🏆 Crunchyroll Awards Special
- officialgeekverse
- Apr 29
- 23 min read
The Crunchyroll Awards are approaching, and some spectacular works have come out during this period. For that reason, in this special post, I will talk about the different anime nominated in the different categories and about my personal votes. First of all, I want to emphasize that I am not a professional critic of works; this is more focused on opinions and even personal tastes, but always with arguments. The purpose of this post, and also of the whole blog, will always be to share with people who enjoy the world of anime, in this case, and to provide a space for sharing. I am aware that everyone has their own opinion and their own tastes. Having said all that, let’s begin by looking at the categories, and afterwards I would like to talk about some reflections on these special awards, mentions of anime that are not nominated, and more.
🎙️ Best Voice Acting Performance
I generally watch anime in Japanese, in its original language, so I focus more on that language category. Here we have the voices of the protagonists of the anime:
My Hero Academia Final Season (Izuku Midoriya)
The Summer Hikaru Died (Yoshiki Tsujinaka)
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 (Maomao)
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (Denji)
One Piece (Monkey D. Luffy)
But there is also another character who stood out a lot in Chainsaw Man, and obviously, because the arc is dedicated to that protagonist, it is none other than Reze from Chainsaw Man.
They are all good works, but if we are talking about voice acting performance, I would highlight two: Maomao and Reze. Both stood out a lot in their different expressions and tones of voice, and it is clear that both understood their characters and their emotions very well. I would have no problem with either of them winning, but my vote went to Reze. I was really captivated by the energy that Reina Ueda showed through the character, and she managed to captivate the audience and complete that affection that the audience felt for her. Her performance made it even easier to sympathize with and grow attached to Reze.
It is worth mentioning that she is a great voice actress who has already lent her voice to very well-known characters in other anime, such as Kanao Tsuyuri (Demon Slayer), Cha Hae-In (Solo Leveling), and the protagonist of Takopi’s Original Sin (Shizuka Kuze), which, curiously, is also nominated in other categories.
🎵 Best Ending Sequence
In this category, the nominated endings are:
Spy x Family Season 3 - “Actor” by Lilas
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 - “Beautiful Colors” by OneRepublic
Dan Da Dan - “Doukashiteru” by WurtS
My Hero Academia Season 7 - “I” by BUMP OF CHICKEN
My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 - “Kawaii Kawai” by Piki
Solo Leveling Season 2 - “UN-APEX” by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure
Honestly, from my point of view, in most of these anime I liked their openings much more, and their endings felt normal to me. The only ones that are truly worth highlighting and stood out quite a lot were the one from My Dress-Up Darling, because of its catchy chorus, and the one from Dan Da Dan, which was an incredible ending, full of energy, friendly, funny, and one of those endings you can listen to several times, along with its incredible opening as well.
Therefore, here, from my point of view, the unquestionable winner is the ending of Dan Da Dan.
🔥 Best Opening Sequence
Here there is definitely a lot of quality and competition among the nominees. All the openings stood out this anime season, with incredible melodies that make you not want to skip the opening. The nominees here are:
Gachiakuta - opening 1 “Hugs” by Paledusk
Call of the Night Season 2 - “Mirage” by Creepy Nuts
Dan Da Dan Season 2 - “On the Way” by AiNA THE END
Solo Leveling Season 2 - “ReawakeR” by LiSA feat. Felix of Stray Kids
My Hero Academia Final Season - “THE REVO” by PORNOGRAFFITTI
Witch Watch - “Watch Me!” by YOASOBI
This one is very close. At the end of the day, this could be based a lot on the audience’s own tastes. Personally, even though Witch Watch has an opening by the great YOASOBI, this song is not as melodic, nor does it make me want to listen to it every day like her incredible themes from Frieren or her famous opening from Oshi no Ko, but obviously the song is still very good. She always has a good musical rhythm and a voice that is always warm, soft, and emotional.
On the other hand, the final opening of Boku no Hero is very emotional because they are saying goodbye with its final season. The song fits the final battle, where the heroes give everything they have to save the world. It fits the climax perfectly, but the other openings showed better visuals, were more rhythmic, and make me want to listen to them several times on Spotify, for example.
