Anime's biggest annual night arrives Saturday, May 23, when Crunchyroll hosts the 10th annual Anime Awards live from the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo — and for the second consecutive year, Science SARU's sci-fi horror series Dandadan sits atop the nomination count, this time with 20 nods across 32 competitive categories. The free global livestream begins at 5 PM JST on Crunchyroll's YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok channels, with no subscription required to watch.
Dandadan Again Tops Nominations, Solo Leveling Ghost Looms
For the second year running, Dandadan leads all nominees — it posted 22 nominations at the 9th ceremony in May 2025, only to watch Solo Leveling claim the Anime of the Year trophy. The question heading into Saturday is whether a second dominant nomination count will finally translate into the top prize.
Dandadan Season 2, which aired on MBS/TBS from July 4 through September 19, 2025, was co-directed by returning director Fūga Yamashiro alongside Abel Góngora. The season follows protagonists Momo, Okarun, and Jiji as they confront the Kito family and the entity known as the Evil Eye. Science SARU's production has been praised across the industry for animation that is fluid, kinetically inventive, and consistent across both seasons. The series grounds its paranormal content in biological and physical framing — extraterrestrials behave as organisms subject to evolutionary logic, while psychic phenomena are presented through a quasi-scientific lens rather than conventional anime magic.
Closing behind Dandadan are The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 with 17 nominations and Gachiakuta with 16. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON, the eighth and concluding chapter of one of the decade's most commercially successful shonen franchises, rounds out the major contenders with 15.
Anime of the Year: Six-Way Race With Two Returning Contenders
The Anime of the Year field is the most competitive in the awards' decade-long history. The six nominees are Dandadan Season 2, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, Gachiakuta, My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON, Takopi's Original Sin, and The Summer Hikaru Died. Four of those six are new entrants: Gachiakuta, a graffiti-driven class-struggle action series produced by Bones, earned 16 total nominations and had a second season announced on the day its first concluded; Takopi's Original Sin, a six-episode psychological drama consistently rated above 9.0 per episode on IMDb, has been described by critics as one of the year's most affecting titles; and The Summer Hikaru Died, produced by Cygames Pictures, collected 8 total nominations including its Anime of the Year slot.
Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini described the 10th anniversary as a moment to honor not just 2025's nominees but the full decade: the awards have recognized more than 110 animation studios, nearly 290 unique series and films, and more than 220 voice actors since the first ceremony in January 2017.
The Weeknd, RZA, and a Star-Studded Presenter Lineup
Global icon The Weeknd will present the Anime of the Year award — a pairing that underscores how deeply anime has penetrated mainstream Western pop culture since the awards launched a decade ago. The full confirmed presenter roster includes Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA, actor Winston Duke, Thai K-pop artists BamBam and TEN, GRAMMY-nominated Puerto Rican recording artist Young Miko, Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna, and contemporary musician Ethan Bortnick.
Musical Tributes: Neon Genesis Evangelion at 30, My Hero Academia at 10
The musical program doubles as a 30th-anniversary tribute to Neon Genesis Evangelion: composer and original theme vocalist Yoko Takahashi is set to perform, accompanied by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Dean Fujioka opens the ceremony with "History Maker," the theme from Yuri!!! on ICE and the winner of Anime of the Year at the first ceremony in 2017. Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Porno Graffitti, known respectively for Naruto and My Hero Academia theme songs, are also on the performance lineup. The ceremony will also mark the 10th anniversary of My Hero Academia.
Film of the Year: Anime Cinema's Record-Breaking Year
The Film of the Year category reflects the most commercially successful year for anime film on record. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle, directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by ufotable, closed its theatrical run as the highest-grossing anime film of all time worldwide with approximately $802 million in total box office, surpassing the previous record-holder by more than $250 million. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara and produced by MAPPA, earned approximately $176 million worldwide in its run, making it the 14th highest-grossing anime film of all time. The two films together represent a combined theatrical gross of nearly $1 billion — an unprecedented single-year haul for the medium.
Four additional titles round out the Film of the Year category: 100 Meters, Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II — The Ashes of Rage, Scarlet, and The Rose of Versailles.
How to Watch Saturday's Ceremony
The Orange Carpet Pre-Show begins at 5:00 PM JST (4 AM ET / 1 AM PT) Saturday, May 23. The main awards ceremony follows at 6:00 PM JST (5 AM ET / 2 AM PT). Both will stream free and live on Crunchyroll's official YouTube channel, Twitch, and TikTok. The broadcast is available in nine languages: English, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, and Latin Spanish.
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