Crunchyroll has announced the winners from the fourth annual Anime Awards, a celebration of the best and brightest in Japanese animation from last year.
Anime’s popularity has continued to soar over the last year with the industry valued at more than $10 billion. Fans also have more ways to enjoy anime than ever before, through streaming, fan events, theatrical screenings, celebrity and athlete endorsements, and video games, just to name a few.
This year, over 11 million global votes were cast across 18 categories from fans celebrating their favourite characters, series, and creators, eclipsing the 5 million votes cast in 2019. The top five countries that voted this year were the United States, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Winners of the Anime Awards were announced during a live event at the Crunchyroll HQ in San Francisco, hosted by WWE Superstar Xavier Woods (AKA Austin Creed) and streamed on the Crunchyroll homepage and across Crunchyroll social media platforms.
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be sponsored by Bokksu, the leading subscription box and media platform for Japanese snack food discovery and authentic storytelling, and Naruto Slugfest, launching in Spring of 2020 from Mars Games.
Winners of this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards include:
- Anime of the Year: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Best Animation: Mob Psycho 100 II
- Best Opening Sequence: Mob Psycho 100 II, ♪ 99.9 – MOB CHOIR feat. sajou no hana
- Best Ending Sequence: KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR, ♪ Chikatto Chika Chikaa♡ – 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 (JP): Yuichi Nakamura voices Bruno Bucciarati in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
- Best VA Performance (EN): Billy Kametz voices Naofumi in The Rising of the Shield Hero
- Best Director: Tetsuro Araki, Chief Director and Masashi Koizuka, Director – Attack on Titan Season 3
- Best Character Design: Satoshi Iwataki, Original Character Design by Hiroyuki Asada, Dororo
- Best Protagonist: Senku, Dr. STONE
- Best Antagonist: Isabella, The Promised Neverland
- Best Fight Scene: Tanjiro & Nezuko vs. Rui, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Best Couple: Kaguya Shinomiya & Miyuki Shirogane, KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR
- Best Drama: Vinland Saga, WIT STUDIO
- Best Fantasy: The Promised Neverland, CloverWorks
- Best Comedy: KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR, A-1 Pictures
- Industry Icon: George Wada, WIT STUDIO
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