Here Are Your 2026 Anime Awards Winners

9 Comments | anime, anime awards, Crunchyroll, demon slayer, demon slayer infinity castle, Gachiakuta, My Hero Academia | By Peter Paltridge | May 25, 2026 | 3 minutes of reading

We got some unusual and unexpected results out of the Anime Awards this year. Were any of you betting on the final season of My Hero Academia taking home the trophy for Best Anime Of The Entire Year? (Yeah, we know it’s popular, but…) Or were you expecting the award for Best Original Anime to go to Lazarus?? Remember, these awards are decided by popular vote, so if you don’t like how they turned out, well, it’s your own fault.

Dan Da Dan Season 2 was given the honor of Best Comedy, but it was actually nominated in 20 different categories and that was the only one it actually won. Demon Slayer fared better, picking up six wins for Infinity Castle including Best Score and multiple voice actor wins from different language dubs. Gachiakuta won Best New Series, along with additional honors for Best Background Art and Character Design. Perhaps the least surprising win was yet another “Most Protect At All Cost” win for Anya Forger from Spy X Family.

All the winners are posted below, along with the full ceremony itself, which was held in Tokyo.

Anime of the Year – My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON
Film of the Year – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Best Original Anime – Lazarus
Best Continuing Series – ONE PIECE
Best New Series – Gachiakuta
Best Opening Sequence – On The Way – AiNA THE END – DAN DA DAN Season 2
Best Ending Sequence – I, BUMP OF CHICKEN, My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON
Best Action – Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-
Best Comedy – DAN DA DAN Season 2
Best Drama – The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)
Best Isekai Anime – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3
Best Romance – The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity
Best Slice of Life – SPY x FAMILY Season 3
Best Animation – Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-
Best Background Art – Gachiakuta
Best Character Design – Gachiakuta
Best Director – Akinori Fudesaka, Norihiro Naganuma, The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)
Best Main Character – Maomao, The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)
Best Supporting Character – Katsuki Bakugo, My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON
“Must Protect At All Cost” Character – Anya Forger, SPY x FAMILY Season 3
Best Anime Song – IRIS OUT, Kenshi Yonezu, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Best Score – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, Yuki Kajiura, Go Shiina
Best Voice Artist Performance (Japanese) – Aoi Yuki, Maomao, The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)
Best Voice Artist Performance (English) – Lucien Dodge, Akaza, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Best Voice Artist Performance (Arabic) – Tariq Obaid, Taro Sakamoto, SAKAMOTO DAYS
Best Voice Artist Performance (Brazilian Portuguese) – Charles Emmanuel, Akaza, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Best Voice Artist Performance (Castilian Spanish ) – Carles Teruel, Akaza, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Best Voice Artist Performance (French)- Bastien Bourlé, Izuku Midoriya, My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON
Best Voice Artist Performance (German) – Gerrit Schmidt, Foß, Akaza, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Best Voice Artist Performance (Hindi) – Abhishek Sharma, Jinshi, The Apothecary Diaries (season 2)
Best Voice Artist Performance (Italian) – Mosè Singh, Denji, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Best Voice Artist Performance (Latin Spanish) – Jose Antonio Toledano, Akaza, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

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9 replies

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Active Member

1,130 messages 20 likes

The Anime Awards results this year really did surprise me, especially with My Hero Academia’s final season not snagging more wins. It's such a beloved series, and given the emotional highs and character developments we've seen, I expected it to dominate. I wonder if the stiff competition from newer shows played a big role in that?

On the flip side, I'm really curious about which series ended up taking home the top awards. Any predictions out there? I’d love to hear what you think could outshine MHA this time around!