The complete opposite happens with Solo Leveling, since LiSA together with Felix from Stray Kids create a very energetic, electronic-style musical theme. Throughout the whole song, they keep the energy at the highest level, and it is a very good song accompanied by good scenes in the opening, but the remaining three bet more on another side: they have everything good that Solo Leveling has, but they presented their intro with more creativity.
The remaining three are the best in my opinion. First, there is Gachiakuta, where the intro is an incredible rock song. As I mentioned in its own post on this same blog, Gachiakuta breaks the rules of normal anime, and its opening is rock, almost metal-like, one could say, very different from other works, very original even in the scenes of the intro. It tells certain things, but they are impossible to deduce until watching the anime. It is very creative how statues of the main characters are formed, then fall apart, and then rebuild themselves while showing their real appearance, etc.
In the same way, the opening of Dan Da Dan was fantastic, and it is incredible how high AiNA THE END’s voice can sound, as well as the incredible performances she delivered, and also the emotional way the opening is presented, where when Momo appears in front of Okarun, everything gray turns into colors. Very creative as well.
But the one that personally should be the winner is Call of the Night by Creepy Nuts. This is something that would be very hard to see in any other anime, and I do not know how, but this band always creates openings that become trendy and popular because of their unique way of making rhythms and melodies that are very, very, but very catchy. For example, in their most famous theme from Mashle, they combine exactly the catchiest part with a very incredible and comedic dance from the character; literally, their intros give more life to the anime itself. It is something surprising.
And in the case of Call of the Night, it is the same. Considering that the manga was inspired by one of their songs, which later became the first opening of the anime (Yofukashi no Uta), and that is why the band always makes the openings, endings, and even songs within the anime as well. The opening “Mirage”, which is the latest one, was the best opening of that entire anime. What captivated me the most was how it starts with a perfect funk-like tone; those first five seconds from the beginning of the song would never bore me. It has a funk tone at the start, almost like you were at the beach, and then it combines it with hip-hop and rap, obviously.
Besides that, the opening is creative, focusing more on the antagonist than on the main protagonists of the work and on how dangerous she can become. Very incredible, and this opening by Creepy Nuts breaks many standards. It is a shame that Call of the Night is not that popular, and the opening probably ended up underrated. I do not know if it should win, but I voted for this one.
🎼 Best Score
Likewise, there are very good participants in this category. There is:
Gachiakuta (Taku Iwasaki), with its rebellious and urban-type soundtrack
The Apothecary Diaries (Satoru Kosaki, Kevin Penkin, Alisa Okehazama), with its somewhat calmer, elegant, and mysterious soundtrack
Dan Da Dan (Kensuke Ushio), with its bizarre style
Solo Leveling (Hiroyuki Sawano), with its epic feeling of constant tension in fights and incredible themes like “Dark Aria” and “Reviver”
On the other hand, I do not know if it is because they are film productions, but personally I was between Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer, both with great and incredible quality in their projects in every sense, and the soundtrack did not fall behind.
Chainsaw Man (Kensuke Ushio)
Demon Slayer (Yuki Kajiura, Go Shiina)
On one hand, Demon Slayer, where the fight theme, especially the one from Giyu vs Akaza, was epically incredible and accompanies the fight choreography and the effects that Demon Slayer always has in an impeccable way.
But on the other hand, there is Chainsaw Man, whose style is chaotic and goes hand in hand with Denji’s madness when fighting. However, the theme that captivated everyone, absolutely everyone, was obviously the pool scene theme, which even gave the scene more emotion than it already could have had; it gave it much more life.
Therefore, my vote went to Chainsaw Man, which curiously has the same composer as Dan Da Dan.
🎶 Best Anime Song
There is another anime song category, but this one may not necessarily be openings, and it also includes songs from films. Here, three songs from the best opening category are repeated:
Solo Leveling
Witch Watch
Dan Da Dan
But now there is also the first opening of the second season of The Apothecary Diaries:
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 - “In Bloom” by Lilas Ikuta
It is a very melodic song, it has its essence of elegance and mystery, and it does have a chorus and very catchy parts that make you want to listen to it several times.
