Latest news with #SungJin-woo
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Solo Leveling' emerges as biggest winner at anime awards
Solo Leveling (pic), a fantasy anime that tells the story of Sung Jin-woo living in an alternate reality threatened by supernatural events and monsters, is the biggest winner of the ninth Crunchyroll Anime Awards with nine plums, including Anime of the Year. Other anime recognised at the ceremony were Dan Da Dan, Demon Slayer , and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End , as well as Attack On Titan which received the award for Global Impact. Hosted by Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira, the Anime Awards held on Sunday, May 25 in Tokyo, featured a stacked lineup of celebrity anime fans, including Rina Sawayama, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Plastique Tiara, Kacey Musgraves and d4vd, to name a few.
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
All the winners of the 2025 Anime Awards
Despite a very impressive gathering of Asian animation talent, one series dominated the 2025 Anime Awards. Here are all the winners announced during the 25 May ceremony in Tokyo. Between enchanting fantasy, high school romance, and supernatural thrillers, the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards looked set to be a showdown between heavyweights of the animation industry in Asia. This year, series like Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, The Apothecary Diaries, Dan Da Dan, and Delicious in Dungeon all went head-to-head, but out of nowhere, it was Solo Leveling that dominated the awards show, which was hosted in Tokyo on 25 May. Winning nine of the 13 awards it was nominated for, Solo Leveling took home all the glory when it clinched the coveted Anime of the Year prize. It's worth noting that this year's Crunchyroll Anime Awards covered all anime released from October 2023 through to December 2024, meaning that only the first season of Solo Leveling was eligible. The show, which is based on the South Korean web novel of the same name and its webtoon adaptation, has been a massive hit since it first debuted in January 2024. A power fantasy about a monster-hunter named Sung Jin-woo, who rises in status from weakling to an absurdly powerful necromancer, Solo Leveling has been a critical and commercial smash hit so far. The series is available with a Crunchyroll subscription. While Solo Leveling was a lock to win awards like 'Best Action,' there has been spirited debate online over the other awards it bagged. With anime like Frieren – about an elven mage who outlives her adventuring companions – and Dan Da Dan – where high schoolers battle both aliens and the supernatural – also nominated for 'Best New Anime Series,' fans of those shows (both on Netflix) felt that Solo Leveling's win was underserved compared to how those series feature more nuanced and layered storytelling in comparison. Other notable 2025 winners included Anime Film of the Year Look Back, from Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, about two young girls who bond over drawing manga (and which is on Prime Video); ever-popular Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Best Continuing Series and Best Animation); and Blue Box (Best Romance), where teens deal with complicated feelings as they train for basketball Nationals. Both Demon Slayer and Blue Box are in the South African Netflix library. For the record, voting for the Anime Awards is weighted 70/30 between a panel of anime industry judges and public opinion. The accolades have been dished out since 2017, when groundbreaking figure skating drama Yuri on Ice became the first Anime of the Year winner. The 2025 Awards Ceremony was an emotional night for the people who worked on the iconic Attack on Titan anime, as well as it was awarded Crunchyroll's first-ever Global Impact Award to honour the mark it had made on pop culture worldwide since debuting back in 2013. Looking ahead, this year will see several highly anticipated anime films and TV series released. A trilogy of Demon Slayer films will wrap up the anime, and the next arc of Chainsaw Man will also be on the silver screen. Meanwhile, on TV, while anime series like Dragon Ball Daima, Sakamoto Days, and Lazarus are earning rave reviews from critics and fans alike, new seasons of megapopular properties like Spy x Family, One-Punch Man, and My Hero Academia are lined up for home viewing later in 2025. DM This story was first published on PFangirl. Below you'll find all of this year's winners, while a full list, including nominees, can also be found here. 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
Korea Herald
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
'Solo Leveling' sweeps annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards
Korean web novel adaptation is first Korean IP to claim top honor The Korean web novel-based anime "Solo Leveling" swept this year's Crunchyroll Anime Awards, taking home nine awards including the top prize. This marks the first time a Korean intellectual property has claimed the highest honor at the global streaming platform's annual event. The series dominated Sunday's ceremony in Tokyo, winning anime of the year along with best new series, best action anime, best main character, and best score. It also picked up awards for best ending sequence and multiple voice acting categories across different languages. Produced by Japan's A-1 Pictures with support from Korea's Kakao and D&C Media, the anime draws from Chugong's 2016 Korean web novel "Only I Level Up." The 12-episode series follows Sung Jin-woo, a low-ranked monster hunter who discovers a mysterious system that lets him grow stronger with each battle. The original web novel debuted on Korean publishing platform KakaoPage in July 2016 and was later adapted into a popular web comic illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (known as Dubu), who passed away in 2022. The web comic concluded in December 2021 after two seasons, amassing more than 650 million reads in Japan alone. The English edition, published by Yen Press and available across major digital platforms, has also built a substantial following in North America. The anime is available on Crunchyroll globally, with Netflix also streaming it in select Asian markets including Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Korean viewers can watch it via local platforms Watcha, Tving and Wavve in addition to Netflix.
