Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025: Fan-favorite action spectacle ‘Solo Leveling' topples fronturunner ‘Frieren' in massive populist upset
Held at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo, the ninth edition of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards drew an unprecedented 51 million votes from more than 200 countries. With celebrities like Kacey Musgraves, Gaten Matarazzo, Rina Sawayama, and J Balvin presenting awards, the event had the trappings of international spectacle. Yet, in the aftermath of the ceremony, the spotlight remains fixed on a single question: did Solo Leveling truly deserve to sweep the night?
Solo Leveling wins Anime of the Year at the 2025 #AnimeAwards! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/32RzBfde9I — The Anime Awards (@TheAnimeAwards) May 25, 2025
Adapted from Chugong's beloved webtoon, Solo Leveling follows Sung Jinwoo, a once-weak hunter who rises through brutal dungeons to become humanity's ultimate weapon. A-1 Pictures left no pixel unpolished, delivering adrenaline-fueled visuals, music from Attack on Titan veteran, Hiroyuki Sawano, and a relentless narrative tempo that captured the imagination of millions. The anime took home awards for Best Action, Best Score, Best Ending Sequence, Best Main Character, Best New Series, and multiple voice performance honors alongside Anime of the Year.
The upset over Frieren's melancholic meditation on time, loss, and legacy, was met with outcry from segments of the anime community. Directed by Keiichiro Saito and animated by Madhouse, Frieren was praised for its emotional depth and gentle storytelling, following an immortal elf mage reckoning with the mortality of her long-gone comrades. The contrast between the two shows could not have been starker. Solo Leveling offered a speedy spectacle, while Frieren gradually unfolded like a contemplative novel.
Frieren didn't walk away entirely empty-handed though — it won Best Drama, Best Background Art, Best Supporting Character (Fern), and Best Director for Saito. Yet the absence of the top honour has loomed large. The show has consistently topped fan-rating charts since early 2024, including MyAnimeList and Anime News Network, and many assumed it was the obvious frontrunner.
Straddling the demands of blockbuster appeal and the yearning for introspective artistry, the Solo Leveling–Frieren face-off offers up a microcosm to the state of the anime community today. The situation speaks to a deeper tension in the anime world between artistry and populism. Crunchyroll's open voting format, which prioritises fan engagement over critical evaluation, has long been a subject of debate. And this year's outcome may have sharpened that divide.
The controversy also sparked renewed scrutiny of other categories. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc won both Best Continuing Series and Best Animation — arguably deserved in the latter, but hotly contested in the former, especially given competition from long-running titans like One Pieceand Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. Many have argued that the eight-episode arc lacked the narrative weight and scale of its predecessors, let alone its rivals.
Elsewhere, Attack on Titan was honored with the inaugural Global Impact Award, a fitting tribute to the decade-long saga that has reshaped the cultural reach of anime in the past decade. The final chapter, The Last Attack, aired in late 2024, closing a monumental journey that began in 2013. Director Yuichiro Hayashi accepted the award on behalf of MAPPA.
The night also saw spirited performances from musical acts like Creepy Nuts, who won Best Anime Song for Otonoke from Dandadan, and LiSA, who revisited fan-favorite hits like Gurenge from Demon Slayer.
Here is the full list of winners from the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025:
Anime of the Year – Solo Leveling
Film of the Year – Look Back
Best Original Anime – Ninja Kamui
Best Continuing Series – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc
Best New Series – Solo Leveling
Best Opening Sequence – 'Otonoke' by Creepy Nuts – Dandadan
Best Ending Sequence – 'request' by krage – Solo Leveling
Best Action – Solo Leveling
Best Comedy – MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES – The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc
Best Drama – Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Best Isekai Anime – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3
Best Romance – Blue Box
Best Slice of Life – Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
Best Animation – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Hashira Training Arc
Best Background Art – Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Best Character Design – Dandadan
Best Director – Keiichiro Saito – Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Best Main Character – Sung Jin-woo – Solo Leveling
Best Supporting Character – Fern – Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
'Must Protect At All Costs' Character – Anya Forger – SPY × FAMILY Season 2
Best Anime Song – 'Otonoke' by Creepy Nuts – Dandadan
Best Score – Hiroyuki Sawano – Solo Leveling
Best Japanese Voice Artist Performance – Aoi Yuki (Maomao) – The Apothecary Diaries
Best English Voice Artist Performance – Aleks Le (Sung Jin-woo) – Solo Leveling
Global Impact Award – Attack on Titan
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