All You Need to Know About the 2021 Anime Awards

Great news, anime fans! Crunchyroll, one of the biggest and most popular anime brands today, is pushing through with the 2021 Anime Awards. Better known as the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, it is an annual event that celebrates the best and brightest in the industry. It has several judges from various backgrounds who pick six nominees for each category. One of the great things about the Anime Awards is that the nominees win by online voting. Now entering its fifth year, Crunchyroll promises to give fans one awesome event. Here is all you need to know about the 2021 Anime Awards.

It’s Happening Next Month

Get yourselves ready because the 2021 Anime Awards is happening much sooner than you think. Crunchyroll announced that the awards are taking place this February 19 at 5:00 pm PST with an online streaming platform (due to the pandemic). Fret not because in spite of its virtual transition, the event still promises to be fun and exciting.

When Voting Starts

Since the winners will be announced next month, online voting starts this month from January 15 to January 22. The public is allowed to vote daily within that period. Stay tuned for more updates on their website, so you can get started on voting your favorites. If you really want your favorites to win, get your friends to vote as well!

Selection of Judges

As mentioned above, Crunchyroll gathers a good number of esteemed judges from different backgrounds from all over the world. The judges’ role for this event means so much more than just selecting the nominees and winners. For instance, these judges help curate the list of nominees, ensuring that only the best and deserving are on them.

For this year’s event, the organizers even added more judges as the event becomes more international. With over 50 hand-selected judges this year, Crunchyroll’s community team ensures that various countries and cultures from around the globe are well represented.

Kaho Shibuya

Meet one of this year’s judges Japanese cosplayer DJ Kaho Shibuya! Crunchyroll had the honor of conducting a brief interview with her at a quaint café in Harajuku. Kaho is widely known on the web for her awesome cosplay outfits and streams on Twitch. In the interview, she talks about growing up with anime and how the Japan lockdown changed her life. Moreover, she discusses her thoughts on the future of anime during this pandemic. Check out the video of her interview in the clip above. You may also find out more about her through her website, Twitter account, and Instagram account.

Categories This Year

After careful consideration, this year’s categories we patterned to last year’s categories. This collection of categories are the result of online voting behavior, audience feedback, social media engagement, and insights from industry leaders. These highlight the many aspects of the anime industry. The 18 categories honored this year are:

• Anime of the Year
• Best Protagonist
• Best Antagonist
• Best Girl
• Best Boy
• Best Director
• Best Animation
• Best Character Design
• Best Score
• Best Fight Scene
• Best Couple
• Best VA Performance (JP)
• Best VA Performance (EN)
• Best Opening Sequence
• Best Ending Sequence
• Best Fantasy
• Best Drama
• Best Comedy

The List of Nominees

The list of nominees for this year’s awards is still scheduled to come out as the voting period draws near. For now, you can check out the past winners from 2017 to 2020 on their website. Don’t be disappointed just yet, since voting will start in a few days.

It is Sponsored By Princess Connect! Re: Dive

This year’s Anime Awards is sponsored by Princess Connect! Re: Dive, a Japanese role-playing video game licensed by Crunchyroll. The video game had an anime television series adaptation that aired from April to June of last year. This sponsorship follows the release of the first season and announcement of the second season. This means that Crunchyroll plans to bring the franchise to a wider audience outside of Japan as well. Fans of the anime can now play the game that inspired the series. In addition, players who pre-register can get jewels which they can use as a resource for the game. It caps at 1,500 jewels if they reach over 200,000 pre-registrations.

Sony Acquisition

Reports say that tech giant Sony acquired Crunchyroll for a whopping $1.175 Billion. According to Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquuerra, Funimation and its partners at Aniplex and Sony Entertainment Japan have a deep understanding of this global artform. They are at an advantage to deliver outstanding content to audiences around the world.

“We are excited to embark on this new journey. Crunchyroll has built a world-class brand with a passionate fan-base of over 3M subscribers, 50M social followers and 90M registered users. These amazing fans have helped to propel anime into a global phenomenon,” said Joanne Waage, general manager of Crunchyroll.

The recent Sony acquisition of the anime giant under AT&T last December 2020 means big and brighter things for this year’s Anime Awards!

Check this out for some more places to stream anime legally!

Here is another annual event for anime fans all over to enjoy!