10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards

10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in anime
Date	May 23, 2026 (2026-05-23)
Location	Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, Tokyo, Japan
Country	United States
Hosted by	Sally Amaki Jon Kabira
Highlights
Most wins	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (7)
Most nominations	Dandadan (20)
Anime of the Year	My Hero Academia
Film of the Year	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle
Website	Crunchyroll Anime Awards
← 9th · Crunchyroll Anime Awards

The 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards was held on May 23, 2026, at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan.^[1][2] This edition celebrated the 10th anniversary of the awards which first held in 2017, and featured 32 categories from the previous ceremony honoring anime released from January to December 2025. The ceremony was streamed live by Crunchyroll on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira were hosted the ceremony for the fourth consecutive year.

The eighth and final season of My Hero Academia by Bones Film won four awards including Anime of the Year, becoming the first concluding season of any series to win the award. Ufotable's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle received the most wins with seven, including Film of the Year. Meanwhile, the second season of The Apothecary Diaries by Toho Animation Studio and OLM won five including Best Drama and Best Director. Other winners include Dandadan which received the most nominations for the second consecutive year with 20, as well as Gachiakuta, Solo Leveling, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Spy × Family, One Piece, Lazarus, Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, and Sakamoto Days.

Nominees were announced on April 2, 2026, in a livestream at Crunchyroll's YouTube channel. For the second consecutive year, Dandadan received the most nominations with 20, followed by The Apothecary Diaries at 17, Gachiakuta at 16, and My Hero Academia at 15.^[3] The four anime series were nominated for Anime of the Year, together with Takopi's Original Sin and The Summer Hikaru Died. All Anime of the Year nominees, except The Apothecary Diaries and The Summer Hikaru Died, were also nominated on the Best Animation category, together with One Piece and Solo Leveling. One Piece was nominated in the Best Continuing Series category for the fourth consecutive year. Naoyuki Onda [ja] and Yukiko Nakatani [ja] received their second nomination in Best Character Design for their respective work on Dandadan and The Apothecary Diaries; the two series were also nominated again in Best Background Art, while Fūga Yamashiro and Norihiro Naganuma received a second consecutive nomination in Best Director, respectively. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc also received the most nominations for a film with 13; Kensuke Ushio was nominated for the second consecutive year in the Best Score category together with his other work Dandadan, along with Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle and Hiroyuki Sawano for Solo Leveling. Ushio also became the first composer to be nominated twice for the same category in the same year. Aoi Yūki was nominated again in the Best VA Performance (Japanese) category as Maomao.

Among genre categories, Spy × Family was nominated in Best Comedy for the fourth consecutive year, while Dandadan, Kaiju No. 8, and Solo Leveling were nominated in Best Action for the second consecutive year. Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World and KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! were nominated again in Best Isekai Anime. Blue Box and The Apothecary Diaries were nominated again in Best Romance and Best Drama respectively. For character categories, Izuku Midoriya and Maomao were nominated for Best Main Character and "Must Protect at All Costs" Character. Two characters from both Dandadan (Jin Enjoji and Turbo Granny) and The Apothecary Diaries (Jinshi and Loulan/Shisui), were nominated for Best Supporting Character, while Anya Forger was nominated in the "Must Protect at All Costs" Character category for the fourth consecutive year. Two anime songs nominated for Best Anime Song were nominated for Best Opening Sequence as well: "On the Way" by Aina the End and "Reawaker" by LiSA feat. Felix of Stray Kids. Both the opening and ending themes for Dandadan, Solo Leveling, and My Hero Academia were nominated in their respective categories. Lilas Ikuta received a nomination for Best Anime Song and Best Ending Sequence categories in the same year, while Kenshi Yonezu received two nominations in Best Anime Song for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.

The eighth and final season of My Hero Academia by Bones Film won four awards including Anime of the Year, the first concluding season of any series to win the top prize.^[4][5][6] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle has the most awards as well as being the most awarded film in awards history, winning seven including Film of the Year, with its director Haruo Sotozaki receiving the award. The Apothecary Diaries won five awards including Best Drama and its directors Akinori Fudesaka and Norihiro Naganuma winning Best Director, while Gachiakuta received three including Best New Series and Best Character Design. One Piece won Best Continuing Series again after losing in the previous ceremony, while Solo Leveling won Best Animation. Lazarus won Best Original Anime. Solo Leveling, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Dandadan, Spy × Family, The Apothecary Diaries, and Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World won the genre awards for Best Action, Best Romance, Best Comedy, Best Slice of Life, Best Drama, and Best Isekai Anime respectively. Maomao of The Apothecary Diaries won Best Main Character, while Katsuki Bakugo of My Hero Academia won Best Supporting Character. Anya Forger won the "Must Protect at All Costs" Character award for the fourth consecutive year.