Even so, and once again, the song I voted for was the one from the film Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc:
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc - “Iris Out” by Kenshi Yonezu
Besides the fact that he is a great singer known for songs like “Peace Sign” (My Hero Academia) or “Kick Back” (opening 1 of Chainsaw Man), the song is incredible, just as catchy, with an amazing rhythm that describes the work very well and makes a very good introduction. Also, and this is the most important thing, it complements the work and gives it life and charisma, especially when they show the characters doing a classy and somewhat elegant dance.
It is also worth mentioning the credits song from Chainsaw Man:
Chainsaw Man - “Jane Doe” by Kenshi Yonezu together with Hikaru Utada
🥺 Character “We Must Protect at All Costs”
The nominees in this category are:
Anya Forger (Spy x Family)
Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)
Kaoruko Waguri (The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity)
Maomao (The Apothecary Diaries)
Suika (Dr. Stone)
Takopi (Takopi’s Original Sin)
Here, I do not think there is any discussion that Anya Forger is the favorite in this category, because of her funny and adorable personality as a little girl, but I have to say that, since you could vote daily, my vote alternated between Anya and Kaoruko Waguri, since the latter also captivates the audience with her personality, her always warm kindness, someone with a good heart and incapable of hurting others.
⭐ Best Supporting Character
In this category, we have:
Enjin (Gachiakuta)
Jin Enjoji / Jiji (Dan Da Dan)
Jinshi (The Apothecary Diaries)
Katsuki Bakugo (My Hero Academia)
Loulan / Shisui (The Apothecary Diaries)
Turbo Granny (Dan Da Dan)
All the characters are well nominated; they were all key to the story and to important arcs in their respective anime. Enjin helps Rudo several times so he does not lose his way and so he can continue being a good person. Jiji had an arc about him and also joins and becomes friends with Okarun. Jinshi will always be relevant, since he is always concerned about Maomao because he is in love with her in a very beautiful way. The arc of the second season of The Apothecary Diaries had a very interesting unexpected twist, making Loulan/Shisui one of the most important keys to the resolution, and Turbo Granny captivated everyone by entertaining us and making us laugh, an unexpected character who could win only because of the comedy.
The truth is, I am somewhat afraid that this could happen, because for me this category should be 100% for Bakugo from My Hero Academia because of everything he evolved, how he matured, and the great relevance and performance he had in his final fight of the series, which in fact was one of the best-rated episodes of the series. If he wins, it would be very well deserved.
👑 Best Main Character
The nominees are:
Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)
Maomao (The Apothecary Diaries)
Momo (Dan Da Dan)
Okarun (Dan Da Dan)
Rudo (Gachiakuta)
Sung Jinwoo (Solo Leveling)
I discarded Izuku Midoriya, Momo, and Okarun because their stories highlight other types of things or do not have the same impact that the other nominees had in their stories and on the audience. On the other hand, there is Sung Jinwoo, who could easily win because of his popularity and because, as a main character, he is very broken in his world, in addition to how he evolved and leveled up while facing enemies that nobody else at that moment could defeat.
But, honestly, my vote was more between Maomao and Rudo. First, because Maomao is an incredible character; one is left amazed in the anime by the knowledge she has as an apothecary and also by the passion she has for her work. She also shows charisma through her expressions and emotions, even making people laugh. Rudo, on the other hand, is a complex character, driven by the anger of having been betrayed and unjustly condemned, but when he falls into the abyss and meets new people, he shows incredible character development.
I think that, unfortunately, Sung Jinwoo may win because of popularity, but one of these last two characters should win because of what they represent in their anime and because they seem to me to be better main characters than Sung Jinwoo. I do not think a good main character should simply be someone who is invincible and serious; I think there should be other things to evaluate.
For that reason, my vote was more for Rudo, honestly, because he represents the complete opposite. He is a character driven by other things and, as I mentioned in my post about Gachiakuta, the main character is something totally different from the conventional anime protagonist. I feel that Rudo is a risky implementation of a main character, and I really applaud the creativity in that.
🌸 Best Slice of Life
Finally, we have reached a category with several new nominees. Here we have the anime:
Anne Shirley (The Answerstudio)
Blue Box (Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd.)
