The 9th annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be held on May 25, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, celebrating the year’s best anime in a live ceremony. Crunchyroll (a leading anime streaming platform) invites fans worldwide to honor anime creators and titles. This year’s event returns to Japan at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa (with veteran hosts Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira) and will be livestreamed globally.


Top contenders and categoriesThis year’s top nominees include fan-favorites and critical hits. Leading the pack is Dan Da Dan (adapted from Yukinobu Tatsu’s manga) with 22 nominations. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a close second – in fact, Frieren leads all shows with 29 total nominations, followed by Dan Da Dan’s 22. Other big contenders include Delicious in Dungeon and Kaiju No. 8 (16 nominations each) and Solo Leveling and The Apothecary Diaries (13 each).

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (center) is among the year’s most-nominated series – it earned 29 nods, nearly double that of most shows.

Crunchyroll’s top categories feature these series prominently. For example, Anime of the Year has six nominees: Dan Da Dan, Delicious in Dungeon, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Kaiju No. 8, Solo Leveling, and The Apothecary Diaries. Crunchyroll also announced new categories for 2025, such as Best Background Art, Best Isekai Anime, and Best Voice-Acting (Hindi). (The Hindi voice acting category highlights anime’s booming popularity in India.) Other fan-favorite categories like Best Animation, Best Director, and Best Continuing Series feature veterans like Demon Slayer, One Piece (nominated again for Best Continuing Series), and Jujutsu Kaisen. Even long-running hits like One Piece and Demon Slayer earn nominations — for example, One Piece returns as a Best Continuing Series nominee for the third straight year.

Crunchyroll’s own executives emphasize the fan-driven nature of the awards. “The Crunchyroll Anime Awards are one of the most important times of year for fans,” says Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini , “because we hear directly from them on what anime they love”. This fan involvement is reflected in the voting system – fans can vote once per day in each category, easily re-submitting their choices with one click. (Crunchyroll even introduced mobile-app voting for the first time this year, making it easier than ever.) For example, one anime writer admitted he’s “torn between Dan Da Dan and Solo Leveling” for Anime of the Year – a dilemma many fans are weighing as they vote.

New global impact awardCrunchyroll is also introducing a brand-new Global Impact Award to honor anime that have left an indelible mark on world culture. The first-ever Global Impact Award will be given to Attack on Titan, recognizing its massive influence on fans worldwide. (Attack on Titan’s story and popularity have helped shape global anime fandom.) As Crunchyroll COO Gita Rebbapragada explains, a recent study showed that nearly 40% of teenage anime fans consider anime “a meaningful part of who they are,” and 30% say it has influenced their outlook on life. The Global Impact Award celebrates precisely those series and creators that change the cultural landscape.

Attack on Titan will receive Crunchyroll’s first-ever Global Impact Award, honoring anime that shape global pop culture. The series’ decade-long run has made it a worldwide phenomenon.


Crunchyroll’s awards – A brief historyThe Crunchyroll Anime Awards began in 2017 as a way to showcase the best of anime and engage the fan community. Since then it has grown into a major annual event in the anime world. Past ceremonies have become notable cultural moments, with fans from dozens of countries voting (often tens of millions of votes each year). Crunchyroll’s success at bringing anime to global audiences – including India and other non-Japanese markets – is reflected in the Awards. As Crunchyroll’s president notes, the awards “celebrate the hard work of the industry’s creators while directly involving fans in the process”. In this way, the Anime Awards not only honor creators (directors, animators, writers, voice actors) but also highlight anime’s surge from a niche interest to a mainstream global fandom. It’s an increasingly international party: even India’s burgeoning anime scene has its place, with Crunchyroll awarding prizes for Hindi voice performances.

Over the years, the Crunchyroll Awards have featured many surprises and highlights. Previous winners include global hits like Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece. Each year’s ceremony (recently held in Tokyo) draws famous presenters and performers from around the world. In 2025, Crunchyroll has announced an all-star lineup of presenters – from Stranger Things stars Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo to J-Pop artist Pabllo Vittar and Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim – bringing anime’s influence into diverse pop culture spheres.


How to vote and watchFans can join the fun right now: Voting is open until April 14, 2025 (11:59 PM Pacific Time). Visit the official Crunchyroll Anime Awards website (or use the Crunchyroll mobile app) and cast your votes daily in any or all categories. You can vote once per category each day, and use the handy 1-click resubmit feature to support your favorites. The process is free and fan-friendly.

Once the winners are chosen, the live ceremony will air on Sunday, May 25, 2025, at 5:00 PM Japan Standard Time. You can watch the show live on Crunchyroll’s YouTube and Twitch channels. (Hosts Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira will guide viewers through the show.) It’s a global broadcast – anime fans everywhere can tune in online without any local restrictions. In India and worldwide, fans can simply log on to those streams at the scheduled time to catch the red carpet, awards, special performances, and the big Anime of the Year reveal.

By blending industry prestige with fan enthusiasm, the Crunchyroll Anime Awards have become an eagerly anticipated pop-culture event each spring. Whether you’re a seasoned anime fan or new to the scene, it’s a chance to discover great shows and support the creators you love. As one industry executive put it, the Awards are all about celebrating anime’s community: “we hear directly from [fans] on what anime they love”. So grab some popcorn, pick up your favorite Crunchyroll-streaming device, and get ready to vote – the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards are around the corner!