My intake of anime in 2020 increased more than ever, and 2021 is right on track in having me legitimately write down what series airs on what day so I can keep up (it’s for work, honest). While I can easily point to getting more acquainted with my house for a good portion of 2020 as the reason why I’m watching anime nearly every day of the week now, it’s also because we had a damn good anime lineup.
And Crunchyroll’s ready to celebrate in the fifth annual Anime Awards!
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards are a great way to come together and FIGHT TO THE DEATH IN THE COMMENTS about what anime series was the reigning champ of 2020 (it’s Jujutsu Kaisen, by the way). All right I’m kidding, because let’s be honest, the picks for 2020 are stellar and I’d hate to be the one who has to decide who wins.
Oh wait.
I am the one.
We all are.
Because fans will be able to cast their vote from now until January 22nd. That’s an entire week to campaign for Best Boy (it’s Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen) and Best Girl (it’s Noi from Dorohedoro) to make sure they win the top prize of our undying love and devotion until 2021 introduces us to a new roster of best picks (or gets us more acquainted with our current ones). While there is an esteemed, geektastic committee of judges, fan input is key in the deciding process and judges will be there to break any ties that occur in the categories.
So what are the categories? And who are the nominees? I’m glad I asked!
- Anime of the Year
APPARE-RANMAN!
BEASTARS
Dorohedoro
Great Pretender
JUJUTSU KAISEN
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
- Best Girl
Abigail Jones – Great Pretender
Catarina Claes – My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Chizuru Mizuhara – Rent-a-Girlfriend
Kaguya Shinomiya – Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Noi – Dorohedoro
Sayaka Kanamori – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
- Best Boy
Anos Voldigoad – The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants
Caiman – Dorohedoro
Khun Aguero Agnes – Tower of God
Legoshi – BEASTARS
Satoru Gojo – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Shoyo Hinata – HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP
- Best Protagonist
Anos Voldigoad – The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants
Catarina Claes – My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Midori Asakusa – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Natsume – DECA-DENCE
Shoyo Hinata – HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP
Yuji Itadori- JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Best Antagonist
Akito Soma – Fruits Basket (Season 2)
Echidna – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
En – Dorohedoro
Overhaul – My Hero Academia Season 4
Rachel – Tower of God
Ryomen Sukuna – JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Best Animation
BEASTARS
Great Pretender
JUJUTSU KAISEN
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Princess Connect! Re: Dive
The God of High School
- Best Fight Scene
Bercouli vs. Dark God Vecta – Sword Art Online Alicization: War of the Underworld Part 2
Brawler vs. Master – Akudama Drive
Deku vs. Overhaul – My Hero Academia Season 4
Jin Mori vs. Han Daewi – The God of High School
Jin Mori vs. Jegal Taek – The God of High School
Satoru Gojo vs. Ryomen Sukuna – JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Best Score
Alisa Okehazama – The God of High School
Kensuke Ushio – Japan Sinks: 2020
Kevin Penkin – Tower of God
OORUTAICHI – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Satoru Kousaki – BEASTARS
Yutaka Yamada – Great Pretender
- Best Director
Hiro Kaburagi – Great Pretender
Mamoru Hatakeyama – Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Masaaki Yuasa – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Sunghoo Park – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Takashi Sano – Tower of God
Yuzuru Tachikawa – DECA-DENCE
- Best Character Design
Genice Chan and Yuusuke Yoshigaki – BNA: Brand New Animal
Masashi Kudoh and Miho Tanino, Original story by SIU – Tower of God
Mayuka Itou, Original designs by Iro Aida – Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Naoyuki Asano, Original designs by Sumito Oowara – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihito Hishinuma – Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Hirotaka Katou – Great Pretender
- Best Couple
Catarina Claes & Maria Campbell – My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Chizuru Mizuhara & Kazuya Kinoshita – Rent-a-Girlfriend
Kaguya Shinomiya & Miyuki Shirogane – Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Kotoko Iwanaga & Kuro Sakuragawa – In/Spectre
Legoshi & Haru – BEASTARS
Nasa Yuzaki & Tsukasa Yuzaki – TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You
- Best VA Performance (JP)
Megumi Ogata as Hanako – Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Mutsumi Tamura as Sayaka Kanamori – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Riho Sugiyama as Minare Koda – Wave, Listen to Me!
Yuichi Nakamura as Satoru Gojou – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Yusuke Kobayashi as Natsuki Subaru – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Yusuke Onuki as Daisuke Kambe – The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED
- Best VA Performance (EN)
Aaron Phillips as Laurent Thierry – Great Pretender
Anairis Quiñones as Echidna – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Crispin Freeman as Ziusudra – Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia
Johnny Yong Bosch as Bam – Tower of God
Jonah Scott as Legoshi – BEASTARS
Zeno Robinson as Hawks – My Hero Academia Season 4
- Best Opening Sequence (OP)
BEASTARS – Wild Side (ALI)
Great Pretender – G.P. (Yutaka Yamada)
HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP – PHOENIX (BURNOUT SYNDROMES)
JUJUTSU KAISEN – KAIKAI KITAN (Eve)
Kaguya-sama: Love is War? – DADDY! DADDY! DO! feat. Airi Suzuki (Masayuki Suzuki)
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – Easy Breezy (chelmico)
- Best Ending Sequence (ED)
BNA: Brand New Animal – NIGHT RUNNING (Shin Sakura ft AAAMYYY)
Dorohedoro – D.D.D.D ((K)NoW_NAME)
Great Pretender – The Great Pretender (Freddie Mercury)
In/Spectre – LAST DANCE (Mamoru Miyano)
JUJUTSU KAISEN – LOST IN PARADISE (ALI feat. AKLO)
The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED – Welcome My Friend (OKAMOTO’S)
- Best Fantasy
Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2
DECA-DENCE
Dorohedoro
Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Tower of God
- Best Drama
BEASTARS
Fruits Basket (Season 2)
Great Pretender
Japan Sinks: 2020
SING “YESTERDAY” FOR ME
Somali and the Forest Spirit
- Best Comedy
Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Kakushigoto
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle
The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants
These are not going to be easy to choose from, are they? I don’t appreciate having to choose from those EP picks at ALL. Good thing there’s a week to be absolutely indecisive until finally making a decision in the final hour.
The Anime Awards will be live streaming on Friday, February 19, 2021, so be sure to fix your hair and dance your way over to your preferred method of Crunchyroll viewing at 5:00 PM PST!
(Image: Crunchyroll)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
