMC)
  • Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)
  • Sora and Riku (Kingdom Hearts)

• You must not plagiarize from the existing source. Costumes are accepted but must be adapted. This regulation was added to avoid any copyright on the poster!

• Please note that, in the context of anime/manga and video games, we do not consider the following cases to be legendary duos:
• Background Characters: Characters who do not have a meaningful connection or memorable interaction, whose interactions are superficial, do not explore deep themes, or do not evoke strong emotions.
• Undeveloped Rival Characters: Antagonists whose conflict does not lead to character development or important lessons, who constantly oppose each other without it adding depth to their relationship or the plot.
• Isolated Characters: Protagonists who do not have a notable partner or ally.

• Our two mascots, Nadeshiko and Saito, must be represented.
• The illustrations must be suitable for a general audience.
• You must leave space to add event information and the logo. An overloaded illustration unfortunately can not win.
• Optional: The duality between traditional and modern Japanese culture has always been a central theme of Nadeshicon. If you so wish, you may include elements of both in your work!
• Optional: We invite you to include our two animal mascots, Tsuki the robot fox, and Hoshi, the Japanese buzzard, who accompany Nadeshiko and Saito in their daily lives!

Keywords: Hero/Anti-Hero — Hero/Villain — Main/Sidekick — Light/Dark

Information and documents to provide with your application

• Name
• Email
• Artist nickname (optional)
• Online portfolio / Facebook page / deviantArt (optional)
• High-resolution color version (11×17 poster with a minimum resolution of 300dpi)

If you win:

• A colored PDF version
• An 8 ½ x 11 colored version for the festival program
• A black and white “oultine / lineart” vector version
• A .psd, .ai or other colored file with background and characters on different layers  (optional, but highly recommended)

Although only the color version is required for your application, we encourage you to prepare in advance and, if possible, send us all these versions with your application to facilitate the process. The illustration must be of adequate resolution for 11×17 posters.

Terms and agreements

By participating, you agree to the following conditions:

The illustration of the winner will be used for commercial and advertising purposes, for posters and t-shirts, and no additional fees will be paid following the use. On the other hand, it will allow you to benefit from an excellent visibility; do not forget to sign your artwork!

If you win, you will need to provide us with a high-resolution color version, a PDF version, and a white & black outline / lineart vector version for the t-shirt design.

We will post the applications on our social networks. They will include your name or artist nickname, as well as the link to your portfolio, Facebook, deviantArt or other. If you have one, please provide the link to allow us to properly credit you.

We will have to resize your design for advertising purposes. Ideally, a version with a different layer for the background of the image is desirable to facilitate format changes.

Send your application to [email protected]

Good luck to everyone!

Reference Images

Here are some reference pictures taken from the posters of the last years. You can also learn more about our four mascots to inspire you.