New Member

65 messages 11 likes

I’m actually shocked that My Hero Academia won Anime of the Year. I watched the final season and liked it, but I thought something like The Apothecary Diaries had more consistent writing. MHA still has a huge fanbase though, so maybe I should not be surprised. Bakugo winning best supporting character makes sense because he carried a lot of emotional scenes this season. I also think Demon Slayer getting so many voice acting awards feels believable because Akaza had some heavy scenes in Infinity Castle. The one result I really liked was Gachiakuta winning best new series. That anime came out strong immediately and had a different visual style from most new shonen. The background art especially deserved recognition. I still think Dan Da Dan only winning comedy is strange after getting nominated so many times. It felt like one of the biggest anime online all year.

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Albert Whiskers

Complete Global saturation

345 messages 4 likes

Solo Leveling winning best action and animation feels correct to me. Every week people were posting clips because the fights looked insane. I know some anime fans hate how overpowered Jinwoo is, but the production quality was hard to deny. I probably would have picked Demon Slayer for animation personally, but Solo Leveling had more momentum this year. I’m happy Re:ZERO won best isekai too because season 3 was stressful in a good way. Subaru keeps suffering every season and somehow the show still finds new ways to make things worse for him. Also, Lazarus winning best original anime surprised me a lot because I barely saw people talking about it compared to bigger titles.

New Member

122 messages 4 likes

Dan Da Dan fans are probably angry right now. Twenty nominations and only one win is rough. I liked season 2 a lot because it felt creative compared to many action anime lately. The opening winning was deserved though because that song was everywhere online. I think the problem is that Dan Da Dan mixes too many genres, so people vote for other shows depending on category. Comedy was probably the safest category for it. I’m more surprised Chainsaw Man movie only got best anime song. I thought Reze Arc would take more awards honestly.

Member

340 messages 9 likes

The funniest part to me is Anya winning “Must Protect At All Cost” again like nobody else even had a chance. At this point they should just rename the category after her. SPY x FAMILY still staying popular after multiple seasons is impressive because many anime lose hype after a while. I also think ONE PIECE winning best continuing series is automatic now. It almost feels unfair putting it against regular seasonal anime because it has been dominating for decades already. Still deserved though because the anime production has improved a lot recently.

Member

332 messages 26 likes

I don’t really agree with My Hero Academia getting Anime of the Year, but I understand why it happened. Final seasons usually get extra support because fans are emotional about the ending of a long-running series. I followed MHA since the early seasons, so even I felt nostalgic watching the final arc. But if we are talking about overall quality this year, I honestly think The Apothecary Diaries or even Gachiakuta had stronger direction. Gachiakuta especially surprised me because I expected a generic battle anime and ended up liking the worldbuilding more than I thought. The art style also helped it stand out. At least the awards were not completely predictable. Some years the same few titles win everything and it becomes boring.

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Sweet and Sour

68 messages 2 likes

I’m happy Demon Slayer still got major awards because people have started acting like the series fell off just because newer anime became trendy. Infinity Castle looked amazing in theaters and the soundtrack was one of the best parts. Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina always know how to make scenes feel bigger emotionally. I noticed Akaza kept winning voice acting awards in multiple languages too, which honestly says a lot about how memorable that character was in the movie. Even people who are not hardcore anime fans know him now.

New Member

27 messages 1 like

The romance category this year was actually pretty decent. Fragrant Flower winning over bigger titles surprised me, but I think people connected with how normal the relationship felt. The characters actually communicate instead of acting confused for twelve episodes straight. That alone already puts it above many romance anime lately. I also appreciate that the series does not try too hard to make every scene dramatic. Sometimes calmer stories work better because the characters feel more believable.

Active Member

712 messages 231 likes

Some of these results feel like popularity contests more than actual quality awards, but honestly that is how fan voting always works. Big fandoms are going to dominate no matter what. I still had fun reading the winners though because there were at least a few unexpected picks. Gachiakuta doing so well was probably the coolest surprise for me. I remember when people first saw the trailers and were unsure about it, but the anime proved itself fast. Also nice seeing international voice actors get attention. Anime dubbing has improved a lot across different languages compared to years ago.

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