The list of nominees for the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards is out. With tons of quality shows released over the past year and a half, this year’s lineup is loaded. And no surprise, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is dominating the nominations across several major categories (getting nominated for 18 out of 23 total categories).
Now in its ninth year, the Crunchyroll Anime Awards have become one of the biggest ways the anime industry gets recognized on a global scale. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how the nominees were chosen, how you can vote, and which anime are up for each award.
How the Anime Awards Nominees Are Selected
Before jumping into the nominee list, let’s look at how Crunchyroll decides what gets nominated. To be eligible, anime must have aired or been released between October 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. That gives us a solid 15-month window of new anime to pick from.
The process kicks off with a panel of 100 judges, including anime reviewers, journalists, and folks working in the industry. Each judge picks up to five titles in each category. Crunchyroll then tallies up the most-mentioned picks, and the top six become the official nominees.
After that, it’s time for fans to vote. Public voting opened on April 3 and will stay open until April 14 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. You can vote once per category per day during this time. The winners are chosen using a weighted system: 70% from the judges, 30% from fans.
The winners will be announced live from Tokyo on May 25, 2025.
Anime of the Year Nominees
These six shows are competing for Anime of the Year:
- Dandadan
- Delicious in Dungeon
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Kaiju No. 8
- Solo Leveling
- The Apothecary Diaries
Frieren is the clear frontrunner here, earning love from both critics and viewers for its emotional storytelling and beautiful direction.
Best Anime Film Nominees
2024 was also a strong year for anime movies. Here are the films up for the award:
- Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle
- Look Back
- Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain
- My Hero Academia: You’re Next
- SPY x FAMILY CODE: White
- The Colors Within
Best New Series
These anime made a big splash with their debut seasons:
- Dandadan
- Delicious in Dungeon
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Kaiju No. 8
- Solo Leveling
- The Apothecary Diaries
Plenty of overlap with the Anime of the Year category, which shows just how strong these newcomers really were.
Best Continuing Series
For long-time fans, here are the shows that kept their momentum going strong:
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict
- Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc
- My Hero Academia Season 7
- One Piece
- Oshi no Ko Season 2
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2
New Categories Introduced This Year
Crunchyroll added two new categories this year: Best Isekai Anime and Best Background Art. These new awards are meant to shine a light on specific genres and technical work that often gets overlooked.
Best Isekai Anime:
- KonoSuba Season 3
- Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Part 2
- Re:Zero Season 3
- Shangri-La Frontier Season 2
- Suicide Squad Isekai
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3
Best Background Art:
- Dandadan
- Delicious in Dungeon
- Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Pluto
- The Apothecary Diaries
The nominees for Best Background Art include some of the best-looking anime of the year, with Frieren once again showing up thanks to its striking visuals and atmosphere.
More Categories Worth Checking Out
Crunchyroll covers a lot of ground with these awards. A few standout categories include:
- Best Action Anime: Dandadan, Solo Leveling, Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc, Kaiju No, Solo Leveling, WIND BREAKER
- Best Comedy Anime: Delicious in Dungeon, KONOSUBA 3, MASHLE, My Deer Friend Nokota, Ranma 1/2, SPY x FAMILY Season 2
- Best Romance Anime: A Sign of Affection, The Dangers in My Heart Season 2, Blue Box, Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!, Ranma 1/2, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Best Anime Song
This year’s standout anime tracks were unforgettable, and these nominees are proof of that:
- “Abyss” by Yungblud (Kaiju No. 8)
- “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” by Creepy Nuts (MASHLE: The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc)
- “Fatal” by GEMN (Oshi no Ko Season 2)
- “LEveL” by SawanoHiroyuki[nZK]: TOMORROW X TOGETHER (Solo Leveling)
- “Otonoke” by Creepy Nuts (Dandadan)
- “The Brave” by YOASOBI (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)
Best Anime Score
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict (Shiro Sagisu)
- Dandadan (Kensuke Ushio)
- Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc (Yuki Kajiura, Go Shiina)
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Evan Call)
- Look Back (Haruka Nakamura)
- Solo Leveling (Hiroyuki Sawano)
Best Anime Opening Sequence
- “Abyss” by Yungblud (Kaiju No. 8)
- “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” by Creepy Nuts (MASHLE)
- “Fatal” by GEMN (Oshi no Ko Season 2)
- “LEveL” by SawanoHiroyuki[nZK]: TOMORROW X TOGETHER (Solo Leveling)
- “Otonoke” by Creepy Nuts (Dandadan)
- “UUUUUS!” by Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece)
Best Anime Ending Sequence
- “Antanante” by riria. (Ranma 1/2)
- “Burning” by Hitsujibungaku (Oshi no Ko Season 2)
- “KAMAKURA STYLE” by BotchiBoromaru (The Elusive Samurai)
- “Nobody” by OneRepublic (Kaiju No. 8)
- “request” by krage (Solo Leveling)
- “TAIDADA” by ZUTOMAYO (Dandadan)
Best Main Character
- Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)
- Kafka Hibino (Kaiju No. 8)
- Okarun (Dandadan)
- Maomao (The Apothecary Diaries)
- Momo (Dandadan)
- Sung Jinwoo (Solo Leveling)
Best Supporting Character
- Fern (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)
- Himmel (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)
- Jinshi (The Apothecary Diaries)
- Seiko (Dandadan)
- Senshi (Delicious in Dungeon)
- Turbo Granny (Dandadan)
“Must Protect At All Costs” Character
- Anya Forger (SPY x FAMILY Season 2)
- Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)
- Okarun (Dandadan)
- Senshi (Delicious in Dungeon)
- Tokiyuki Hojo (The Elusive Samurai)
- Yuki Itose (A Sign of Affection)
Best Original Anime
- Bucchigiri?!
- Girls Band Cry
- Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night
- Metallic Rouge
- Ninja Kamui
- Train to the End of the World
Best Animation
- Dandadan
- Delicious in Dungeon
- Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Kaiju No. 8
- Solo Leveling
Best Character Design
- Dandadan
- Delicious in Dungeon
- Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Kaiju No. 8
- The Apothecary Diaries
Best Director
- Fuga Yamashiro (Dandadan)
- Haruo Sotozaki (Demon Slayer)
- Keiichiro Saito (Frieren)
- Megumi Ishitani (One Piece Fan Letter)
- Norihiro Naganuma (The Apothecary Diaries)
- Yoshihiro Miyajima (Delicious in Dungeon)
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards started in 2017, with Yuri on Ice winning the very first Anime of the Year. Earlier this year, at the March 2, 2024 ceremony, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 took home the top prize.
The winners of 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be announced live from Tokyo on May 25, 2025. You can vote now at Crunchyroll’s official site. Voting ends April 14, and you can cast one vote per category per day. Checkout the voice actors nominations across various language on the official website of Crunchyroll.
Source: Crunchyroll
