Just like there are the Emmys for TV and the Grammys for music, Sony has put on the Crunchyroll Anime Awards for the past seven years, celebrating all things Japanese animation. As Anime becomes more mainstream in American pop-culture, these awards will become more and more relevant as instead of an “Academy” of people voting for the best Anime, it is all the Anime fans across the world that get to vote. Nearly 60 million votes from across the world were cast for dozens of Anime series/movies that were nominated for 24 different awards. This post will go over the basics things to know about of these awards; what the awards are; and which series/movies won for 2024-2025.
Basic Things to Know
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards are named after the most popular Anime streaming platform called Crunchyroll, which is owned by Sony. Crunchyroll reported over 17 million subscribers to their platform recently, making it a major competitor in the entertainment streaming services industry. While this is the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, not all the series and movies that were nominated/won are on the Crunchyroll platform, some were from Netflix, HiDive, and other services similar to Crunchyroll. For an Anime to qualify, the show had to have at least one of their episodes released within 2024-2025 year. The rest was up to fans to vote for what they thought should be awarded the various awards.
The Awards
There was a total of 24 awards to be awarded to a variety of Anime series and movies. Some Anime won several awards, others only one, however, even nominated Anime that did not win anything is still worth watching. Not only are these awards great indicators of what was the best Anime of 2024-2025, but a great way to find new Anime that were good enough to almost win an award. Now, here are all 24 of the awards:
- Anime of the Year
- Anime Film of the Year
- Best Continuing Series (a series that has been come out since before 2024-2025)
- Best Original Anime (new series as of 2024-2025)
- Best Animation
- Best Character Design
- Best Director
- Best Background Art
- Best Romance
- Best Comedy
- Best Action
- Best Isekai Anime (a genre where the main character is reincarnated in another world – a very popular genre recently)
- Best Drama
- Best Slice of Life
- Best Main Character
- Best Supporting Character
- “Must Protect At All Costs” Character
- Best Anime Song
- Best Score (background music, OST)
- Best Opening Sequence (song plus opening animating)
- Best Ending Sequence
- Best Voice Artist Performance, One award per language (languages included: Japanese, Arabic, Brazilian/Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Latin Spanish, and Hindi)
Award Winners
Since a few anime won multiple awards, this list will first name the Anime then list all of the awards it won and if it is attributed to a certain person that contributed to the Anime, the name of the person as well. Also, awards were given out on a per season basis. For example, the Anime “Solo Leveling” won awards but only season one of this show won; Solo Leveling does have a second season but it came out in 2025-2026 and can only qualify for the next Crunchyroll Award Show. Here are the winning Anime and all the awards each won:
- Solo Leveling (season one) – Anime of the Year, Best New Serie, Best Action, Best Main Character, Best Score, Best Ending Sequence, Best Voice Artist Performance (Charles Emmanuel, Brazilian/Portuguese), Best Voice Artist Performance (Masumi Mutsuda, Castilian Spanish), Best Voice Artist Performance (Aleks Le, English)
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End –Best Director (Keiichiro Saito), Best Background Art, Best Drama, Best Supporting Character
- Dan Da Dan – Best Character Design, Best Anime Song (Otonoke), Best Opening Sequence
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc – Best Continuing Series, Best Animation
- Look Back – Anime Film of the Year, Best Voice Artist Performance (Ilaria Pellicone, Italian)
- Spy x Family – “Must Protect At All Costs” Character, Best Voice Artist Performance (Hiba Snobar, Arabic)
- Ninja Kamui – Best Original Anime
- Blue Box – Best Romance
- MASHLE: Magic and Muscles The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc – Best Comedy
- Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 – Best Isekai Anime
- Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! – Best Slice of Life
- The Apothecary Diaries – Best Voice Artist Performance (Aoi Yuki, Japanese)
- Kaiju No. 8 – Best Voice Artist Performance (Adrien Antoine, French)
- One Piece – Best Voice Artist Performance (Daniel Schlauch, German)
- Attack On Titan The Final Season – Best Voice Artist Performance (Miguel Ángel Leal, Latin Spanish)
- Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 – Best Voice Artist Performance (Lohit Sharma, Hindi)
Lastly, not an official award, but a massive recognition called the “Global Impact Award” was given to the entire “Attack On Titan” franchise for impact on the Anime Industry. It is the Anime that made Anime go global and become mainstream in many cultures across the world. From intense music to unexpected plot twists and so much, the Attack on Titan series is the most iconic Anime series globally. It is a great starting place for new Anime fans, as well as an amazing rewatch for Anime veterans. From its debut in 2013 to its conclusion in 2024, it has captured the world as a gateway to all things Anime.
Interested in seeing the other nominees for each award? Click on awards on the Crunchyroll Anime Awards official site to see all the movies and shows that almost won!
