When talking about Anime Awards, what comes to mind for most fans, at least international anime fans, is The Crunchyroll Awards. The Crunchyroll Awards have been around for several years, and what makes them stand out from other awards is the variety of categories and the possibility for fan input through voting. But there's nothing wrong with the Crunchyroll Awards. As it happens, the new awards show is gaining popularity and is set to compete with Crunchyroll in Japan.
George Wada, president of Wit Studio, said the company is working on a new Japan-focused awards show that Crunchyroll was unable to cater to. This new awards show is called “Tokyo Anime Next” and will launch in October.
WIT Studio Unveils “Tokyo Anime Next” as Japan’s Largest Upcoming Animation Awards Ceremony
Japan's animation industry has continued to grow and its reputation has grown internationally. With each passing year, animation is becoming more mainstream and its reach is increasing. The animated medium has gained fans from all over the world. That said, the anime's focus is, first and foremost, the Japanese consumer. To that end, a new Anime Award show is currently underway and is expected to be the largest in all of Japan.
This new award ceremony was unveiled on July 4, 2026 at Anime Expo 2026, specifically at the IG x Wit Studio industry panel. To be precise, this new animation awards ceremony is hosted by WIT Studio, a famous Japanese animation studio founded on June 1, 2012 by George Wada and Tetsuya Nakatake. The studio has been at the forefront of anime's rise in popularity over the past decade, and is particularly known for hit series such as Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, Spy x Family, Ranking of Kings, and most recently The One Piece remake.
This new announcement is exciting and comes directly from George Wada, who currently serves as studio president. According to George Wada, this new awards show, known as Tokyo Anime Next, will debut on October 30, 2026 and will last until November 2, making it a very exciting event for all of us to enjoy.
Details about this awards ceremony have not yet been released. The voting method, judging panel, and nomination criteria are still unclear, but for now we know the gist, and the goal of this new awards show is to put Japanese people at the forefront of the anime debate. George Wada spoke about his goals and why the new awards ceremony is important:
“We want to judge, recognize and award Japanese animation by the Japanese people.” — George Wada
Of course, many fans took this statement negatively. This is because it seems like they are completely excluding international viewers from the conversation and only focusing on and catering to Japanese fans. Still, this new project isn't all that surprising. After all, George Wada first came up with the idea for a new awards ceremony not long ago, on April 14th. He said there needed to be its own awards ceremony hosted by Japanese animation experts for Japanese audiences.
WIT Studio's new awards show will compete with the Crunchyroll Awards.
Of course, WIT Studio's Tokyo Anime Next isn't the first Japan-centric animation awards show. Aside from this event, there are quite a few other big events that have been taking place every year for some time. These include the Animation Grand Prix, Tokyo Animation Awards, Japan Academy Film Awards, and Animation Kobe. Some of these even take viewer votes into account, which means Tokyo Anime Next isn't exactly doing anything new in this regard.
But what Tokyo Anime Next is aiming for is global attention through awards ceremonies, which is lacking anywhere else outside of Japan. In that sense, Tokyo Anime Next will compete with the Crunchyroll Awards and establish itself as the most attractive animation awards ceremony, and will also attract attention from overseas fans. Although WIT Studios is at the forefront of this project, it is not the only animation studio involved. The project was created as a union of studios. This means there is a big push behind this whole project, with many companies based in Japan.
The Crunchyroll Awards 2026 received 73 million votes overall, a figure never before achieved by a Japanese awards ceremony. If Tokyo Anime Next proves popular with the massive support it receives, it may be able to achieve similar numbers next year.
Why fans are dissatisfied with the Crunchyroll Awards
Crunchyroll's awards ceremony first started on January 11, 2017, so it was 9 years ago. The Crunchyroll Awards are very popular outside of Japan and are by far the largest anime awards ceremony in the world. However, in Japan, Crunchyroll Awards are basically unheard of for a variety of reasons. First of all, Crunchyroll is not available as a streaming service in Japan because it has its own local streaming service.
Additionally, the entire Crunchyroll Awards are not publicized or advertised to Japanese fans, and voting is not possible. This may be shocking to some since Crunchyroll holds the awards show in Tokyo, but Japanese fans have rarely heard of it. This is a big issue that Tokyo Anime Next is trying to address. Because George Wada believes that Japan should participate in these types of events. Ideally, a better balance should be found so that both Japanese and international fans can participate in a single animation award.
There are other issues with the Crunchyroll Awards that are leaving many fans feeling disappointed. For example, some fans don't like Crunchyroll's nomination process. Crunchyroll Award nominees are chosen by a panel of unknown judges whose credentials fans don't even know. This has led to many complaints about the candidates, some of which I believe constitute a repetitive series. In some cases, some candidates are not qualified but are also trendy candidates. Therefore, some great series may be excluded from the Crunchyroll Awards.
With Tokyo Anime Next, we will see the participation of some of the biggest names in the industry, including animation directors and animators, storyboard artists, and others who are at the forefront of the industry itself and have a clear say in what will be nominated and what will win. This is one of Crunchyroll's main problems that WIT Studio can solve. We can't wait for more information to be revealed about the new Awards show, and we're definitely curious to see how it compares to the Crunchyroll Awards when they're finally released.
