The tenth annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards has unveiled its full nominee slate, with fan voting open daily through April 15 and the ceremony set for May 23 in Tokyo.
The 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards have officially unveiled their full nominee slate, marking the tenth edition of the industry's largest global fan-voted celebration of Japanese animation. Voting opened on April 2 and runs daily through April 15, with the ceremony scheduled for May 23 at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo.
This year's nominations span nearly 50 unique series and films, all selected through an initial fan nomination phase, making it the broadest slate in the awards' history.
Six series are competing for the top honor of Best Anime of the Year:
The Apothecary Diaries (Season 2)
DAN DA DAN (Season 2)
Gachiakuta
My Hero Academia (Final Season)
The Summer Hikaru Died
Takopi's Original Sin
The slate represents a striking mix of action-driven shonen hits and more unconventional picks. Gachiakuta and The Summer Hikaru Died both mark breakthrough moments for their respective franchises, entering the conversation alongside long-established heavyweights. My Hero Academia's Final Season carries the emotional weight of a decade-long saga reaching its conclusion, while Takopi's Original Sin made waves as a compact, emotionally devastating adaptation.
The Apothecary Diaries, with its meticulous historical setting and sharp protagonist, built one of the most consistent fanbases over its two seasons. DAN DA DAN's kinetic animation and genre-blending storytelling earned it a passionate global following that could translate into strong voting numbers.
This is the first year that fans can vote through MyAnimeList in addition to the Crunchyroll platform itself. The expansion significantly broadens the voting pool, opening participation to one of the largest anime community databases in the world. Voters can cast one ballot per day across all categories through either platform using their existing credentials.
The decision to add MAL as a voting channel reflects the awards' ambition to be genuinely representative of the global anime community rather than limited to a single platform's subscriber base.
The Tokyo ceremony will feature presenters including Asuka Saito, Danna, and RZA. The event marks a return to Japan, reinforcing the awards' connection to the industry's home country. Categories cover animation, direction, voice acting, music, character design, and more.
Voting is free and available globally at the Anime Awards official site, on Crunchyroll, and on MyAnimeList. Fans can vote once per day through April 15, and winners will be announced live at the ceremony on May 23. With the expanded voting window and new platform access, this year's results could potentially look very different from previous editions.
For Indian anime fans, several of the nominated titles are available on Crunchyroll India and Netflix India. The Apothecary Diaries and DAN DA DAN are both streamable on Crunchyroll, while My Hero Academia's Final Season is available on multiple platforms in the region. Whether the expanded MAL voting channel shifts results toward traditionally underrepresented communities remains to be seen, but the tenth edition of the awards is shaping up to be its most participatory yet.
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