The 3 Strongest Contenders for Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Ranked by Most Nominations

The Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2026 have already gone live, and it’s only a matter of time before the winners get announced. But even from the nominations alone, we can already predict that 3 major titles from last year are potentially going to sweep the awards this time. It seems inevitable!

Here, we’ve ranked those 3 based on the highest number of nominations each received. Interestingly, all 3 of them are even contenders for Anime of the Year! So, without further ado, let’s check them out.

3 Gachiakuta’s Take on Modern Shonen Deserves Multiple Nominations

Gachiakuta essentially revitalized the shonen landscape once again. With its captivating worldbuilding, unhinged character writing, and overall aesthetic, the anime has managed to gain worldwide popularity; so much so that it ended up receiving 16 nominations in this year’s Crunchyroll Awards.

Right from Episode 1, the series raises the stakes, and the end goal is also established. Therefore, fans kept coming back each week to watch the next episode. That said, by the end of Season 1, the narrative took a much darker turn, giving a fresh take on the genre. Therefore, it deserves all the nominations.

2 The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Took the Story to a Whole New Level

While Season 1 already established The Apothecary Diaries as one of the modern masterpieces, Season 2 just took the story to a whole new level. Unlike the first season, which consisted of staggered story arcs, Season 2 felt like a complete package, with, of course, Maomao’s brilliance shining throughout.

The Shisui/Loulan past reveal was simply phenomenal. But the moment Maomao was kidnapped and taken out of the country for political reasons, the whole story took a grander twist. Major characters like Lakan and Jinshi were seen operating at their finest. Thus, with 17 nominations, it secures the 2nd spot.

1 Dandadan Season 2 Captivated New-Gen Anime Fans Like No Other

Although labelled as Shonen, Dandadan feels nothing like what you’d imagine a typical Shonen should feel like. While it already grabbed everyone’s attention with the anime’s debut season, the second season simply built upon that earlier foundation. And honestly, it didn’t miss a single note.

Adapting the manga’s one of the most highly acclaimed arcs, the Evil Eye arc, studio Science SARU just went above and beyond. The emotional payoff of the narrative was also there, and the anime even added many original scenes, elevating the source material. Therefore, it’s understandable why Dandadan Season 2 received a whopping 20 nominations. Critically, it is much deserved.

TITLE	NUMBER of NOMINATIONS	MAL SCORE (as of May 23, 2026)	WHERE TO WATCH
Gachiakuta	16	8.22/10	Crunchyroll, Netflix
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2	17	8.91/10	Crunchyroll
Dandadan Season 2	20	8.40/10	Crunchyroll, Netflix

Apart from these top 3, we also got My Hero Academia Final Season with 15 nominations. Also, The Summer Hikaru Died and Takopi’s Original Sin earned 8 and 7 nominations, respectively. Thus, these 6 anime filled up the Anime of the Year category, and the competition doesn’t look easy at all.

So, out of these 6, which anime do you think should win the most awards? Let us know below.