It feels like people are only discussing the same few series.
Summary:
- Crunchyroll Awards had the same few series nominated in most categories.
- It used to be different, but fans are still upset every time.
- This just shows that people only care about the same few anime.
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards have been mostly a popularity contest for a while — meaning, the winners for most categories have been popular and critically acclaimed series. However, it hasn’t always been this way: the first one, held in 2017, featured Yuri!!! on Ice as the Anime of the Year.
While Yuri on Ice is definitely far from obscure, it was still an unexpected and niche pick. BL anime aren’t exactly popular (although that one does have mainstream appeal), and the only sports anime that gets mentioned consistently is Haikyuu!!.
Jujutsu Kaisen swept the awards
Over the years, the Crunchyroll Anime Awards have become less and less interesting to many fans. In part, the reason for that is the nominations — they are becoming less diverse. This year, most of the nominations were filled with the same few anime — and so, the winners of the awards were mostly predictable.
This time it's probably even worse than usual. Out of the 23 categories that aren’t voice acting, Jujutsu Kaisen won in 8 — a staggeringly high amount, considering it was only eligible for 12. Such a sweep may be a reason for celebration for JJK fans, but it actually indicates huge issues within the fandom.
Otaku will be upset either way
It feels like it’s impossible to satisfy fans with the awards. In 2017, the majority was actually not very happy about Yuri on Ice winning — there were definitely far more popular series with larger numbers of fans. While the jurors’ votes still matter more, there are arguments that they are skewed towards the popular anime in order not to upset the anime fandom.
The majority of the nominations being the same few series just shows that modern otaku only care about the few popular things and are less willing to engage with non-mainstream media. That means a lot of good series are overlooked, as they might not be hyped much by the source readers.
Something has to change
Ultimately, the whole point of the Crunchyroll Awards today is to showcase the most popular anime series out there. More experienced otaku don’t really take them seriously. While Jujutsu Kaisen S2 was undoubtedly great, the whole thing where the same few series competed for nearly every award possible left many fans unsatisfied.
Perhaps a rework of the system is needed to acknowledge less popular series. Unfortunately, that’s probably not happening, as it feels like these few anime are the only thing fans are talking about. Perhaps next year will be the Frieren Awards (compared to this year’s JJK Awards).