Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 were a Disaster….
Article at a glance:
- Even knowing it’s a popularity contest, Solo Leveling’s sweep over Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, and Bleach still stings.
- Season 1 wasn’t even its best, and it sure as hell doesn’t outshine Frieren or Apothecary Diaries in writing.
- Yeah, the results are ridiculous, but harassing SL fans or canceling CR subscriptions? Come on, it’s not that deep. Let’s clown CR and move on.
Let me start with a disclaimer. This article is purely for fun. I think we all are grown adults here and we understand that Crunchyroll Anime Awards are purely a popularity contest. That being said, Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 were still a damn disaster. Even though I know that the awards are popularity contests, Solo Leveling winning so much, and Apothecary Diaries and Bleach getting shafted does hurt a little. Frieren got kind of shafted but Frieren still won multiple categories while Apothecary Diaries won 1 category and Bleach won nothing.
I don’t care much for awards but laughing at the baffling winner choices makes for some pretty fun content. So today we are going to do just that. It is so funny seeing so many people coming out and saying that Solo Leveling is trash just because it won over the others. And yeah, I don’t think Solo Leveling is the sharpest tool in the shed. But come on man, it is not trash. Because by the same logic, Demon Slayer would be trash too.
But yeah, let’s go over the sheer disaster of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025.
The Solo Leveling Sweep
You know, the worst part to me is that chose to give the AOTY award to Solo Leveling Season 1 OVER Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, and Bleach. Season 1 wasn’t even that good. Season 2 is miles better than Season 1 and even then, I don’t think it even touches Frieren or Apothecary Diaries in terms of writing quality. Again, I am well aware that these awards are popularity contests but come on man, it’s not like Frieren and Apothecary Diaries are unpopular or unknown shows.
I don’t think there would this much backlash had Frieren won AOTY. But then to rub salt in the wounds, Solo Leveling swept through so many categories, that it is not even funny. Apothecary Diaries only won 1 major category, that being Best Voice Artist (Japanese). That is disrespectful. You couldn’t give Best Action fo Bleach? Not a single fight in Solo Leveling Season 1 is as good as Shunsui vs. Lille or Uryu vs. Renji from Bleach TYBW Part 3.
And then Jin-woo won the Best MC award too. Like come on man, I like Jin-woo, he’s better than a lot of these generic MCs but he is nowhere as well-written as Frieren or Maomao, I am sorry. I don’t mind Solo Leveling winning Best Score, though. It is Hiroyuki Swawano’s music, hard to go wrong with that.
That is all for now
At the end of the day, I do think some people are taking it too far. I get being disappointed by the results, I am too. But some people are going out of their way to hate on Solo Leveling and harassing SL fans, and that’s not okay. Some people even canceled their CR subscription because of this lol. Again, we are all grown adults here, we should take this opportunity to clown on CR and move on. This is not the end of the world lol.
But yeah, another year, another Crunchyroll Anime Awards drama, 2025 is no different. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. I really need some sleep. See ya!
Also, check out what I think are the best anime endings of all time here!
