The Crunchyroll Anime Awards, also known simply as The Anime Awards, are awards given annually by the animestreaming serviceCrunchyroll to recognize the best anime of the previous year. Announced in December 2016, the awards were first presented in January 2017.[1] Crunchyroll describes it as a "global event that recognizes the anime shows, characters, and artists that fans around the world love most."[2]
The awards have two rounds of voting. Initially, each judge will submit up to five potential candidates for each category. Six candidates that received the highest amount of nominations from this round will be included in the final list for the next round, which is a one-week public voting. Winners for each category are determined by the most amount of judge and public votes weighted in a 70:30 ratio respectively since at least the 6th edition.[3]
For the first six editions of the awards, any anime that was produced by primarily in Japan and released legally on television, cinema, or online from January to December of the previous year were eligible for nomination. The eligibility period was changed for the 7th and 8th editions, from October of the previous two years (Fall season) to September of the previous year (Summer season). However, in December 2024, Crunchyroll announced that starting from the 10th edition onwards, the eligibility period will return to its previous format of eligibility from January to December, with the eligibility period for the 9th edition covering October 2023 to December 2024 to accommodate the change in format.[4][5] Eligible nominations for non-Japanese VA Performance are based on the initial release of the dub irrespective of when the anime was originally released.[3]
The set of categories that will be presented varies for each edition, with categories added, removed, or otherwise renamed. The 9th edition, for example, will feature 32 categories.[4]
Hero of the Year and Villain of the Year awards were renamed as "Best Hero" and "Best Villain" respectively in 2018. However, they were renamed again in 2019 as "Best Protagonist" and "Best Antagonist" respectively.[6] On the same edition, "Best Opening" and "Best Ending" were renamed as "Best Opening Sequence" and "Best Ending Sequence" as well. In 2024, "Best Film" and "Best Art Direction" were renamed as "Film of the Year" and "Best Background Art" respectively.
The 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be held on May 25, 2025 at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan. It will be hosted by Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira, who both hosted the previous twoceremonies. Announced during Crunchyroll's industry panel at CCXP 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil, anime series released from October 2023 to December 2024 are eligible for this edition, with Crunchyroll further noting that future editions will feature anime series released from January to December. This edition will feature 32 categories, including new categories for Best Background Art, Best Isekai Anime, and Best VA Performance (Hindi). Categories were revealed on December 6. Nominees will be revealed on April 3, the first day of public voting, which will run until April 14.[4]
Notable awards and nominees
Series
The following nominees received multiple nominations (5 or more):
Wonder Egg Priority is the only original anime series to receive the most nominations without a win and did not nominate the Anime of the Year category.
Suzume earned the most nominations for films with 6.
Jujutsu Kaisen earned the most nominations for a franchise with 48.
Winners
Jujutsu Kaisen earned the highest wins in each year with 21.
Jujutsu Kaisen earned the highest wins in a single year / edition (8th) with 11 including Anime of the Year, which also became the first anime to win the award twice.
At the inaugural ceremony, Yuri on Ice swept all of the seven nominations including the Anime of the Year, amid controversy by fans.[7]
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the first anime adaptation of video games to win the Anime of the Year category, which was based on a video game Cyberpunk 2077 by Polish video game development studio CD Projekt Red.
Jujutsu Kaisen earned the most wins for a franchise with 24.