"On the Way" by Aina the End and "I" by Bump of Chicken, won the awards for Best Opening Sequence and Best Ending Sequence respectively. "Iris Out" by Kenshi Yonezu won Best Anime Song, while Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina won Best Score for their work in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle. Aoi Yūki won Best VA Performance (Japanese) for the second consecutive year as Maomao in The Apothecary Diaries, while Lucien Dodge won Best Voice Acting (English) for his work as Akaza in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle. Posthumous director Tatsuya Nagamine received the Global Impact Award, which was awarded to honor the works and visionary creatives who have produced anime series changing popular culture. Nagamine's directorial contributions honored his groundbreaking and impactful body of works including Ojamajo Doremi, PreCure, Dragon Ball Super, and One Piece. Masayuki Satō, Nagamine's friend and an animator, accepted the award.^[7][8]

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). The lists are arranged alphabetically, except for the winner.

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or a short monologue:^[11][12][13]

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, performed musical numbers:^[1][11]

Crunchyroll announced the eligibility period would return to its previous format of eligibility from January to December 2025 for nominations for this edition. This edition celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards which first held in 2017, and featured 32 categories from the previous ceremony. Nominees were revealed on the first day of public voting, April 2. Voting closed on April 15.^[1][9] Presenters for the ceremony on May 23 was announced on April 2, and included presenters such as Tobagonian actor Winston Duke, rapper, producer, and filmmaker RZA, and musician Hannah Bahng, with Sony Group Corporation CEO and President Hiroki Totoki giving opening remarks. Dean Fujioka, Porno Graffitti, Yoko Takahashi, and Asian Kung-Fu Generation were performed in the ceremony for the 10th anniversary of Yuri on Ice and My Hero Academia, the 30th anniversary tribute to Neon Genesis Evangelion featuring its opening theme "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", and the "Haruka Kanata" from Naruto respectively.^[1][11] In celebration of the awards, Crunchyroll also announced their partnership with Museum of the Moving Image. In addition to a gallery screening program titled "Anime's Ascendant Decade" set to be held from May 15 to October 12, which includes the full episodes of anime that were either nominated or won from the first edition onwards, the museum's grand Redstone Theater hosted a free live watch party in the same day where the awards was held.^[14]

The lack of an Anime of the Year nomination for Solo Leveling was highlighted, with journalists speculating it may have been in response to the controversy caused by it winning Anime of the Year in the previous year.^[15][16] Piyush Gautam of FandomWire argued that Grand Blue Dreaming was snubbed for Best Comedy, while Secrets of the Silent Witch and Witch Watch were snubbed for Best New Series. He also argued that Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood was snubbed for Best Original Anime and Spy × Family was snubbed for Anime of the Year.^[17] Joshua Fox of Screen Rant argued that Yaiba, Umamusume: Cinderella Gray and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt were snubbed for a nomination, noting that this created the impression that Crunchyroll is biased against anime for which it does not hold the streaming rights.^[18]

Rohit Jaiswar of ComicBook.com noted that four of the six nominees for Best New Series included darker themes, particularly Clevatess and The Summer Hikaru Died. He also discussed Gachiakuta, with its themes of abuse and revenge, and Takopi's Original Sin, which contains bullying, depression, and suicide.^[19]

My Hero Academia winning Anime of the Year for its eighth and final season caused celebrations by news outlets and fans, as it capped off a ten-year series' run during the anime's tenth anniversary. Hannah Diffey and Joshua Fox of Screen Rant felt that the award was well-deserved, praising its animation and writing. They described it as a "full-circle" moment for the studio Bones Film.^[6][18] Rohit Jaiswar of ComicBook.com wrote that "its victory was not only well-deserved but also a celebration of a true shonen anime experience that may never be replicated by the new generation".^[20]

Some critics felt other anime series worthy of recognition were "overlooked" in favor of popular shows. Ryan Epps of Polygon argued that Apocalypse Hotel, City the Animation, and Orb: On the Movements of the Earth should have won Best Original Anime, Best Comedy, and Best Drama, respectively, due to the impact that they have had.^[21] Joshua Fox of Screen Rant felt that City the Animation, The Summer Hikaru Died, and Takopi's Original Sin should have won an award due to the positive reception they received upon release.^[18]