Crunchyroll Anime Awards
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards, also known simply as The Anime Awards, are awards given annually by the anime streaming service Crunchyroll to recognize the best anime of the previous year. Announced in December 2016, the awards were first presented in January 2017. Crunchyroll describes it as a "global event that recognizes the anime shows, characters, and artists that fans around the world love most."
The Anime Awards were originally held in California in the United States. In 2023, the Awards moved to the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan for the 7th ceremony and have been held there ever since. The most recent ceremony was the 9th ceremony, held on May 25, 2025, where Solo Leveling won the Anime of the Year award. The 10th ceremony is scheduled to take place on May 23, 2026.
Process
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.For the first six editions of the awards, any anime that was produced 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 to September of the previous year. 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. Eligible nominations for non-Japanese VA Performance are based on the initial release of the dub irrespective of when the anime was originally released.
The set of categories that will be presented varies for each edition, with categories added, removed, or otherwise renamed. The 9th edition, for example, featured 32 categories.
Categories
Current
Crunchyroll announced the categories for each edition around December. The following list are the awards featured on its latest edition. Of these, only four awards are currently active in every editions since its inauguration in 2017.- Anime of the Year
- Film of the Year
Series awards
- Best Continuing Series
- Best New Series
- Best Original Anime
Production awards
- Best Animation
- Best Character Design
- Best Director
- Best Background Art
Music awards
- Best Opening Sequence
- Best Ending Sequence
- Best Score
- Best Anime Song
Voice acting awards
- Japanese
- English
- German
- French
- Latin American Spanish
- Castilian Spanish
- Portuguese
- Arabic
- Italian
- Hindi
Genre awards
- Best Drama
- Best Comedy
- Best Action
- Best Romance
- Best Slice of Life
- Best Isekai Anime
Character awards
- Best Main Character
- Best Supporting Character
- "Must Protect At All Costs" Character
Special
- Industry Icon Award
- Global Impact Award
Retired
- Best Character
- * Best Protagonist
- * Best Antagonist
- * Best Boy
- * Best Girl
- Best Fantasy
- Best Fight Scene
- Most Heartwarming Scene
- Best CGI
- Best Cinematography
- Best Manga
- Best Couple
- Best Voice Artist Performance
- * Russian
Editions
10th edition
The 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be held on May 23, 2026 at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan. For the fourth consecutive year, the event will be hosted by Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira. Crunchyroll announced the eligibility period will return to its previous format of eligibility from January to December 2025 for nominations for this edition. This edition will feature 32 categories from the previous ceremony. Nominees will be revealed on April 2, the first day of public voting, which will run until April 15. Yoko Takahashi is set to perform in the ceremony for the 30th anniversary tribute to Neon Genesis Evangelion, featuring its opening theme "A Cruel Angel's Thesis".Records
Series
The following nominees received multiple nominations :| Nominations | Title |
| 47 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba |
| 46 | Attack on Titan |
| 45 | Jujutsu Kaisen |
| 31 | Spy × Family |
| 29 | My Hero Academia |
| 25 | Chainsaw Man |
| 25 | Ranking of Kings |
| 22 | Dandadan |
| 22 | Mob Psycho 100 |
| 20 | Frieren: Beyond Journey's End |
| 19 | Kaguya-sama: Love Is War |
| 17 | Oshi no Ko |
| 16 | Delicious in Dungeon |
| 16 | Kaiju No. 8 |
| 16 | Vinland Saga |
| 14 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure |
| 13 | The Apothecary Diaries |
| 13 | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners |
| 13 | Solo Leveling |
| 11 | Beastars |
| 11 | Made in Abyss |
| 11 | Megalo Box |
| 11 | My Dress-Up Darling |
| 11 | Odd Taxi |
| 11 | Wonder Egg Priority |
| 10 | Bocchi the Rock! |
| 10 | Great Pretender |
| 10 | One Piece |
| 10 | Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! |
| 9 | The Ancient Magus' Bride |
| 9 | Carole & Tuesday |
| 9 | Fruits Basket |
| 9 | Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress |
| 8 | Aggretsuko |
| 8 | Hell's Paradise |
| 8 | KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! |
| 8 | Lycoris Recoil |
| 8 | Mashle: Magic and Muscles |
| 8 | Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid |
| 8 | The Promised Neverland |
| 8 | Sarazanmai |
| 7 | 86 |
| 7 | Devilman Crybaby |
| 7 | March Comes in Like a Lion |
| 7 | Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World |
| 7 | Tower of God |
| 7 | Yuri on Ice |
| 6 | Dorohedoro |
| 6 | Dr. Stone |
| 6 | Erased |
| 6 | Komi Can't Communicate |
| 6 | Land of the Lustrous |
| 6 | Little Witch Academia |
| 6 | Ranma ½ |
| 6 | Tokyo Revengers |
| 6 | Violet Evergarden |
| 6 | Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song |
| 6 | Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead |
| 5 | Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War |
| 5 | Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju |
| 5 | Dragon Ball Super |
| 5 | Heavenly Delusion |
| 5 | Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation |
| 5 | SK8 the Infinity |
| 5 | Ya Boy Kongming! |
| 5 | Zombie Land Saga |
The following winners received multiple awards :
| Awards | Title |
| 22 | Jujutsu Kaisen |
| 19 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba |
| 17 | Attack on Titan |
| 15 | My Hero Academia |
| 10 | Spy × Family |
| 9 | Solo Leveling |
| 7 | Yuri on Ice |
| 6 | Chainsaw Man |
| 6 | Kaguya-sama: Love Is War |
| 4 | Frieren: Beyond Journey's End |
| 4 | Mob Psycho 100 |
| 4 | One Piece |
| 4 | Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World |
| 3 | Dandadan |
| 2 | Cyberpunk: Edgerunners |
| 2 | Devilman Crybaby |
| 2 | Dr. Stone |
| 2 | Erased |
| 2 | Horimiya |
| 2 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure |
| 2 | Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! |
| 2 | Made in Abyss |
| 2 | Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid |
| 2 | Odd Taxi |
| 2 | Ranking of Kings |
| 2 | That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime |
| 2 | The Promised Neverland |
| 2 | The Rising of the Shield Hero |