
‘Solo Leveling' dominates Crunchyroll Anime Awards
DUBAI: 'Solo Leveling' emerged as the top winner at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, clinching anime of the year, best action, best new series, and several accolades for music and performance. The global fan-favorite led the night at the ceremony held at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo.
The annual celebration of anime recognized excellence across 28 categories, powered by a record-breaking 51 million fan votes worldwide.
A post shared by The Anime Awards (@animeawards.official)
Among the night's other standout winners was 'Look Back,' the poignant adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's one-shot manga, which took home the film of the year award. 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba' extended its celebrated legacy by winning best continuing series and best animation.
The supernatural comedy 'Dan Da Dan' also made waves, picking up awards for best opening sequence, best anime song, and best character design.
A post shared by The Anime Awards (@animeawards.official)
In a highlight of the evening, 'Attack on Titan' received Crunchyroll's first-ever Global Impact Award, a new honor recognizing a franchise's lasting cultural influence. The award follows the 2024 conclusion of the acclaimed saga with 'Attack on Titan: The Last Attack.' Director Yuichiro Hayashi accepted the prize on behalf of studio MAPPA and the show's creators.
'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.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Jitesh, Kohli power Bengaluru into IPL qualifier 1
LUCKNOW: Skipper Jitesh Sharma hammered an unbeaten 85 and Virat Kohli hit 54 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed into qualifier one of IPL playoffs with a six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Bengaluru chased down 228 to go second in the 10-team table in the last league match of this season and set up a meeting with table-toppers Punjab Kings on Thursday. The result pushed Gujarat Titans into third spot. They will face Mumbai Indians in the eliminator on Friday. The top two teams have two shots at reaching the final on June 3 as the loser of qualifier one will face the winner of eliminator in qualifier two to decide the second finalist. Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant signed off with an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls in his team's 227-3, but in reply Bengaluru achieved victory with eight balls to spare. Kohli set up the chase with his 30-ball knock and after his departure stand-in-skipper Jitesh put on an unbeaten stand of 107 with Mayank Agarwal, who hit 41, to trump Lucknow, who were already out of the playoffs. The 36-year-old Kohli, who earlier this month announced his Test retirement alongside Rohit Sharma, went past 9,000 runs for Bengaluru — the most by a batsman for one team in men's T20 cricket. The next is Rohit for Mumbai with 6,060. Kohli put on 61 runs with opening partners Phil Salt, who made 30, but the chase wobbled after Lucknow hit back with wickets. New Zealand quick Will O'Rourke took two in two. Jitesh turned things around with his first IPL fifty. He hit eight fours and six sixes, including the winning hit over the fence, in his 33-ball knock. Earlier Pant, who struggled for runs after being brought by Lucknow for a record $3.21 million in the auction, saved his best for last as he hit his season-best score. Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, a swashbuckling left-hander, reached his 100 in 54 balls and celebrated with a somersault. He had scored only 151 runs from 12 previous innings and averaged just 13.72. Pant led the charge in a 152-run second-wicket stand with Mitchell Marsh, who hit 67 off 37 balls, after the captain promoted himself to number three in the batting order. Pant, who hit 11 fours and eight sixes in his 61-ball knock, went past his previous best of 63 this season but Bengaluru and Kohli had the last laugh as they hunt for their first IPL title.


Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Hong Kong's Baby Pandas Finally Get Names. Meet Jia Jia and De De
Hong Kong's first locally born giant pandas have finally been named and introduced as Jia Jia and De De. The names of the cubs, affectionately known as "Elder Sister" and "Little Brother," were announced Tuesday in a ceremony at Ocean Park, the theme park housing them, their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived from mainland China last year. The names were the winning suggestions from residents in a naming contest that drew more than 35,700 entries. The Chinese character "Jia," from the female cub's name "Jia Jia," carries a message of support and features an element of family and a sense of auspicious grace. The name embodies the prosperity of families and the nation and the happiness of the people, the park said. The Chinese character "De," from the male cub's name, means to succeed, carrying the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. De also has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for virtue, the park said, suggesting giant pandas possess virtues cherished by Chinese people. Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong said they followed tradition by using Mandarin pronunciation for the pandas' English names. He said "Jia" sounds like a word in the Cantonese term for elder sister, while "De De" sounds a bit like the Cantonese phrase for little brother. Cantonese is the mother language of many Hong Kongers. "It's a very positive pair of names," he said. "We have to be a bit creative here with the names." The twins' birth in August made their mother, Ying Ying, the world's oldest first-time panda mom. Their popularity among residents, visitors and on social media raised hopes for a tourism boost in the city, where politicians touted the commercial opportunities as the "panda economy." Observers are watching whether housing six pandas helps the park revive its business, especially when caring for the animals in captivity is expensive. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($9.2 million) last financial year. The park recorded a nearly 40% growth in visitor flow and 40% increase in overall income during a five-day holiday beginning May 1 in mainland China, said Pong, who hopes the growth momentum will continue through summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons. Pandas are considered China's unofficial national mascot. The country's giant panda loan program with overseas zoos has long been seen as a tool of Beijing's soft-power diplomacy.


Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
India's biggest Palestine art exhibition exposes life under Israeli occupation
NEW DELHI: From paintings and photographs to graffiti and posters, one of India's biggest-ever showcases of Palestine-related art is now on view in central New Delhi, featuring works by Indian and Palestinian artists that highlight life under Israeli occupation. 'The Body Called Palestine' exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan — next to key government institutions —is a month-long show that will run until May 31. Organized by the art collective Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, it features 140 works focusing on themes of resistance, identity and solidarity with Palestine. Some 40 of the contributing artists are Palestinians, 30 are Indians, and others come from places such as the US, Poland, Egypt and Sweden. ''The Body Called Palestine'' is the largest-ever exhibition in India on Palestine,' Amit Mukhopadhyay, the art historian who curated the show, told Arab News. '(It is) the largest in terms of size, in terms of the number of works, in terms of the number of artists.' Among the displayed works is 'Searching for Life' by Sliman Mansour, a leading figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. Painted in 2024, it shows three women carefully brushing through the rubble. They are surrounded by destruction and fire in the background — evoking the Gaza Strip, where in the past 19 months Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of people and reduced much of the region's cities to rubble. 'The Wave,' by sculptor Abdul Rahman Katanani, is a 3-meter-high wave made from barbed wire, representing the Gaza Sea. 'Homes for The Disembodied,' an installation by Mary Tuma, shows five flowing black dresses made from one piece of chiffon — a memorial to the Palestinians displaced from Jerusalem who were unable to return to their homes before their death. 'Palestinian artists display the violence of life under occupation and subjugatory difference. The nostalgia and the desire to return to their homeland, the human emotions of alienation, loss, grief, anger, all are reflected in their artistic language and practice,' Mukhopadhyay says in his curator's note for the exhibition. 'This expression and language of art may not be similar to any previously existing language system of the world.' Many of the participating Palestinian artists were only able to submit their work digitally. 'Their houses and their residential areas and their villages are constantly being bombed ... It was impossible for them to send their physical works to us,' trust member Suhail Hashmi told Arab News. It did not deter the organizers from displaying them. SAHMAT has prepared huge printouts to present them properly and include as many voices as possible. 'The world has to know, and people in India have to know, the great injustice that is being done to the Palestinian people — how barbaric this continuous, ongoing onslaught on unarmed people is,' Hashmi said. 'When we were fighting for our freedom, people all over the world supported our struggle. It is important for us to support anybody, anywhere in the world, fighting for freedom and the right to live peacefully. And the more people know what is going on, there will be at least some reaction.' Vijendra Vij, an Indian artist who has contributed to the exhibition, based his work on the Palestinian poetry of Taha Muhammad Ali, Khaled Juma, Ghassan Zaqtan and others who have been translated into Hindi. 'When I read the poetry of all these poets, they recall the people, places and experience of left-behind homes, trees, fruits, flowers, the earth, the sea, the sky, colors and scents. Even after decades of hard work and attainment of comfort and professional success, the enduring connection to Palestine remains unbroken. That is behind the inspiration of (my) work,' he said. The works have generally received emotional responses, with fear and anger followed by thoughtful observation. 'If you look at some of the works that are quite graphic, you see a bit of fear, you fear for yourself, and you also feel extremely despondent about how people are actually going through those situations,' said Saurabh Wasan, an art manager in Delhi. 'Exhibitions like this are very important and very much needed ... in whatever small way, we're kind of keeping their voices going. Their voices are still being heard.'