Crunchy Roll Awards 2020

 

Well another year of anime, another anime awards by Crunchy Roll. While I am happy to see more diverse series winning different awards, you can't just help but feel some shows didn't quite make the cut or win the award you were hoping it would win but such is how awards work, it's all an opinion and everyone is free to have different thoughts and opinions. I'll be doing a quick run-down on the awards and my thoughts of what my favorites were for the categories Crunchy Roll did. 

First thing I'm gonna mention is that these are all just my thoughts and everyone is entitled to having their own opinion. But going into any kind of awards ceremony it'll generally be a popularity contest. I have no problem with what's popular and theirs generally a good reason why it was popular in the first place, but what it comes down to is, "is that reason strong enough to be number one?" (For example back in 2017 Yuri on Ice swept practically every category it was in, theirs a good reason why it was in its nominees but did it really deserve to win everything it was categorized in? That's a whole different story though.) Alright so let's jump in.

Winners of the awards

Starting off with "Best Animation" the winner being Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! I can agree with the winner and have no problem with that result. It was a very good show and very well liked by the community. Also to be fair, it's a show about creating animation that gives it a pretty good reason to be nominated. Other shows in the running include Princess Connect Re:Dive (I voted for that one), Great Pretender, The God of High School, Appare-Ranman!, and Beastars. Most of them I can agree with being in there but I feel there were better shows that are better animated than them, some shows I woulda tossed in there would be Magia Record and Somali and the Forest Spirit.

Next up "Best Fantasy."  Re:Zero Season 2 is the wins that and I am not surprised by that at all. I agree with the result. Re:Zero is a very popular fantasy anime and season 1 did a great job and season 2 picks up where it left off and does an excellent job at it. This is one of those examples of this was the popular pick but did it deserve to win because of how it got popular? Yes. Season 1 of Re:Zero aired back in 2016, and fans were given a 4 year gap until season 2. Season 2 reminded me why I enjoyed the series in the first place and only expands my love for the series. Other nominees were, Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, Deca-dence- Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 2, Dorohedoro, and Tower of God. I had a problem with some of the nominees in this category, one of them being Tower of God. From what I'm told it's a really good manhwa, but according to my friends who have read it, the anime doesn't do it justice. The most common response I get is, "it was alright." I feel Somali is a better candidate for the category, as well as "Travelling Witch Elaina."(Which I was very surprised wasn't nominated for anything at all)

Fruit Basket is the winner for "Best Drama." Another popular pick in the anime community and another one I'm surprised to see win. The manga series was very popular back in 2006 and the new adaptation follows more with the manga and the fans love it. From the few shows I've watched I had a good time with it and I can see why it's so well loved. Nominees for drama include Great Pretender, Japan Sinks: 2020, Sing Yesterday for me, Beatstars, and Somali and the Forest Spirit. This was another category where I thought their were better shows than what was nominated. Japan Sinks from what I hear from a majority of people are either "it wasn't good" or "it's not bad" rarely have I heard someone give it such high praise. I really wish "The Day I Became A God" was nominated in this category, also very shocked that My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax was not nominated either, seeing how that was also a very good title in the anime community.

Next up on the list..."Best Comedy." With Kaguya-Sama Love is War season 2 taking best comedy I am not surprised by the result. It's a good show with dozens of good gags. The character chemistry really works in this show and we're introduced to new characters as well that can synergize well with the already existing cast. The premise is already a good recipe for disaster (in a good way.) I can accept the result. Nominees include, Keep Your Hands of Eizouken, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Kakushigoto, and The Misfit of a Demon King. I have a problem with Kakushigoto being nominated, because I found the jokes in that show more cringe than funny. I was more invested in the drama going on in the show rather than the gags themselves. I would've liked to see Bofuri, or Science Fell in Love So I Tried to Prove It nominated. (Also low-key would've been happy if I saw Dropout Idol Fruit Tart but that was highly unlikely)

The category that sparks wars over the anime community...."Best Girl." Kaguya Shinomiya from Kaguya-sama Love is War wins out that award and I do not agree with the result at all...In my opinion she's not even best girl in her own show. I'd give it to either Hayasaka or Chika. Kaguya is definitely a good girl though and I don't dislike her at all. I just feel like the other 2 characters I mentioned shine a but more than she does, but that's just my opinion. Other nominees include, Sayaka Kanamori from Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, Chizuru Mizuhara from Rent-A-Girlfriend, Noi from Dorohedoro, Catarina Claes from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (my vote), and Abigail Jones from Great Pretender. Now Best Girl is a HIGHLY subjective category that always sparks wars in the community. Feel free to trash my tastes but most of the nominees I don't really care for, but how is Emilia from Re:Zero not on that list. Elaina also from Travelling Witch Elaina didn't get any recognition. Tsukasa from Fly me to the Moon not in the category either? Bruh this category is all over the place.

