My Hero Academia makes history: Wins Anime of the Year at the Crunchyroll Awards 2026

The Tenth Crunchyroll Anime Awards Have Settled the Score

The awards season is officially over — and the forums are
burning hotter than ever. The tenth edition of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2026 celebrated a full decade of honoring the very best of Japanese animation worldwide.

After weeks of fierce fan voting,
My Hero Academia’s final season
rose above every industry giant to claim the coveted
Anime of the Year trophy — giving the franchise
the perfect closure it so richly deserved.

A Night Full of Surprises and Tributes

Broadcast globally and hosted by Sally Amaki and
Jon Kabira, the ceremony dazzled with musical performances from legends like Asian Kung-Fu Generation and
Yoko Takahashi.

But the most emotional moment came when the organization
presented special-edition trophies for the tenth anniversary — and awarded the Global Impact Award to the late director Tatsuya Nagamine, honoringh his invaluable, permanent mark on the medium.

The Big Screen Belongs to Established Powerhouses

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba proved its immense popularity once more. Its film Infinity Castle
was crowned Best Film of the Year — leaving competitors like Chainsaw Man and Mononoke
in its wake.

Meanwhile, the invincible giant of
One Piece maintained its unchanged reign, taking
Best Ongoing Series. A cultural institution
that simply refuses to yield.

The Public’s Favorites Sweep the Categories

• Gachiakuta proved it is
  here to stay — winning Best New Series
  and dominating character design and
  background design. Not just a promising debut:
  core craft competency, immediately.
• The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 swept
  the technical and narrative categories — earning
  Best Drama, Best Direction,
  and crowning Maomao and Jinshi in the
  lead character awards.
• Solo Leveling‘s sequel locked down
  Best Animation and
  Best Action Sequence — a pure,
  visual adrenaline shot.
• DaDaDan‘s hilarious sequel rightfully took
  Best Comedy and Best Opening.

Seeing My Hero Academia conclude at the
absolute top of the industry is a powerful reminder of the
enormous impact this hero story held across an
entire decade.

Reading the Strategic Map Behind the Winners

What we have here isn’t just a list of trophies.
It is a strategic map of where the industry’s
attention — and its heart — currently lies.

Why My Hero Academia’s Win Was a Masterstroke

Awarding the final season the ultimate crown was a
masterstroke of narrative timing. It validates the
entire journey and rewards patient viewers with
the sense of a story well-told — the final,
satisfying note in a symphony.

The Enduring Titans versus the New Wave

Look at the split. On one side: One Piece,
still ruling the ongoing category with the inevitability of a
cultural institution.

On the other: the new wave securing its foothold.
Gachiakuta didn’t just win best new series —
it took design awards. That’s a statement. It’s not
just promising; it already demonstrates mastery.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Solo Leveling and
The Apothecary Diaries operated like
mirror opposites.

• One dominated the technical, kinetic realm
  — animation, action — a pure visual adrenaline shot.
• The other seized the narrative and directorial high
  ground — intricate plotting and
  character depth.

They aren’t competing. They’re
dividing the spoils of excellence between them.

The Global Signal and Historical Weight

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle taking the film
award is a clear indicator: the biggest screens and the
most concentrated hype still go to
established franchises capable of delivering
cinematic spectacle.
The heavyweight division.

Presenting a posthumous
Global Impact Award to Tatsuya Nagamine
wasn’t just a tribute. It was the community
formally defining its canon — acknowledging the
architects who built its foundations.

The Verdict on the Landscape

The landscape is healthy. Mature enough to
honor its legacy — One Piece, a closing
MHA chapter — while
aggressively platforming innovation: Gachiakuta,
DaDaDan’s comedy. It values both the visceral punch
of action and the quiet pull of a well-drawn
character study.

Questions Worth Pondering

• Does crowning a final season signal a
  growing community preference for conclusive
  storytelling over indefinitely running series — even
  if those series remain immensely popular?
• With technical awards and narrative awards
  often going to different shows, are the audience’s tastes
  splitting into two distinct camps —
  spectacle viewers and story viewers?
  Or is that a false division?

The forum debates will rage on. But one thing is certain:
this tenth edition didn’t just celebrate anime —
it mapped its future.