On Friday, February 19th, Crunchyroll hosted their annual Anime Awards and there were some big winners throughout the night and plenty of salt being thrown around as they announced each result. In the end, though, it all came down to who had the most passionate fan base who were willing to vote for their choices as many times as needed to secure them the victory.
Perhaps one of the biggest shocks of the night came when the shonen anime Jujutsu Kaisen took home the award for Anime of the Year, beating out other popular series that included Beastars, Appare-Ranman, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!.
Another notable upset came early in the night when Tsukasa and Nasa (Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You) were awarded “Best Couple”, beating out the seemingly unstoppable forces of Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane (Kaguya-sama: Love is War?) or even Catarina Claes and Maria Campbell (My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!), the latter of which dominated shipping fan charts when it was airing in 2020.
The full list of winners was as follows:
Anime of the Year:
JUJUTSU KAISEN
Studio: MAPPA
Best Protagonist
Catarina Claes
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Best Antagonist
Ryomen Sukuna
JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best Boy
Shoyo Hinata
HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP
Best Girl
Kaguya Shinomiya
Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Best Opening Sequence
Wild Side
BEASTARS
Best Ending Sequence
LOST IN PARADISE
JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best VA Performance (JP)
Yusuke Kobayashi as Natsuki Subaru
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Best VA Performance (EN)
Zeno Robinson as Hawks
My Hero Academia Season 4
Best Director
Masaaki Yuasa
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Best Animation
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Studio: Science SARU
Best Character Design
Mayuka Ito
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Best Fight Scene
Deku vs. Overhaul
My Hero Academia Season 4
Best Drama
Fruits Basket (Season 2)
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Best Comedy
Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Best Fantasy
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Studio: WHITE FOX
Best Score
Kevin Penkin
Tower of God
Best Couple
Nasa Yuzaki & Tsukasa Yuzaki
TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You