Nominees for the upcoming Anime Awards 2026 have been announced, with voting now open ahead of the live ceremony in Tokyo on May 23rd.
The music-related categories at this year’s 10th annual ceremony cover best anime song, best anime opening sequence, and best anime ending sequence, with artists including Kenshi Yonezu, LiSA, YOASOBI, Lilas Ikuta, AiNA THE END, Paledusk, and BUMP OF CHICKEN across the shortlist.
In best anime song, Lilas Ikuta is nominated for ‘In Bloom’ from The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, while Kenshi Yonezu picks up two nominations through Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc with ‘IRIS OUT’ and ‘JANE DOE’, the latter featuring Hikaru Utada. AiNA THE END is recognised for ‘On The Way’ from DAN DA DAN Season 2, LiSA for ‘ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)’ from Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-, and YOASOBI complete the category with ‘Watch Me!’ from WITCH WATCH.
The Best Anime Opening Sequence field again includes ‘On The Way’, ‘ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)’, and ‘Watch Me!’, alongside Paledusk’s ‘HUGs’ for Gachiakuta, Creepy Nuts’ ‘Mirage’ for Call of the Night Season 2 and PORNOGRAFFITTI’s ‘THE REVO’ for My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON.
For best anime ending sequence, Lilas Ikuta returns with ‘Actor’ from SPY x FAMILY Season 3, alongside OneRepublic’s ‘Beautiful Colors’ from Kaiju No. 8 Season 2, WurtS’ ‘Doukashiteru’ from DAN DA DAN Season 2, BUMP OF CHICKEN’s ‘I’ from My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON, PiKi’s ‘Kawaii Kaiwai’ from My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, and TK from Ling Tosite Sigure’s ‘UN-APEX’ from Solo Leveling Season 2.
RELATED: Mrs. GREEN APPLE and Kenshi Yonezu lead MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2026 entry totals as full list is revealed
DAN DA DAN and Solo Leveling both return to the music categories having picked up wins at the 2025 awards, where ‘Otonoke’ by Creepy Nuts took best anime song and best opening sequence, and ‘request’ by krage won best ending sequence for the first season of Solo Leveling.
Across all categories, DAN DA DAN Season 2 leads with 20 nominations, followed by Gachiakuta and The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 with 16 each. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc also feature prominently with 14 and 13 nominations respectively.
For live performances at the event, Crunchyroll have confirmed that DEAN FUJIOKA will open the ceremony with ‘History Maker’ from Yuri!!! on ICE, while PORNOGRAFFITTI will deliver a tribute marking the 10th anniversary of My Hero Academia and the end of the series. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION are also set to perform ‘Haruka Kanata’ from Naruto. Those performances join the previously announced Neon Genesis Evangelion 30th anniversary tribute by Yoko Takahashi and symphonic suites from the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
The ceremony will also be joined by rapper and producer RZA, a founding member of Wu-Tang Clan, and singer-songwriter Hannah Bahng among its roster of presenters.
Voting is open until April 14th, 2026 at 11:59:59 pm PT, with fans able to vote once per day. The 10th annual ceremony streams live from Tokyo on May 23rd, 2026.
Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2026 — music category nominees:
Best anime song
- Lilas Ikuta – ‘In Bloom’ (The Apothecary Diaries Season 2)
- Kenshi Yonezu – ‘IRIS OUT’ (Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc)
- Kenshi Yonezu & Hikaru Utada – ‘JANE DOE’ (Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc)
- AiNA THE END – ‘On The Way’ (DAN DA DAN Season 2)
- LiSA – ‘ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)’ (Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-)
- YOASOBI – ‘Watch Me!’ (WITCH WATCH)
Best anime opening sequence
- Paledusk – ‘HUGs’ (Gachiakuta)
- Creepy Nuts – ‘Mirage’ (Call of the Night Season 2)
- AiNA THE END – ‘On The Way’ (DAN DA DAN Season 2)
- LiSA – ‘ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)’ (Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-)
- PORNOGRAFFITTI – ‘THE REVO’ (My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON)
- YOASOBI – ‘Watch Me!’ (WITCH WATCH)
Best anime ending sequence
- Lilas Ikuta – ‘Actor’ (SPY x FAMILY Season 3)
- OneRepublic – ‘Beautiful Colors’ (Kaiju No. 8 Season 2)
- WurtS – ‘Doukashiteru’ (DAN DA DAN Season 2)
- BUMP OF CHICKEN – ‘I’ (My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON)
- PiKi – ‘Kawaii Kaiwai’ (My Dress-Up Darling Season 2)
- TK from Ling Tosite Sigure – ‘UN-APEX’ (Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-)