Another category that blows sparks in the community....the "Best Boy" Shoyo Hinata from Haikyu wins the award from 2020, and I was not surprised. I do not agree with the result and feel like that this one came down to popularity contest. I was equally displeased with what was nominated in the category. Caiman from Dorohedoro, Gojo Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen, Khun Aguero Agnes from Tower of God, Legoshi from Beastars, and Anos Voldigoad from The Mistfit of the Demon King Academy. Soma from Food Wars is a real strong contender that should've been in there, or Subaru from Re:Zero, Hikigaya from Snafu also, heck I would of been fine with Ishigami also from Kaguya Love is War, but again these categories are highly subjective.

"Best Protagonist" really surprised me this year on it's winner. Catarina Claes aka Bakarina, from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! I voted for Bakarina not expecting her to win but also all the nominees in the category weren't strong picks in my opinion. To be honest I don't even think Bakarina is the best protagonist myself but she was my favorite out of all of the choices. Natsume from Deca-dence, Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen, Anos Voldigoad from The Misfit of the Demon King Academy, and Shoyo Hinata from Haikyu. The same "best boys" I mentioned before fit in the best protagonist seat, as does Elaina from Traveling Witch Elaina. Congrats Bakarina she probably wouldn't even realize she won best protag.

"Best Antagonist" this year goes to Ryomen Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen. This category is probably my least knowledgeable one, with a majority of the anime's I've watched not having a real threatening or memorable antagonist. I don't have much to say on this one but I can accept the winner of this one. Other contenders are En from Dorohedoro, Rachel from Tower of God, Akito Soma from Fruits Basket, Echidna from Re:Zero, and Overhaul from My Hero Academia. I don't feel like Echidna is a strong candidate even though I like her as a character. And even though the last season of Food Wars wasn't there best one, Asahi and the whole group of Noir was a pretty interesting group and would've liked to see him nominated even though he probably wouldn't win.

Everyone loves a good fight, the fans have voted for "Best Fight Scene" this year and the winner went to Deku Vs. Overhaul of My Hero Academia. Another category I don't have to much to draw from, but one where I can also say I'm not surprised. My Hero Academia is one of most well known anime this generation so it makes sense it would win the popular pick here. I have nothing against the series and I did watch up to the 30s episode years ago. It was a good time and I can see the appeal behind it, but whether it deserved best fight is not for me to say. Other nominees were Gojo vs Ryomen from Jujutsu Kaisen, Jin vs Jegai, The God of High School, Bercouli vs Emperor Vector, Sword Art Online Alicization, Jin vs Han The God of High School, and Brawler vs Master from Akudama Drive. I will say this though about the nomination, I feel like it's cheating 2 fights from the same show, it should've been limited to just 1 entry per series.

"Best Score" of the awards went to Kevin Penkin who did Tower of God. This is starting to get into the harder categories for me to get into greater detail in. Even though I do have a background in music, not too many scores really stuck out to me this year. So with this category I'll just go with the flow and call it a day. I don't know the score from Tower of God well enough to make judgment. Nominees include, Great Pretender, Beastars, Keep Your Hands of Eizouken, The God of High School, and Japan Sinks. All of these nominees I have heard in the communities I'm in is that the music is good, and that's all I can really go on. I don't know how my nominees would stack up against them, but I did enjoy Traveling Witch Elaina a lot, so maybe that could've gotten tossed in?

"Best Director" of the Crunchy Roll Awards went to Masaaki Yuasa for Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. I'm not too familiar with director's enough to be able to make a fair judgment here either, but from what I've heard and what I've seen I can say that this award is well deserved. I don't know enough director's by name to be able to form an opinion on the category so this'll be another go with the flow. Nominees include, Yuzuru Tachikawa for Deca-Dence, Sunghoo Park for Jujutsu Kaisen, Hiro Kaburagi for Great Pretender, Mamoru Hatakeyama for Kaguya-sama Love is War(my vote), and Takashi Sano for Tower of God.

I know nothing about Toilet-bound Hanako-kun but looking at the "Best Character Design" category I looked a few pictures from the series and thought that these look really good. Mayuka Itou, original designs by Aidairo did a very good job with how the characters look and after seeing it on the awards I'm very curious to get into this anime now. Another one to add on the forever backlog of anime lists. Runner-ups are Naoyuki Asano, original designs by Sumito Owara for Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Hirotaka Katou for Great Pretender, Genice Chan and Yuusuke Yoshigaki for BNA: Brand New Animal, Masahi Kudoh, Miho Tanino, original designs by S.I.U. for Tower of God, and Rumiko Takahashi, Yoshihito Hishinuma for Yashahime. This was one of those categories I was ok with all of the nominations and the outcome of the winner as well. I have no other series to add or swap out with so kudos there!