City The Animation (Kyoto Animation)
My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 (CloverWorks)
Spy x Family Season 3 (Wit Studio x CloverWorks)
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (CloverWorks)
As we can see, CloverWorks dominated this anime season, adapting three incredible works, and I was indeed between those at the beginning. I discarded Anne Shirley and City The Animation; in my case, honestly, I did not watch them.
The remaining ones are strong contenders for me. Again, because of popularity, Spy x Family could win, which I also liked a lot, but I do not know if it would be the best slice of life if we are speaking strictly about that category. With Spy x Family, I laughed a lot, but beyond that, the other works deal more directly with daily life and show even more of that.
My Dress-Up Darling, for example, touches on themes such as prejudice, maturity, and acceptance of the character’s tastes, and how he should overcome the way he thinks others see him or might judge him for having different hobbies or pastimes, while at the same time we see the daily life of people who really enjoy doing cosplay and the different techniques they use.
On the other hand, we have Blue Box, which deals more deeply with love but combines it with sports, and here we can see what daily life is like and how difficult it is to be an athlete already dedicated professionally while also having other obligations like studying. It strongly touches on the sacrifice and motivation of each person, and how complicated it is to control your mood, such as having a broken heart and not letting those strong emotions ruin your sports competitions, or how the people you love motivate you to climb even higher and improve more in the sport you dedicate yourself to.
These last two, I believe, share strong concepts and situations with the audience that many can identify with in their daily activities. But, personally, the best one here was The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity. Literally the whole anime is slice of life. It also deals with how people form prejudices just because of a person’s physical appearance, which is an everyday problem for many, and how beautiful it is to find people who do not care about that and who never saw it differently.
It also deals with how a person appears in the protagonist’s life and how this evolves into love in the most common, normal, and realistic way possible, a love story that many can identify with, and a very pure love story, where after meeting each other and becoming part of each other’s lives, there was a positive impact on both of them and it allowed both to evolve as people and become even better. You can especially notice the incredible impact that Kaoruko Waguri has on Rintaro’s life, more than anything.
Therefore, my vote went to this anime.
🎭 Best Drama Anime
Here we have again:
The Apothecary Diaries
Blue Box
Takopi’s Original Sin
The Summer Hikaru Died
Anne Shirley
Orb: On the Movements of Earth
Honestly, I also did not watch Orb or The Summer Hikaru Died, and from what I have seen, the latter did attract quite a lot of attention and could also win, but I cannot give an opinion here. Therefore, this is between the three that remain, which are the ones I watched. I discarded The Apothecary Diaries because it is a very good anime, but I think that, as a drama category, the other two fit better; for me, The Apothecary Diaries leans more toward mystery.
Therefore, I was between Blue Box and Takopi’s Original Sin. They are both drama, but completely different: one is a more everyday drama, and the other is a psychological, more tragic drama that deals with serious topics such as bullying. Here, it can already depend on each person’s taste. Both are good stories, they evoke very different emotions, and their animation is excellent, quality in both cases.
I leaned more toward Blue Box, because of personal preference. It is an anime different from the usual romance that tends to appear in teenage anime, and it definitely fits perfectly into drama. There is drama in every episode, but good drama, between the existing love triangle, while we also observe the interesting life of a dedicated teenage athlete.
🌀 Best Isekai Anime
Honestly, this is the genre I watch the least. I did not watch any of the nominees, which were:
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Season 2 (MAPPA)
Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation - Season 1 “Episode of Heartslabyul” (Yumeta Co., LTD. x Graphinica, Inc.)
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated! (Ajiado)
KONOSUBA -God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! 3 -BONUS STAGE- (Drive)
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 (White Fox)
Zenshu (MAPPA)
I skipped this category.
⚔️ Best Action Anime
This is one of the strongest categories. All the nominees had incredible action scenes, detailed ones, and they showed very well what was happening in the battles, accompanied by spectacular animation and effects. Here we have again:
Dan Da Dan
Gachiakuta
My Hero Academia
Solo Leveling
One Piece (Toei Animation)
Kaiju No. 8 (Production I.G.)
I have not watched One Piece yet, but obviously it is in my plans to watch it. It is highly praised by everyone, but I think that is more because of the way it tells its story and builds its world than because of action scenes, although I know it must have incredible action scenes anyway, being one of the big three, obviously. From there, I also discarded Kaiju No. 8. The fights were good, but sometimes I felt that they were a little inconsistent or not as dynamic as in the other anime, but surely that must be because they are saving everything for the end.
