2025 Anime Awards Winners Revealed: Full List, Shocking Upsets & Must-Watch Highlights

Tokyo—The 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards have wrapped, and the night belonged to Solo Leveling. The adaptation of the hit Korean webtoon not only snagged Anime of the Year but also Best New Series, Best Action, Best Score, Best Ending Sequence and Best Main Character for Sung Jinwoo, voiced in English by Aleks Le. Highlights and key takeaways • Film of the Year: Look Back, Science SARU’s emotional feature about friendship and creativity. • Best Original Anime: Ninja Kamui, Sunghoo Park’s blood-pumping revenge story. • Best Continuing Series & Best Animation: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc, proving the franchise’s staying power. • Best Director: Keiichiro Saitō for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which also secured Best Drama, Best Background Art and Best Supporting Character (Fern). • Genre stand-outs: Re:ZERO Season 3 (Best Isekai), Blue Box (Best Romance), Mashle: Magic and Muscles (Best Comedy) and Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! (Best Slice of Life). • Global Impact Award: Attack on Titan, honoring the series’ decade-long cultural footprint. Complete 2025 Anime Awards winners list Anime of the Year: Solo Leveling Film of the Year: Look Back Best Original Anime: Ninja Kamui Best Continuing Series: Demon Slayer – Hashira Training Arc Best New Series: Solo Leveling Best Animation: Demon Slayer – Hashira Training Arc Best Character Design: Dan Da Dan Best Background Art: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Best Director: Keiichiro Saitō (Frieren) Best Main Character: Sung Jinwoo (Solo Leveling) Best Supporting Character: Fern (Frieren) “Must Protect at All Costs” Character: Anya Forger (Spy x Family S2) Best Action: Solo Leveling Best Comedy: Mashle: Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc Best Drama: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Best Isekai: Re:ZERO Season 3 Best Romance: Blue Box Best Slice of Life: Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! Best Anime Song: “Otonoke” – Creepy Nuts (Dan Da Dan) Best Opening Sequence: “Otonoke” – Creepy Nuts (Dan Da Dan) Best Ending Sequence: “request” – krage (Solo Leveling) Best Score: Hiroyuki Sawano (Solo Leveling) Japanese VA Performance: Aoi Yūki as Maomao (The Apothecary Diaries) English VA Performance: Aleks Le as Sung Jinwoo (Solo Leveling) Additional language performance winners spanned Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Hindi and Italian categories. Event recap Broadcast live from the Tokyo Garden Theater, the ceremony mixed star power with fan fervor. Hosts Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira guided appearances by celebrities such as Kacey Musgraves, Finn Wolfhard and Rina Sawayama. Musical acts ranged from hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts delivering their viral “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” to LiSA’s medley of Demon Slayer anthems. The voting saw record participation from Brazil, India, Mexico, France, Canada and Chile, underlining anime’s expanding global footprint. Why it matters With Solo Leveling’s sweep and Demon Slayer’s continued dominance, action-heavy series clearly resonate with worldwide audiences. Meanwhile, Frieren’s contemplative fantasy proved critical and fan acclaim still favors nuanced storytelling. Expect streaming platforms to double down on similarly genre-blending titles in the coming year. For fans who missed the livestream, the full replay is available on Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel, complete with backstage interviews and performances.