Forget the Oscars or the Golden Globes — for anime fans, the biggest award show of the year was this weekend’s fourth-annual Anime Awards. Presented by Crunchyroll, the awards honor the best anime of the year, determined by more than 11 million votes from fans around the world.
WWE Superstar Xavier Woods (Austin Creed) hosted the evening and crowned the following winners:
- Anime of the Year: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba;
- Best Animation: Mob Psycho 100 II;
- Best Opening Sequence: Mob Psycho 100 II, “99.9” by Mob Choir feat. sajou no hana;
- Best Ending Sequence: Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War, “Chikatto Chika Chikaa” by Konomi Kohara;
- Best Boy: Tanjiro Kamado, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba;
- Best Girl: Raphtalia, The Rising of the Shield Hero;
- Best Score: Mocky, Carole & Tuesday;
- Best VA Performance (Japanese): Yuichi Nakamura as Bruno Bucciarati in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind;
- Best VA Performance (English): Billy Kametz as Naofumi in The Rising of the Shield Hero;
- Best Director: Tetsuro Araki (chief director) and Masashi Koizuka (director) for Attack on Titan season three;
- Best Character Design: Satoshi Iwataki, original character design by Hiroyuki Asada for Dororo;
- Best Protagonist: Senku, Dr. Stone;
- Best Antagonist: Isabella, The Promised Neverland;
- Best Fight Scene: Tanjiro and Nezuko vs. Rui, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba;
- Best Couple: Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War;
- Best Drama: Vinland Saga from Wit Studio;
- Best Fantasy: The Promised Neverland from CloverWorks;
- Best Comedy: Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War from A-1 Pictures; and
- Industry Icon: George Wada, Wit Studio president.
In addition to recognizing these winners, Crunchyroll shared that four additional titles will join its streaming platform this year: The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (April), My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (April), That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season two (this fall), and So I’m a Spider, So What? (sometime this year).
If you missed the awards and still want to watch them, don’t worry: You can stream the full show here on the Crunchyroll website.
Photo: Crunchyroll
