2020 was a strange year for anime. Certain shows were delayed and appeared months after they were supposed to do, and others pushed until 2021. But even with all the complications, the past year has still had many notable anime series. To celebrate the best in 2020 on offer, Crunchyroll is once again hosting its annual Anime Awards.
The anime streaming service, recently acquired by Sony, announced its nominees on Friday and features many of the year’s most popular shows, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Keep your hands off Eizouken!, Dorohedoro, and even Animal Star. This year’s prize winners will be chosen in part by votes from fans. Fans can vote on the anime awards website every day. Voting opens on Friday, January 15, and closes a week later on January 22.
The awards themselves will be held on February 19, when all the winners will be announced. For a full look at the nominees for 2020, check out Crunchyroll’s official Anime Awards website.
Anime of the year
- APPARE-RANMAN!
- BEASTARS
- Dorohedoro
- Great pretender
- JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Keep your hands out of Eizouken!
Dear girl
- Abigail Jones – Great pretender
- Catarina Claes – My next life as a villain: all routes lead to doom!
- Chizuru Mizuhara – Hire a girlfriend
- Kaguya Shinomiya – Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
- Noi – Dorohedoro
- Sayaka Kanamori – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
Dear boy
- Anos Voldigoad – The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants
- Cayman – Dorohedoro
- Khun Aguero Agnes – Tower of God
- Legoshi – BEASTARS
- Satoru Gojou – 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 villain: all routes lead to doom!
- Midori Asakusa – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- Natsume – DECA-DENCE
- Shoyo Hinata – HAIKYU !! TO THE TOP
- Yuuji Itadori – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best antagonist
- Akito Soma – Fruit Basket (Season 2)
- Echidna – Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
- En – Dorohedoro
- Refurbishment – My Hero Academia Season 4
- Rachel – Tower of God
- Ryoumen Sukuna – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best animation
- BEASTARS
- Great pretender
- JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Keep your hands out of Eizouken!
- Princess Connect! Re: Dive
- The God of High School
Best battle scene
- Bercouli vs Dark God Vecta – Sword Art Online Alicization: War of the Underworld Deel 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 Gojou vs Ryoumen Sukuna – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best score
- Alisa Okehazama – The God of High School
- Kensuke Ushio – Japan Washbasins: 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 Out of Eizouken!
- Sunghoo Park – JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Takashi Sano – Tower of God
- Yuzuru Tachikawa – DECA-DENCE
Best character design
- Genie 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
Dear couple
- Catarina Claes and Maria Campbell – My next life as a villain: 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 / Specter
- Legoshi & Haru – BEASTARS
- Nasa Yuzaki & Tsukasa Yuzaki – TONIKAWA: Across 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
- 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: Babylon
- Johnny Yong Bosch as Bam – Tower of God
- Jonah Scott as Legoshi – BEASTARS
- Zeno Robinson as Falcons – My Hero Academia Season 4
Best Opening Sequence (OP)
- BEASTARS – Wild Side (ALI)
- Great pretender – GP (Yutaka Yamada)
- HAIKYU !! TO THE TOP – PHOENIX (BURNOUT SYNDROMES)
- JUJUTSU KAISEN – KAIKAI KITAN (Eve)
- Kaguya-sama: Love is war? – DAD! DAD! DO! performance Airi Suzuki (Masayuki Suzuki)
- Keep your hands out of Eizouken! – Easy windy (chelmico)
Best Termination Sequence (ED)
- BNA: Brand New Animal – NIGHT RUNNING (Shin Sakura ft AAAMYYY)
- Dorohedoro – DDDD ((K) NoW_NAME)
- Great Pretender – The Great Pretender (Freddie Mercury)
- In / Specter – LAST DANCE (Mamoru Miyano)
- JUJUTSU KAISEN – VERLORE IN PARADYS (ALI feat. AKLO)
- The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED – Welcome My Friend (OKAMOTO’S)
Best fantasy
- Rise 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
- Fruit Basket (Season 2)
- Great pretender
- Japan sinks: 2020
- SING “YESTERDAY” FOR ME
- Somalis and the Forest Spirit
Best Comedy
- Kaguya-sama: Love is war?
- Kakushigoto
- Keep your hands out of Eizouken!
- My next life as a villain: all routes lead to doom!
- Sleepy princess in the devil’s castle
- The Misfit of Demon King Academy: The strongest demon king in history reincarnates and goes to school with his descendants