The four that remain were very difficult for me to decide between, as they all have a different style. After thinking about it for a long time, I discarded Dan Da Dan and Boku no Hero. It really hurt to choose only one anime in this category, and even more to discard Boku no Hero, since it had Bakugo’s spectacular fight, but for me it only had that one, and that is why I discarded it. The final moment of the anime was epic, of course, but since it was already the ending, there were not many battles left to have in the anime. Dan Da Dan, simply, I felt that the proposal of the two remaining anime was better.
For me, in the end, it is between two: Solo Leveling —no surprise there— and Gachiakuta. Here, I have no problem if Solo Leveling wins; it is indisputable that it is pure action and quite epic, and I loved it as an action anime. But, being honest, I voted for Gachiakuta. It seemed to me like the surprise anime of the year, I really liked its power system, it has a very interesting system and could be one of the best of the new generation.
In an action anime, I really like when a good power system is created. Solo Leveling could win indisputably, again, this is from my personal point of view, but also because there was a certain drop in animation quality in some fights, one that even became a meme and spread across social media. I decided that this would be the tiebreaker, and I leaned more toward Gachiakuta.
😂 Best Comedy Anime
Returning in this category are:
My Dress-Up Darling
Witch Watch
Spy x Family
Dan Da Dan
City The Animation
Ranma ½ Season 2 (MAPPA)
Here, I do not think there is much discussion; you can laugh with the rest, but for me, the winner here is Spy x Family, sadly because I would also like Dan Da Dan to win, since it is also very funny, although obviously it is not for all ages.
💞 Best Romance Anime
Within this category, we have again:
Blue Box
Dan Da Dan
My Dress-Up Darling
Ranma ½
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity
Honey Lemon Soda (J.C.STAFF)
Just like Ranma, I also did not get to watch this last one, and for reasons I already talked about before, for me, indisputably and personally, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity should win. As I mentioned before, it is the purest, cleanest, and most realistic romance among the nominees.
I liked it a lot. I also have to mention that I really liked the chemistry between Okarun and Momo in Dan Da Dan. One would always like to meet someone with similar tastes, someone to talk with about things you cannot talk about with others. A very good romance as well.
🎨 Best Background Art
Once again, in this category we have:
Gachiakuta
Dan Da Dan
City The Animation
The Apothecary Diaries
The Summer Hikaru Died
Kowloon Generic Romance (ARVO ANIMATION)
I already mentioned before the two anime I did not watch here. On the other hand, I did watch Kowloon, well nominated in this category, and the idea of the design of Kowloon city shows very well the affection people have for that city. Even so, its competition is very strong, and The Apothecary Diaries, with its beautiful and natural background art, focusing on the organic, such as plants or herbs, and its elegance; as well as Dan Da Dan, with its drastic change from common everyday scenarios to chaotic, absurd, and grotesque ones; or an entire world created from zero like the dystopian world of Gachiakuta, with its descriptive urban style and using and taking advantage of the graffiti element, surpass Kowloon Generic Romance quite a lot.
Having said that, I also discard Dan Da Dan, although it is a very strong competition and sometimes it is difficult to choose only one winner. In the same way, although it hurt a lot too and I would have no problem if it won, because the world of The Apothecary Diaries is fantastic, beautiful, and detailed, I also discarded it. For me, the winner here should be Gachiakuta: it is an entire world created from zero, but obviously it is a very interesting world where creativity can be found everywhere.
🎬 Best Director
The nominated directors here are:
Akinori Fudesaka and Norihiro Naganuma (The Apothecary Diaries Season 2)
Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora (Dan Da Dan Season 2)
Fumihiko Suganuma (Gachiakuta)
Kenji Nagasaki and Naomi Nakayama (My Hero Academia)
Ryohei Takeshita (The Summer Hikaru Died)
Shinya Iino (Takopi’s Original Sin)
Without going around too much here, the fair winner should be the director or directors of Dan Da Dan: Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora, because every episode is incredible visually and narratively as well. Incredible direction is needed to animate the fight scenes while maintaining the same quality they had. There is great detail shown in this anime, and likewise, good direction is needed when the environment changes drastically, such as when an alien came to invade the characters.
