Solo Leveling Winning Anime of the Year Showed Us All Why Award Shows Really Suck

Amidst the announcement of the winners of the 2025 Crunchyroll Awards, there has been plenty of discussion regarding the integrity of the process. One category in particular, “Anime of the Year”, has been at the center of these conversations. Solo Leveling secured the victory for this honor which has also subsequently caused many in the anime community to question its deservingness of this distinction. Naturally, in such a hotly contested category where quite a few strong competitors were nominees, there will be a LOT of back and forth.

I believe another question we should be asking along with, “Did this anime deserve it?” is, “On what grounds are we determining the winner?”. Solo Leveling was an incredibly entertaining anime to watch. No doubt about it. If you are an enthusiast of the prototypical shonen model, then you will enjoy Solo Leveling. In a discussion about anime, what we consider “good” is simply going to vary from consumer to consumer. Just like any other form of art, it’s completely subjective. On the other hand, this is also exactly what is wrong with the Crunchyroll Awards and also a massive portion of award shows in other mediums. Ultimately, these awards are a popularity contest and not a measure of quality in any regard. If you are seeking to provide a prestigious distinction, then you need to define a clear set of parameters. A massive percentage of the categories include the honor of, “best”. Due to this phrasing, the platform has made it a matter of quality. However, we have no way to determine quality because the parameters for these awards are either vague or have absolutely no correlation to the category. “Did this anime generate a lot of revenue?”, “Did this anime emotionally resonate with a lot of people?”, “Did a lot of people tune in to new episodes during air day?”, “Did the production studio provide unique artistic elements?”, “Was the voice acting reflective of how the mangaka would want their characters to be portrayed?”. These are all examples of great way to determine objective quality. Yet, we as the audience are finding ourselves befuddled at the emerged victor. 

According to the Crunchyroll website, the Anime of the Year is defined as, “The compelling stories, beautiful executions, and unforgettable characters weave together elements that create true masterpieces deserving of distinguished recognition.” Prior, this platform also states that, “these anime set the standards for all shows in the last year.” I will put this plainly. This is just about as vague as you possibly can be. You will find this same level of incoherent phrasing for just about every single category. Additionally, each category also states a handful of logistical requirements such as when and where the anime was produced. 

Onto the winner itself. Let’s take one bit of those parameters that is somewhat discernible. “Compelling stories” is a fantastic attribute for a prospective anime of the year. Most anime enthusiasts will have a similar quality in mind for a series they really enjoyed. With this in mind, I think I, along with many others, are going to be asking ourselves if this is a mark that Solo Leveling hit. Most people who watched this anime are going to tell you no. Let’s take another bit of those parameters that we can work off of. “Unforgettable characters”. I have a very difficult time believing Solo Leveling was able to meet this criteria. The time and depth, or lack thereof, that the supporting cast receives in this anime leaves a lot to be desired. Ironically, I believe that the vast majority of this cast was actually very forgettable.

For the record, I really enjoyed Solo Leveling. I was able to tune into this anime every single week during both cours. Regarding a general summary of the anime, I think it’s a very fun and entertaining show to watch. The place where Solo Leveling shines the brightest is in its incredibly well put together fight sequences that are highlighted by some superb visual effects. However, to me, that’s just about all this anime offers. I, along with a lot of other diehard enthusiasts of this medium are going to be looking for much more than that if we’re going to crown a show, “Anime of the Year”.  When you look at the other nominees in this category and were also able to watch them, you will find yourself scratching your head while wondering how this panel managed to arrive at this conclusion. For the sake of full transparency, my own vote went to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End for this category. I cannot speak on Kaiju No. 8 solely due to the fact that this was the one anime in this category that I did not watch, but if any other of the nominees between Dan da Dan, The Apothecary Diaries, or Delicious in Dungeon had won, that would be a pill I’d be completely okay with swallowing.