Crunchyroll Anime Awards: ‘Solo Leveling,' ‘Look Back' Big Winners at Star-Studded Tokyo Ceremony
Solo Leveling was the big winner Sunday night at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, taking home anime of the year, best action, best new series, and multiple performance and music honors in a starry ceremony that brought together anime's most passionate global fans. Held at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo, the annual celebration honored the top talent in Japanese animation across 28 categories — drawing a record-breaking 51 million fan votes worldwide to decide the winners.
In the feature film category, Look Back, the emotional adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's one-shot manga, earned Film of the Year, while fan-favorite Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba added to its legacy with best continuing series and best animation. The genre-defying Dan Da Dan picked up several creative awards, including best opening sequence, best anime song, and best character design.
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Hosted for the third year in a row by voice actress Sally Amaki and entertainer Jon Kabira, this year's show again welcomed a diverse slate of celebrity presenters, further underlining anime's global appeal. Appearances were made by Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves, Stranger Things stars Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo, Latin music icon J Balvin, Japanese actor Kanata Hongo and Japanese Academy Award-winner Mayu Matsuoka. Also on hand were singer Rina Sawayama, Brazilian pop star Pabllo Vittar, model Saya Ichikawa, actor Dean Fujioka and Damiano David of Maneskin fame.
The night's most poignant moment came when Attack on Titan was awarded Crunchyroll's first-ever Global Impact Award, a new honor recognizing a franchise's profound influence on anime and global pop culture. Director Yuichiro Hayashi accepted the award on behalf of studio Mappa and the series' many creators, following the release of Attack on Titan: The Last Attack in late 2024, which concluded the long-running saga.
Fans were also treated to live performances from some of anime music's biggest acts, including Creepy Nuts with their viral hit 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' from Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Japanese rock legends Flow with 'Days' in honor of Eureka Seven, and a three-song medley by J-pop star Lisa, including her Demon Slayer anthem 'Gurenge.'
'Fans form deep emotional connections to anime. These are not just series, films or songs, but rather works of art that help define the identity of anime fans,' said Rahul Purini, president of Crunchyroll. 'With an incredible 51 million votes this year, the 2025 Anime Awards are celebrating the creators in Japan who have captured the hearts of fans and are powering anime's prominence in global pop culture.'
Crunchyroll partnered with Sony Music Solutions Inc. and Dempsey Productions to deliver the high-energy show, which will be available to stream via Crunchyroll's YouTube and Twitch channels, as well as Sony Pictures Core and other Sony Group platforms.
Sony Group has identified anime as a key pillar of its growth strategy, with Crunchyroll sitting at the center of its holdings in the sector. On Sony's most recent earnings call in May, the conglomerate revealed that Crunchyroll now counts 17 million subscribers worldwide. Crunchyroll, Aniplex and Sony Pictures will collaborate later this year on the North American and international release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, a trilogy of films that concludes what is currently the world's most bankable anime franchise. Crunchyroll and Aniplex are also co-producing an anime series based on the blockbuster samurai adventure PlayStation game Ghost of Tsushima.
Full List of 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards Winners
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' – Creepy Nuts (Dan Da Dan)
Best Ending Sequence: 'request' – 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: Dan Da Dan
Best Director: Keiichiro Saito (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)
Best Main Character: Sung Jinwoo (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' – Creepy Nuts (Dan Da Dan)
Best Score: Solo Leveling – Hiroyuki Sawano
Voice Performance Awards
Japanese: Aoi Yuki (Maomao – The Apothecary Diaries)
English: Aleks Le (Sung Jinwoo – Solo Leveling)
Arabic: Hiba Snobar (Anya Forger – SPY × FAMILY Season 2)
Brazilian Portuguese: Charles Emmanuel (Sung Jinwoo – Solo Leveling)
Castilian Spanish: Masumi Mutsuda (Sung Jinwoo – Solo Leveling)
French: Adrien Antoine (Kafka Hibino – Kaiju No. 8)
German: Daniel Schlauch (Monkey D. Luffy – One Piece)
Hindi: Lohit Sharma (Satoru Gojo – Jujutsu Kaisen, Season 2)
Italian: Ilaria Pellicone (Kyomoto – Look Back)
Latin Spanish: Miguel Ángel Leal (Eren Jaeger – Attack on Titan Final Season: The Final Chapters – Special 2)
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