Dan Da Dan has a unique identity, a mixture of chaos, comedy, and action with a rhythm that is very difficult to manage, and it does not only look good, but every camera decision, timing, and tone is perfectly thought out. That said, The Apothecary Diaries is not far behind either, since it also had incredible direction if we are talking about narrative consistency.
🧑🎨 Best Character Design
Here we have:
One Piece
Takopi’s Original Sin
The Apothecary Diaries
My Dress-Up Darling
Gachiakuta
Dan Da Dan
All of them are good anime that, in their own way, made their characters attract the audience’s attention, but I ended up discarding Takopi, The Apothecary Diaries, and My Dress-Up Darling. They are good works, but I feel they are stronger in other categories.
For me, it was between Gachiakuta, Dan Da Dan, and One Piece, which, even though I have not watched the latter, I know has good character designs and also has a unique characteristic design that many can easily identify. Since I have not watched it, I obviously discarded it, but I would not think it was bad if it won.
In the end, I voted for Gachiakuta, and the character design is insane, it is fantastic. Its design, just like its world, fits the urban and rebellious tone, but at the same time the characters are charismatic and do make you feel sympathy for them. Their designs and the way they were drawn, with lines different from the conventional ones, could easily be remembered over time.
Dan Da Dan could also be a good candidate. Its originality in combining spirits and villains in a grotesque or bizarre way, more than anything, is like its personal brand and becomes remembered because of that. It is very creative anyway, and I would also be fine with it winning.
✨ Best Animation
The nominees here are:
Dan Da Dan
Gachiakuta
My Hero Academia
One Piece
Solo Leveling
Takopi’s Original Sin
I discarded One Piece, not only because I have not watched it, but because the others are known for having better animation and One Piece stands out more for narrative. Solo Leveling, because there was a decline in its animation quality in certain parts of the fights, was also discarded.
On the other hand, My Hero Academia and Takopi do have very high-quality animation, but what Gachiakuta and Dan Da Dan did is insane. Gachiakuta, as I also mentioned in its post, has a very different animation style because of its dirtiness, graffiti, and unique textures, but here the unquestionable winner should be Dan Da Dan, since as I mentioned in the best director category, its animation has absurd fluidity. Its direction plus integrated animation resulted in good coordination of camera, rhythm, and deformation, and since it deals with spirits, aliens, and more, there is a mixture of many styles, but they never lose coherence.
🧩 Best Original Anime
I have to be honest here as well: I did not get to watch any of this category during this period. The nominees here were:
Zenshu
Moonrise (Wit Studio)
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (Studio Khara, SUNRISE)
Lazarus (MAPPA)
DIGIMON BEATBREAK (Toei Animation)
Apocalypse Hotel (Cypic)
I have heard good comments about Lazarus and Digimon, they could probably win, but I do not really know in this category. I skipped it.
🆕 Best New Series
The nominees here are:
Gachiakuta
Takopi’s Original Sin
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity
The Summer Hikaru Died
Clevatess (Lay-duce)
Sakamoto Days (TMS Entertainment)
I have not watched these last two, but they make me really want to watch them, and I probably will, especially Clevatess, since many people recommend it to me and I do not know if it will win, it could.
I discarded those and Hikaru, which, as I said before, I also did not manage to watch. Obviously, I discarded The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity; it stood out a lot and I liked it quite a lot, and that is why I voted for it in other categories, but from a more technical point of view, Gachiakuta and Takopi seemed much stronger works to me.
Takopi, when it came out, attracted a lot of attention and became very trendy because of the themes it deals with and how it visually showed those strong themes, but at the same time with the appropriate seriousness. On the other hand, Gachiakuta for me was the surprise of this year, it is the hidden gem for me of this anime season, since maybe it did not attract attention like Takopi did, but its proposal is incredible, creative, and the work itself is unique and very different.
It was very difficult for me to choose between these two; they are very different in their proposals. For me, it was a tie and I hope one of these two wins and not another one just because of popularity. Since I made more than one vote, I alternated between the two.
