Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards Are at It Again

6 min readMar 6, 2024

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

Wow, it’s that time again already? Alright, fine.

It feels like award shows for almost every medium are becoming less and less popular, and yet their cultural significance keeps people coming back if for nothing else than to see their favorite pieces of media win. As an example, many across social media were quick to point out how much rapper Killer Mike’s 2023 album “Micheal” deserved its win of Best Rap Album at the Grammy’s, despite not being a particularly big commercial hit.

The same phenomenon seems to be holding true for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Despite going through a significant number of changes since its relatively short inception back in 2017, the awards themselves have become a staple of the anime-watching community. Granted, a good portion of this usually involves mocking the awards when a show wins an award it shouldn’t have or vice versa, but again, that’s true of most award shows.

2024’s winners were decided over the weekend, and there is a good amount here worth talking about.

Megan Thee Stallion

Though I didn’t manage to catch the ceremony, it was nice to see that the awards have grown to the point that mainstream figures are being invited to participate. Houston rapper and certified bad bitch Megan Thee Stallion served as the presenter for the evening, rocking a killer Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure cosplay. It wasn’t a fashion show in any way, but clearly, that did not matter because she won anyway.

To make an actual point, though, the awards have come a long way in just seven years. At its first incarnation, the most popular figures were Ani-tubers, and now anime has enough cultural weight to be a huge event, even if a big portion of the community still, somewhat rightfully, considers them to be a joke.

Jujutsu Kaisen Sweeps

JJK’s popularity has been steadily rising since the release of its first season back in…2019? Wow, ok. It was a fun experience, for sure, but the second season definitely took things to a whole new level. Both Hidden Inventory and Shibuya, the two arcs covered in the second season, were incredibly well-adapted and had some amazing animation and fight choreography to boot. Thus, it makes sense that the series won a good portion of the available awards.

Ok, a good portion is still maybe underselling it. Of the 29 available awards for this year, Jujutsu Kaisen won 11 of them, almost 40 percent of the total awards. However, the way it got there is a little suspicious due to Hidden Inventory and the Shibuya Arc getting treated as two separate seasons. It’s possible that there was a significant staff difference between the two, but otherwise, it comes off as a bit strange, if nothing else. Regardless, it is largely deserved.

Oh Yeah, Buddy Daddies

Most people’s first impressions of Buddy Daddies, much like my own, seemed to be some sort of Spy x Family rip-off, not exactly helped by its anime original status. However, that is the sole award it won this year, and honestly, it also feels deserved. My surprise that it is here has less to do with actually winning, especially given that competition in its category was lacking, and more to do with my increasingly fragile relationship with linear time.

The series more often than not went out of its way to produce characters that were not only believable but also had great interpersonal dynamics. My only major complaint with the series was its strange choice of ending and lack of episode count. It easily could have been spread out over more arcs and been equally as compelling.

Attack on Titan is on the Board

Though I don’t have much to say that won’t be featured in an upcoming retrospective on the series, it is nice to see it notch a few recognitions, especially given it is probably the last year it will be able to do so. That is, save for any possible sequel, prequel or potential spinoff.

The final chapters are definitely a series’ high point, taking everything it had been building up and putting it in a giant three-hour climax across two parts. Though there is a lot worth talking about, I feel confident in saying it deserves to be up there.

Some Important Snubs

While there were several series that missed the cut on winning any awards, two in particular stood out for me.

The first and probably more important of the pair is Heavenly Delusion, a story about a world affected by devastation and horrific monsters. A boy named Maru and a girl named Kiriko find themselves in search of heaven. All the while, a prophecy has been foretold at a mysterious facility far away. Between the chemistry of its main characters, the desolate yet somehow beautiful backgrounds, and the increasingly emotionally complex and horrifying story, it is surprising to see the series walk away without a win.

The other is Skip and Loafer, a much simpler though somehow just as charming slice-of-life romance about a girl moving from the countryside to go to school in the big city. The girl, Mitsumi, is helped on her first day by Shima, a boy who is going to her new school but secretly has a child acting career and complicated family life he would rather keep hidden. Again, it isn’t all that complicated, but what it lacks in plot it makes up for in great character dynamics.

Though both series were nominated for a fair amount, it does hurt to see neither of them get the recognition they deserve.

How did y’all feel about the Crunchyroll Anime Awards? Did your favorite series make it? Were there other snubs I didn’t mention? Let me know in the comments.

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