India Today
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Solo Leveling Season 3 on cards? Crunchyroll President 'hopes so'
Solo Leveling has taken the anime world by storm. Adapted from the highly popular manhwa, the anime streamed on Crunchyroll and the second season also became the streaming platform's top show in the first quarter of 2025. Given the show's popularity, fans are demanding a third season. Now, Crunchyroll's president, Rahul Purini, has shared an Purini was asked if the third season of Solo Leveling is on the cards, he told Deadline, 'We hope so,' adding, 'The [series] creators want to work on lot of shows. Anime is really popular, so there's a lot of demand, and so we have to find the right time to get started on the next season.'advertisementSpeaking about the show's success, Purini attributed it to the fact that the mahwa was already popular. He also pointed that the video game based on the manhwa was also a hit, adding that many anime fans are video game enthusiasts as well. 'The most important thing is the theme of the story, it has a lot of themes from gaming. If you are an RPG player, or play first-person-shooting games, you understand it. When people see those themes in a narrative story format like this, it is new, and it is different, and it is a language they speak and that makes it much more compelling,' he Aleks Le, the man behind Sung Jinwoo's voice in the English dub, hinted that the third season of the hit anime will be made. He shared a video on social media saying the same. If the pattern is followed, then fans might get to see it early 2026, but nothing has been confirmed as of Leveling showcases the journey of Sung Jin-woo from being the "weakest hunter" to a formidable Shadow Monarch. The second season showed the Red Gate Arc and then transitioned to the much-anticipated Demon Castle Arc. It also showed the Jeju Island expedition, where Sung Jin-woo came face-to-face with the Ant King, Watch
India Today
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Monster mayhem meets midlife-crisis and comedy: Why Kaiju No 8 is not to be missed
Imagine this – a boy who wants to make it big and be one of the most accomplished people in a field highly looked up to. He wants to play shoulder-to-shoulder with his friend, who happens to be the best in the profession and an inspiration to many. However, his powers are not at par! But, something changes midway, a transformation every anime storyline ever, you will say. Be it My Hero Academia's Midoriya with no quirks, or the failure Naruto who just wants to be at par with Sasuke or Black Clover's Asta or the recent favourite Sung Jin-woo, all their storylines are awfully similar. The same holds true for Kafka Hibino and/or Kaiju No 8. However, what makes the show stand out, besides the stunning animation and the even more stunning opening sequence, is how comedy is so seamlessly integrated into the narrative without taking away the emotional depth of the the trailer of Kaiju No 8 here: In Kaiju No 8, we have the failure Kafka, who had once promised his school friend Mina that he would stand beside her to fight the Kaijus (monsters). However, despite 12 attempts, he just couldn't qualify for the Defence Force exam. Almost giving up, and stuck at cleaning the intestines (read poop) of dead and disfigured kaijus, he finds hope when Ichikawa joins his team. On one such cleaning mission, they encounter a Kaiju. One thing leads to another and Hibino transforms into a monster himself! Yeah, shit happens (way more in this anime).advertisementFunnily, 32-year-old Kafka manages to also finally pass the Defence Force exam, not without becoming a laughing stock, and not by using his powers. But, the secret has to be maintained, or else he faces a chance of being annihilated. Will he be able to do that (after all, even Sung Jin-woo had to finally retake the exam and give himself away)!But, who are we kidding here? Most fans must have already read the manga, and by now have probably watched and re-watched the anime. But, like me, if you are late to the party, don't be disheartened. If Hibino can join Defence Force at 32, is it ever too late? In fact, if you are yet to watch it, the best part about starting with this one could be the crisp 12 episodes of 23 minutes each, which can be binge-watched in a day or exchange, you get some amazing animation (of course), a part rib-ticklingly funny anime with solid action, a show that celebrates friendship and of course, inspirational stuff that can motivate you to achieve whatever you want (just like it did to me to ram the keyboard right after finishing it). Some parts Attack On Titans and some part One Punch Man, Watch it for its refreshingly relatable protagonist who's more 'why am I still here?' than 'believe it (Dattebayo)!'Kaiju No 8 is available on Crunchyroll. The second season will be released in July 2025.
