The Biggest Crunchyroll Anime Awards Winners in 2026 (and Where to Watch Them)

Anime of the Year: My Hero Academia: Final Season

There’s something almost poetic about My Hero Academia (2016) taking home Anime of the Year at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards this year. The first season was one of the first nominees at the inaugural show way back in 2016, and now, a decade later, it has finally won the grand prize.

It’s not surprising to see why. The final season of My Hero Academia delivered powerful character moments constantly, with Deku and the rest of Class 1-A throwing everything they have to defeat All For One. Each battle was absolutely thrilling, and it managed to end things as well as it possibly could, given all of the hype and eight seasons' worth of storytelling on full display. It’s not entirely uncommon at other award shows like the Emmys to throw out all the stops honoring a show’s final season, and the same is true here. Is it sad to see The Summer Hikaru Died (2025) lose? Possibly, but it already has a second season confirmed. This was it for My Hero Academia, and its best season definitely got the rightful recognition that it deserved as it wanders off into the sunset.

Best Supporting Character: Katsuki Bakugo - My Hero Academia: Final Season

Bakugo has always been one of the best characters of My Hero Academia. Whether you like his explosive attitude or find him too loud and brash, there’s no denying that Bakugo saved the day in his final battle against All For One in the show’s final season.

Not only was his surprise return one of the early highlights of the season, but his actions really put into perspective how far he’s grown since the show’s inception. At first, he was a jerk who clearly wanted to become a hero for selfish reasons, but now he’s a man who will risk it all to save the people closest to him. There were a lot of great moments in the final season of My Hero Academia, and most of them belonged to Bakugo. Much like how My Hero Academia taking home Anime of the Year was a culmination of a decade-long franchise, Bakugo winning Best Supporting Character is the culmination of eight seasons' worth of character development. At least all of the other nominees, like Dandadan’s best boy Jiji, will have other chances to win in the future. This was Bakugo’s last time to shine, and he went out with a bang.

Film of the Year: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle

Two films dominated the anime landscape in 2025: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025) and Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025). No matter how good the other nominees were (and 100 Meters (2025) is excellent for what it’s worth), it was always going to be a battle between these two juggernauts. Even then, Infinity Castle always had an advantage.

With four seasons of Demon Slayer already done, the first installment in the Infinity Castle trilogy, which will most likely conclude the series, had the time and budget to deliver peak sakuga. For over two and a half hours, fans of the series were treated to one beautifully rendered fight after another, putting other animation spectacles like Jujutsu Kaisen (2020) to shame. Sure, it didn’t always have the best pacing, like when the Akaza flashback just ground everything to a halt for over twenty minutes, but when it wanted to focus on action, there was nothing else like it. It made nearly $800 million at the box office, broke numerous records, and now, took home the win for Film of the Year. 

Best Original Anime: Lazarus

For some, Lazarus (2025) winning in this category came out of left field. It was the only winner to debut on a streaming service other than Crunchyroll, that being HBO Max, and when compared to other titles like Apocalypse Hotel (2025) and ZENSHU (2025), it does seem to be lacking in narrative cohesion.

However, what Lazarus has going for it is that it’s the brainchild of Shinichirō Watanabe, the mastermind behind Cowboy Bebop (1998), and a lot of that DNA is present in Lazarus. Many of the ragtag members of LAZARUS have direct parallels to the crew members of the Bebop, and following their weekly globetrotting adventures feels like a callback to a bygone era in the best way possible. It’s not quite as comedic as Cowboy Bebop, as the spectre of a mass extinction event looms large over the team’s heads, but the mystery elements work well enough, and the dour tone gives the series an almost melancholic vibe. It may not be Watanabe at his best, but even mediocre Watanabe shows are more creative and exciting than other shows at their best.

Best Continuing Series: One Piece

Seeing One Piece (1999) win Best Continuing Series was probably the safest bet at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. It won twice before, and even if you can’t stand the world’s most popular anime, the slew of episodes that came out in 2025 were some of the show’s best in years. 

