2020 was a strange year for anime. Certain shows were delayed and left months later than they should have been, and others were delayed until 2021. But despite all the complications, last year still had many prominent anime series. To celebrate all the best in anime that 2020 had to offer, Crunchyroll is once again hosting its annual anime awards.
The anime streaming service, which was recently acquired by Sony, announced its nominees on Friday and includes many of the most popular shows of the year, including Kaisen Jujutsu, Keep your hands off Eizouken!, Dorohedoro, and even Beaststars. This year’s award winners will be chosen in part by fan votes. Fans can vote every day on the anime awards website. Voting will begin on Friday, January 15, and will end a week later, on January 22.
The award itself will be held on February 19, when all winners will be announced. For a complete view of the nominees for 2020, you can check out the official website of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
Anime of the year
- APPARE-RANMAN!
- BEASTARS
- Dorohedoro
- Great suitor
- JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Keep your hands off Eizouken!
Best girl
- Abigail Jones – Great Pretender
- Catarina Claes – My next life as a villain: all roads lead to destruction!
- Chizuru Mizuhara – Rent-a-Girlfriend
- Kaguya Shinomiya – Kaguya-sama: Love is war?
- Noi – Dorohedoro
- Sayaka Kanamori – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
Best boy
- Voldigoad Years – The misfit of the Demon King Academy: the strongest Demon King in history reincarnates and goes to school with his descendants
- Caiman – Dorohedoro
- Khun Aguero Agnes – Tower of God
- Legoshi – BEASTARS
- Satoru Gojou – JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Shoyo Hinata – HAIKYU !! TO THE TOP
Best Protagonist
- Voldigoad Years – The misfit of the Demon King Academy: the strongest Demon King in history reincarnates and goes to school with his descendants
- Catarina Claes – My next life as a villain: all roads lead to destruction!
- 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)
- Equidna – Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (season 2)
- En – Dorohedoro
- Review – My Hero Academia Season 4
- Rachel – Tower of God
- Ryoumen Sukuna – JUJUTSU KAISEN
Best Animation
- BEASTARS
- Great suitor
- JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- Princess Connect! Re: diving
- The god of school
Best fight scene
- Bercouli vs. Dark God Vecta – Sword Art Online Alicization: War of the Underworld – Part 2
- Brawler vs. Master – Akudama Drive
- Deku vs. Review – 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 Sinks: 2020
- Kevin Penkin – Tower of God
- OORUTAICHI – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- Satoru Kousaki – BEASTARS
- Yutaka Yamada – Great Pretender
Best director
- Hiro Kaburagi – Great Farsante
- Mamoru Hatakeyama – Kaguya-sama: Is love war?
- Masaaki Yuasa – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- Sunghoo Park – JUJUTSU KAISEN
- Takashi Sano – Tower of God
- Yuzuru Tachikawa – DECA-DENCE
Best Character Design
- Genice Chan and Yuusuke Yoshigaki – BNA: New Animal
- Masashi Kudoh and Miho Tanino, original story of SIU – Tower of God
- Mayuka Itou, original designs by Iro Aida – Hanako-kun connected to the bathroom
- Naoyuki Asano, original designs by Sumito Oowara – Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihito Hishinuma – Yashahime: Half-Demon Princess
- Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Hirotaka Katou – Great Pretender
Best couple
- Catarina Claes & Maria Campbell – My next life as a villain: all routes lead to destruction!
- Chizuru Mizuhara and Kazuya Kinoshita – Rent-a-Girlfriend
- Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane – Kaguya-sama: Love is war?
- Kotoko Iwanaga and Kuro Sakuragawa – In / Specter
- Legoshi and Haru – BEASTARS
- Nasa Yuzaki and Tsukasa Yuzaki – TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You
Better VA (JP) performance
- Megumi Ogata as Hanako – Hanako-kun in the bathroom
- 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 (EN)
- Aaron Phillips as Laurent Thierry – Great Pretender
- Anairis Quiñones as Echidna – Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (season 2)
- Crispin Freeman as Ziusudra – Absolute Demonic Front of Destiny / Grand Order: Babylon
- Johnny Yong Bosch as Bam – Tower of God
- Jonah Scott as Legoshi – BEASTARS
- Zeno Robinson as Hawks – 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 (Eva)
- Kaguya-sama: Love is war? – DADDY! DADDY! DOES! Partnership. Airi Suzuki (Masayuki Suzuki)
- Keep your hands off Eizouken! – Easy Breezy (chelmico)
Best Final Sequence (ED)
- BNA: 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 – LOST IN PARADISE (ALI feat. AKLO)
- The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED – Welcome, my friend (OKAMOTO’S)
Best costume
- Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2
- DECADENCE
- Dorohedoro
- Dragon Quest, Dai’s adventure
- Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
- Tower of god
Best Drama
- BEASTARS
- Fruit basket (2nd season)
- Great suitor
- Japan Sinks: 2020
- SING “YESTERDAY” TO ME
- Somali and the spirit of the forest
Best comedy
- Kaguya-sama: Love is war?
- Kakushigoto
- Keep your hands off Eizouken!
- My next life as a villain: all roads lead to destruction!
- Sleepy princess in the demon castle
- The misfit of the Demon King Academy: the strongest Demon King in history reincarnates and goes to school with his descendants