Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 was the big winner at Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards in Tokyo over the weekend, taking the top-prize anime of the year honor and triumphing in 10 additional categories, including best director, best character design, best action and best cinematography. The best film prize went to Mokoto Shinkai’s anime blockbuster Suzume, while Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc won several key categories, such as best animation and best fantasy.
The annual awards show, now in its eighth year, selects leading achievements in Japanese animation across a broad range of categories and picks the winners via a global popular vote. The show aired live on Crunchyroll, the anime specialty streamer owned by Sony Group, with a replay later released over the brand’s YouTube and Twitch channels. Japanese entertainer Jon Kabira and voice actress Sally Amaki hosted the show.
In recent editions, the event’s popularity has grown thanks to its recruitment of international celebrities who are known to be big anime fans to serve as presenters and performers. The eclectic group of personalities who took the stage in Tokyo on Saturday included multi-Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), Japanese singer-songwriter LiSA, Oscar-winning duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), filmmaker Joaquim Dos Santos (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse), NFL star DeMarcus Lawrence, actress Iman Vellani (The Marvels), former WWE champion Mercedes Varnado, Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna, recording artist Labrinth, actor-entrepreneur Liza Soberano, Japanese TV personality So Takei, actor-singer-model Chiaki Kuriyama and Japanese personality Roland.
Viewers were also treated to an array of musical performances, including the first live performance of the new, official “Anime Awards Theme Song,” created and performed by composers Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan,…
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