You want heartbreak? The extended flashback sequence to Bartholomew Kuma will make you cry like a baby. Want some impressive animation? The debut of the Five Elders in their Yokai form stunned audiences. Looking for some lore to flesh out the final saga’s scope? Dr. Vegapunk would like to have a word with you about the Void Century. Toei Animation did a fantastic job in adapting what has been one of the series’s best arcs in years, and compared to other nominees like Dandadan (2024) and Spy x Family (2022), there was little doubt One Piece would reign supreme once again.

Best New Series: Gachiakuta

2025 was the year that many established Shonen franchises came to an end. My Hero Academia concluded its eight-year run, and manga like Kaiju No. 8 (2024) wrapped up its final arc. 2025 is a year of transition for the old Shonen guard, and thanks to new titles like Gachiakuta (2025), the next generation is already off to a great start.

Gachiakuta is punk in all of the best ways. The graffiti aesthetic is to die for, and the character designs are busy in all of the right ways. There’s an air of grime and grunge to the Ground that really puts into perspective the world that the Cleaners have to work in, where even simple jobs could have deathly consequences. All of that wouldn’t mean anything if the cast wasn’t entertaining, but whether it's Rudo’s angst, Zanka’s mediocrity, or the gleefully demented Jagger, Gachiakuta’s cast helps make its best moments pop. With a second season already confirmed, Gachiakuta is set to continue the legacy of Soul Eater (2008).

Best Animation: Solo Leveling Season 2 - Arise from the Shadow

To call Solo Leveling (2024) a polarizing series would be the understatement of the year. Taking home top honors at last year’s Anime Awards and plenty of other smaller awards, the series is known for its blistering action, and its haters will argue that that’s all it has going for it.

And, to an extent, they have a point. Solo Leveling is not the series you watch for its plot. Sung Jin-woo is as boring as unbuttered toast, the cast is barely present, and it’s just a vehicle for stylish fights and nothing else. But, to the show’s credit, those fight scenes are very pretty! A-1 Pictures and Shunsuke Nakashige know how to make gorgeous sakuga, and even if it is a little shallow, sometimes that’s exactly what you want. Sometimes you want expressive animation that will evoke a wide range of emotions, like in Takopi’s Original Sin, and sometimes you want to turn your brain off and watch stylish people fight each other with cool powers. Solo Leveling is the latter, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a great gateway anime, and if people get into the hobby because of Solo Leveling, is that really a bad thing?

Best Director: Akinori Fudesaka & Norihiro Naganuma - The Apothecary Diaries (Season 2)

Too often, anime fans overlook the directors working on anime in favor of focusing on the studio attached to a given project. It’s rare to have a director with a singular voice and aesthetic like in Hollywood, but in the case of Akinori Fudesaka and Norihiro Naganuma, they have completely made The Apothecary Diaries (2023) their own. 

Naganuma is a director who knows how to create a compelling story that stands apart from the bombast of most anime shows. His time directing The Ancient Magus’ Bride (2018) definitely influenced how he developed The Apothecary Diaries, and now, with the assistance of Fudesaka, who was elevated from assistant director to director of the show’s second season, the two are able to work together in sync. They have a very clear idea of how they wish to adapt Hyuganatsu’s novels, and have elevated a period piece into one of the most compelling mysteries in anime today. With enough time, the two of them may become iconic directors in the same vein as Mamoru Hosoda and Masaki Yuasa that any otaku can instantly recognize.

Best Main Character: Maomao - The Apothecary Diaries (Season 2)

Maomao isn’t your typical female lead. In an industry that loves to paint its women as the objects of sexual desire, Maomao is a completely well-rounded character. She’s fiercely intelligent, cunning, and still a bit of a goofball.

Ultimately, Maomao is a detective, and one who uses logic and wit to solve each of the mysteries presented to her. She always has complete control of the situation, and everyone she interacts with respects her. She’s earned her reputation, and that’s on display each and every episode of The Apothecary Diaries. She’s not a flawless person, though, and has gotten some things wrong, but those failures only serve to make her more human and not just a self-insert Mary Sue. She still does have her quirks (who else would willingly ingest poison on a daily basis?), but that just makes her all the more charming. She’s a fantastic main character, and deserves to be put on the same level as Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023).