Hey everyone, it’s awards season once again, and Anime Maru is here to tell you who’s going to win the most prestigious awards of all: the Crunchyroll Anime Awards! With a rich history dating all the way back to 2016, the Crunchyroll Anime Awards are the most coveted prize in the industry, after the Tokyo Anime Awards, Japan Media Arts Festival Award, Animation Kobe Awards, and basically every other award that isn’t given out by random voters on the Internet. Here’s our pick for the winners of the best anime of 2016 that are available for streaming in America, and that specifically aren’t Sound! Euphonium, ReLIFE, or Tanaka-kun is Always Listless.
Best Anime
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. While it faces some stiff competition from the smash hit Joker Game, Kabaneri is this year’s clear runaway hit. Scoring an impressive 7.38 on MyAnimeList and top ranked reviews of 2/10 and 3/10, Kabaneri is an obvious choice to win best anime of the year, which is why it was nominated in so many categories.
Hero of the Year
Mumei. Yep, it’s Kabaneri again! While in the show itself Mumei may have been a simple pawn in the villain’s scheme who really contributes very little to the climax, her real heroism is to all the anime pedophiles of the world whose fetish is the armpits of a 12 year old.
Villain of the Year
Biba. But of course, as great as Kabaneri’s heroes are the best part is clearly the villain. Biba stands out not only as the best villain of the year but also of all time, with his incredibly sensible motives and thrilling plot that totally didn’t completely derail the show. Honestly, I don’t know why any of these other characters are nominated, like who’s this Yoshikage Kira guy anyway, his show wasn’t nominated for any other awards and I’m pretty sure no one watched it.
Best Boy
Guy Bennett. While the nominated characters are all great, none of them are actually best boys, so this award goes to write-in Guy Bennett, who was the best boy grip on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That movie had some really great lighting.
Best Girl
Rem. Also the future winner of /r/anime’s upcoming 2017 Best Girl Contest, and living proof that all otaku really want out of a girl is someone who constantly reaffirms how great they are.
Best Anime Fight
Mumei vs. Kabane (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Episode 2). Personally, I feel that the Mumei vs. Kabane scene from episode 3 was snubbed, but the Mumei vs. Kabane scene from episode 2 was pretty great too. Really, this category could have been entirely Mumei vs. Kabane scenes and that would be fine with me.
Best Animation
Yuri on Ice. Tempting as it is to give this category to Kabaneri, how could we not give the award to a show that produced beautiful frames like these?
Most Heartwarming
Ikoma rescuing Mumei. Okay, I know Kabaneri wasn’t technically nominated in this category, but it’s totally going to win on write in votes, people love it that much.
Drama of the Year
Joker Game. By virtue of Kabaneri being ineligible for this category, Joker Game finally gets to take home an award! While its 7.2 MAL rating isn’t quite as impressive as Kabaneri, it’s still clearly one of the best shows of the year.
Best Couple
Yuri & Victor. Yeah, this one’s obvious. But to be fair, we’re pretty sure the other 3 nominees were intentionally chosen to be inferior to Yuri & Victor, and that Hishiro and Arata were clubbed in the knee Tonya Harding style to prevent them from competing.
Best Comedy
Transparent. Yeah, this isn’t technically anime, but if it’s allowed to be nominated as a comedy in the Emmy’s, we’re pretty sure it’s allowed to win here.
Best Action
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Yep, another award for Kabaneri. It’s nominated for 9 of the 14 awards, and while this would be excessive and ridiculous for any other show, Kabaneri really is that amazing.
Best Opening
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Kabaneri’s OP is so loved, it’s reached 1.1 million views on Youtube, which is likely significantly higher than the amount of people who legally watched it on Amazon.
Best Ending
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. I, too, was estatic when Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress ended; it was truly the best ending. Kabaneri wins here too! It will win everything! It will take over everything you love and soon be the only anime that exists, and we will all be better off for it.