Crunchyroll Is Finally Fixing Its Biggest Anime Awards Controversy
By Published Apr 4, 2026, 10:31 AM EDT Joshua Edward Ryan Fox is a freelance writer for Screen Rant with a passion for pop culture. Joshua grew up in Connecticut where he developed an appreciation for writing and entertainment and has earned a Master's degree in professional writing and technical writing. His writing has been quoted by both the anime streaming site Crunchyroll and the anime YouTuber Gigguk. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
The Anime Awards have quickly become one of the biggest awards shows for anime, but at the same time, it’s also become highly divisive among fans and critics, as well. While it’s notable for being one of the only award shows highlighting exclusively anime outside of Asia, they’ve often been criticized for giving special treatment to whatever’s popular in the moment, as opposed to what’s actually the best anime, resulting in nominations and wins that people often accuse of being biased toward a particular trend.
The 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards were especially rife with criticism, as between what shows received nominations and how the awards were ultimately doled out, it was the most contentious ceremony in the history of the event. Fortunately, if the is anything to go by, then that controversy won’t happen again this year, and overall, that’s great to see.
Solo Leveling Is Getting Snubbed At The Anime Awards, And That's Great
The main reason why the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards were so controversial was because of . By 2026, Solo Leveling had become incredibly controversial for its shallow narrative and character writing, especially when it came to its protagonist, yet it still won nine awards, including Anime of the Year. That was despite more universally beloved anime like The Apothecary Diaries and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End also being nominated, and even worse was how people were technically voting for season 1, yet season 2 airing around that time skewed the votes by way of recency bias.
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Solo Leveling dominating the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards was, to many, the ultimate proof of them being rigged or at least poorly managed, but surprisingly, that won’t be a problem this year. Despite Solo Leveling’s dominance last year, season 2 was nominated for far fewer categories in the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, including being snubbed for Anime of the Year. This means that it will be impossible for Solo Leveling to sweep the awards two years in a row, and more importantly, it can’t win Anime of the Year over something more deserving like Gachiakuta or Takopi’s Original Sin.
The idea of Solo Leveling having another sweep would have been especially egregious when there isn’t even an ongoing conversation about it; as previously discussed, Solo Leveling swept the competition thanks in large part to season 2 airing around the time of the ceremony, but with not coming anytime soon, if at all, it’s hardly as relevant as it once was. If Solo Leveling still had big wins despite all of that, then it would be the ultimate proof of the awards being terrible, so it’s great to see Crunchyroll avoiding that conversation from the get-go.
What Will Be The Big Winner At The Next Anime Awards?
Solo Leveling, to the relief of many, won’t dominate the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, but that begs the question of what will. Gachiakuta and Takopi’s Original Sin were two of the biggest hits of the year, so they’re both top contenders. At the same time, proved to be just as big a hit as season 1 and received more nominations than any other anime, so if anything will be the big winner of the night, it will probably be Dandadan.
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There’s no telling how the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards will play out, but with Solo Leveling’s lack of nominations for Anime of the Year and other categories, it’s set to be far more balanced than last year and years before. With that in mind, this could end up being the best Crunchyroll Anime Awards since their conception, and hopefully, it will live up to that idea come May 23.
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Taito Ban Sung Jin-woo - Genta Nakamura Yoo Jin-ho
Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin-woo, the world's weakest hunter, who gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program after surviving a brutal monster attack. As he navigates his newfound abilities, Jinwoo embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets of his powers and the dungeon that altered his fate.
Creator(s) Chugong Main Genre Executive Producer(s) Asa Suehira, Kwak Hae-eun, Masanori Miyake Producers Kanako Takahashi, Kang Kyewon, Kim Ayoung, Park Jin-hae, Sota Furuhashi Number of Episodes 25 Creator Chugong Streaming Service(s) Studio A-1 Pictures Based On Manhwa MyAnimeList Score 8.28 (Season 1); 8.86 (Season 2) Where To Watch Expand Collapse
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