📺 Best Continuing Series
Once again, the nominees are:
Dan Da Dan
Kaiju No. 8
One Piece
Solo Leveling
Spy x Family
My Hero Academia
Here I think there is no need to analyze too deeply: my vote went directly to My Hero Academia. It is the final season, its journey was incredible, its Quirks power system can be one of the best in anime, and they always made very creative choreographies and combinations between the different Quirks.
It gave us incredible epic moments, it has a perfect balance, it is very fun to watch, you laugh, you enjoy it, and at the same time there are moments of seriousness, epicness, and more. For the whole journey, for everything it represented for many people, and since it is already finished, my vote went to My Hero Academia.
🎞️ Film of the Year
Here, obviously, the films of Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man are nominated. The rest of the nominees are:
Demon Slayer
Chainsaw Man
Scarlet (Studio CHIZU)
100 Meters (ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN Inc.)
Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (CREW-CELL, EOTA)
The Rose of Versailles (MAPPA)
Sometimes, when it comes to films, it is difficult to watch them because they may not reach every country. I personally was only able to watch Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, although Scarlet and 100 Meters really catch my attention. Unfortunately, and not because I hate it —in fact, I loved it— but because of popularity, Demon Slayer is going to win.
Although Chainsaw Man, for me, was incredible in every sense. Maybe the only thing better about Demon Slayer is the effects, but in the rest —direction, animation quality, fight choreography, narration, and more— Chainsaw Man was better for me, at least slightly, in several topics. If Demon Slayer wins, I have no problem, since it is obviously a work of great quality, but I think people did not appreciate or did not know Chainsaw Man enough, and since Demon Slayer is more well-known and even more commercial, the latter is almost certain to win in this category.
It does not bother me much, but I do think Chainsaw Man deserves a little more. Chainsaw Man was a gem and a perfect balance between action and emotion.
🏅 Anime of the Year
Finally, for the Anime of the Year category, we have:
Dan Da Dan
Gachiakuta
My Hero Academia
Takopi’s Original Sin
The Apothecary Diaries
The Summer Hikaru Died
Finally, unlike other years, such as when Solo Leveling won over Frieren because of popularity, I would completely agree with any of these.
My favorite of this year was Gachiakuta, but all of them... I do not know, obviously I did not watch The Summer Hikaru Died, but I know there were also good opinions about it, so I would completely agree. My personal favorite was Gachiakuta. I loved the dystopian world and the risky proposals of this anime. I know there may have been some ups and downs, but in general, it seemed to me like a work that I hope does not go off track or lose quality in future seasons.
📝 Small Mentions
Not necessarily for Anime of the Year, but I do not understand why To Be Hero X and Bleach were not nominated in any category. Bleach, since its incredible return, has been delivering with great quality in its animation and other topics, such as even its soundtrack. To Be Hero X, on the other hand, if it were nominated in the categories where it should be, would have swept them because it was a great project, a complete one, with incredible narration and innovative animation and style.
If I had to guess, in the case of Bleach, it may be because it is not really on Crunchyroll; due to rights or permissions, it is found on platforms like Disney Plus. On the other hand, maybe To Be Hero X is not in the Crunchyroll Awards because it is actually from a Chinese studio and the Crunchyroll Awards are mainly directed toward anime originating from Japan.
💭 Personal Opinion on the Anime Crunchy Awards
From my point of view, it is positive that anime continues to evolve and that it receives more and more recognition through these awards. However, on many occasions, there is an important bias, where certain works win mainly because of their popularity and not necessarily because of their quality in narrative or technical terms.
For example, I consider that, from a more technical and narrative perspective, Frieren offered a stronger proposal than Solo Leveling. However, the latter received more support, probably due to its greater popularity and more immediate elements such as action scenes or striking characters like Sung Jinwoo.
This phenomenon is quite common, especially in open voting with very diverse audiences. Depending on the viewer’s experience, there are aspects such as direction, narrative rhythm, or emotional construction that may not be valued in the same way, which is completely normal.
Personally, it does not affect me that Frieren did not win in that case, but I do consider it important to reflect on these possible biases. If the public tends to mainly value popularity or visual spectacle, there is a risk that, in the future, studios will prioritize that type of content, leaving aside works with more innovative or narratively richer approaches, which also have great artistic value.
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