Going back to categories that will cause a fight in the community is "Best Couple." Another subjective category and a really tough one for me as well. To be fair I feel it'll be tough to Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki you know an actual married couple. They have a very cute relationship going on, and only grows into something stronger with each passing episode. Other couples are Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane from Kagaya-sama Love is War Season 2, Legoshi and Haru from Beastars, Kotoko Iwanaga and Kuro Sakuragawa from In/Spectre, Catarina Claes and Maria Campbell from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Chizuru Ichinose and Kazuya Kinoshita from Rent-A-Girlfriend. Now I have a few problems with the couples nominated. Iwanaga and Kuro, while true they are dating looks more like a hostage situation where Iwanaga is holding him hostage half the time, and the anime doesn't do a good job portraying any romantic feelings between them if any. Bakarina and Maria, while I do ship them, isn't a couple because they aren't together and Bakarina is to stupid to realize Maria likes her in that way. While Chizuru and Kazuya have a fake relationship based on him renting her, I wouldn't nominate them just yet with how far they are in the series. I'm aware they do get a lot better in the manga. Also surprised to not see Emilia and Subaru on this list seeing as that's a big ship.

One of the tougher categories to judge moving into "Best Japanese VA Performance." All of the voice actors do a great job portraying the character they are playing and all of them work so hard bringing out the best of their character. The awards gave it to Yusuke Kobayashi for his work as Natsuki Subaru in Re:Zero. Well earned for him and the one I voted for amongst the candidates in the category. Runner-ups are Riho Sugiyama as Minare Koda in Wave Listen to Me, Megumi Ogata as Hanako in Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Mutsumi Tamura as Sayaka Kanamori in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, and Yuusuke Oonuki as Daisuke Kanbe in The Millionaire Detective. I would've also put in Ayane Sakura as Hina Sato from The Day I Became a God in as well.

Moving on from Japanese VA we have "Best English VA Performance." Going to say this now, I'm more of a sub watcher than dub, but I'm not taking away from the dub VA's. They also do hard work for the character's they portray. They have an uphill battle in the community considering most anime viewers will also prefer subs to dubs, but congrats to Zeno Robinson as Hawks from My Hero Academia. Where I left off on the series I have not met that character yet so I have no real opinion on them. However from what I've heard he's not a reoccurring character in the series and doesn't have that many episodes that he's in. Nominees in the category are Crispin Freeman as Ziusudra from Fate GO, Aaron Phillips as Laurent Thierry from Great Pretender, Johnny Young Bosh as Bam from Tower of God, Jonah Scott as Legoshi from Beastars, and Anairis Quinones as Echidna from Re:Zero. Based off the clips I watched during the awards all of the VA sounded pretty good for the character they were portraying, and I'll go with the flow on this one. Though if D4DJ was eligible for the awards Karin Kagami reprising her role as Maho Akashi's English VA would've been my vote.

"Best Opening Sequence" was awarded to "Wild Side" by ALI for Beastars. While the song is really good a lot of people were very skeptical with Beastars even being entered into the 2020 awards. For better or worse it won this award against the other nominees: "Easy Breezy" by chelmico from Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, "Kaikaikitan" by EVE for Jujutsu Kaisen, "G.P" by Yutaka Yamada for Great Pretender, "Daddy Daddy Do!" by Masayuki Suzuki for Kaguya-sama Love is War Season 2(I voted for that one) and "Phoenix" by Burnout Syndromes for Haikyu. I feel other OP sequences should've been nominated into the category, such as "Realize" by Konomi Suzuki for Re:Zero Season 2. It's probably my favorite OP for 2020 and would've EASILY voted for it. "Literature" by Reina Ueda for Traveling Witch Elaina is also good contender and deserved to be nominated as well.

On the other side of things we have "Best Ending Sequence." I feel that a lot of people skip through the credits and miss out on a lot of good songs but, this year "LOST PARADISE" by ALI feat. AKLO from Jujutsu Kaisen wins the award. This tune beat out "The Great Pretender" by Freddie Mercury from Great Pretender, "Night Running" by Shin Sakura ft. AAAMYYY from BNA, "(K)NoW_NAME" by D.D.D.D from Dorohedoro, "Welcome My Friend" by OKAMOTO's from The Millionaire Dectective, and "Last Dance" by Mamoru Miyano from In/Spectre. Honorable mention I would've liked to see is "Bad End" by Shouta Aoi, from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom

And now the big one, "The Anime of the Year." The biggest award of the ceremony went to Jujutsu Kaisen. This anime is definitely one of the big names this year, and was well liked by the community when it debuted. A lot of my friends and communities I'm in talk very highly of this show and I can see why. I can accept this series winning anime of 2020 and is well deserved. And if I'm not mistaken it has won 3 awards in the Crunchyroll Awards. It was one of the popular picks for a reason and why it became so popular justifies why it became anime of the year. Runner-ups are Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, Dorohedoro, Great Pretender, Appare-Ranman, Beastars.

And with that, that was the CrunchyRoll Awards 2020. Anime 2020 as a whole was in a very tough spot because of Covid but it was nice to see that it still had several good shows coming out of it. Due to Covid a lot of shows had to be pushed back at a later time for the safety of everyone working on these series, which is completely understandable. But being able to dish out really good shows during a tough time only shows how strong anime is growing. We have 2021 series to look forward to now, and with what's been announced 2021 is going to be a stacked year for anime.