Entertainment

Anime Awards 2026: Voting opens to Filipinos

April 9, 2026 | 3:20pm

Anime Awards 2026: Voting opens to Filipinos

Composite photo of anime shows "Dandadan" and "My Hero Academia."

Crunchyroll

MANILA, Philippines — "Dandadan" leads all nominees for the second year in a row at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, which marks its 10th edition this 2026.

Organized by streaming platform Crunchyroll, the Anime Awards is considered the largest ceremony recognizing anime shows, movies, characters, and artists.

Voice actress Sally Amaki and entertainer Jon Kabira are set to host the awards for a fourth consecutive year.

This year's edition makes it special through the voting process. Winners in the 32 categories will be determined by the most amount of judge and public votes (70:30 ratio where the former's votes have more weight).

Until April 15, fans around the world — including the Philippines — can cast votes daily via the official Anime Awards website, Crunchyroll, and for the first time, MyAnimeList.

The ceremony also announced its first wave of presenters, which include rapper RZA, "Black Panther" actor Winston Duke, Indian star Rashmika Mandanna, Mexican artist Danna, and Nogizaka46 members Asuka Saito and Nanase Nishino.

The milestone 10th year edition of the Anime Awards will present a suite of musical tributes to anime with performances that include a "Neon Genesis Evangelion" 30th anniversary tribute by Yoko Takahashi and melodic movements by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

There will also be tributes for "Naruto," "My Hero Academia," and "Yuri!! On ICE," the latter the very first Anime of the Year award recipient.

Last year, "Solo Leveling" won the most awards with nine, including Anime of the Year, the first time that a manhwa — which hails from Korea — earned the top prize.

2026 Nominees

The second season of "Dandadan" scored 20 nods this year, shy of two of its nominations from last year. It only won three.

The other animes that scored a whopping number of nominations were the second season of "The Apothecary Diaries" (17), "Gachiakuta" (16), and the final season of "My Hero Academia" (15).

All four are competing for Anime of the Year alongside "The Summer Hikaru Died" and "Takopi's Original Sin," which earned eight and seven nominations, respectively.

Among films, "Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc" scored the most nominations with 13, followed by "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle" with eight. Both are up for Film of the Year.

Other nominees in the category are "100 Meters," "Mononoke the Movie: The Ashes of Rage," "Scarlet," and "The Rose of Versailles," all of which are only represented in this category.

"Solo Leveling" and "Spy x Family" maintain their presence with 10 and nine nominations each, while the long-running anime "One Piece" received six nods.

The Anime Awards Pre-Show and Live Ceremony will take place on May 23 in Tokyo's Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa beginning 5 p.m. (an hour earlier in the Philippines where it will be streamed live).