The Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 took place on May 25, honoring the best anime released from October 2023 to December 2024. With a wide array of works nominated, the coveted title of “Anime of the Year” was awarded to Solo Leveling, a victory that generated significant surprise among fans.
Unlike many other prestigious awards that often highlight winning titles through internal voting, Crunchyroll’s event allows fans to cast their votes. Although this approach is fan-centric, it typically transforms these awards into a popularity contest rather than a genuine evaluation of quality, and Solo Leveling’s win clearly underscores this notion.
Despite being a recent addition to the entertainment landscape, Solo Leveling did not shy away from achieving major milestones in its first season. In fact, it was the second season that recently helped Solo Leveling reach significant achievements, indicating that many fans had already cast their votes based on the most recent episodes rather than the initial season.
Solo Leveling Wins “Anime of the Year” at the Crunchyroll Awards Part 2
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 were organized on May 25, aiming to be more grand than typical award ceremonies. Nominations for the various categories began on April 3, just a few days after the conclusion of Solo Leveling’s second season.
With many surprises in this award season, it is evident that when fans voted for categories featuring Solo Leveling, they were heavily influenced by the recent impact of its second season, despite the awards being intended to reflect the quality of the first season.
The buzz surrounding Part 2 likely propelled Solo Leveling to win in 9 out of the 13 categories it was nominated for. Without this momentum, it would have been challenging to justify the awards won in the first season, such as “Best Main Character” and “Best Voice Acting Performance” for Sung Jinwoo in three different languages.
This clearly shows that this anime has gained significant popularity worldwide, turning the awards into a highly competitive event, an event that Solo Leveling is guaranteed to win if it participates in significant categories.
If Part 2 is not broadcasted too close to the award date, it is clear that the subsequent popular series, Dandadan, has a chance to win. However, unlike Solo Leveling, Dandadan’s first season has shown exceptional performance across the board and is poised to compete for the title of “Anime of the Year.” This means it has yet to reach the level of other beloved anime from last year, including the critically acclaimed Sousou no Frieren and Netflix’s successful Delicious in Dungeon.
In a way, Solo Leveling’s win this year serves as a testament to the developments of its second part. If no third season is released by the beginning of next year, enthusiasm may wane, and the series could miss this opportunity again. However, this also clearly indicates that next year, any anime that garners the most affection in relation to the top award stands a good chance of winning, further highlighting the flaws in the Crunchyroll award process.
Source: Comicbook
