Japan Unveils Major Anime Awards That Could Rival Crunchyroll

When people talk about anime awards, especially outside Japan, the Crunchyroll Awards are usually the first name that comes up. They’ve been running for years and stand out for their wide range of categories and the chance for fans to influence results through voting. Still, they’ve also faced criticism—so much so that another awards event is gaining momentum in Japan and could end up challenging Crunchyroll’s dominance on home turf.

Key takeaways

• WIT Studio’s president, George Wada, says the studio is developing a new Japan-focused awards show.
• The event is titled “Tokyo Anime Next” and is scheduled to begin in late October 2026.
• WIT Studio presented the announcement during Anime Expo 2026 at an I.G x Wit Studio Industry Panel on July 4, 2026.
• The show’s stated goal is to center anime recognition driven by Japanese audiences.
• Wada’s comments and the show’s concept are positioned as a response to perceived gaps in Crunchyroll Awards’ reach and process in Japan.

WIT Studio reveals “Tokyo Anime Next” for Japan’s biggest upcoming anime awards

Japan’s anime scene has continued expanding, and its popularity has become increasingly global over time. As the medium grows more mainstream each year, its worldwide audience keeps widening. Even so, the first priority for any new anime platform is still the people who consume anime in Japan. With that in mind, WIT Studio is preparing an awards program meant to become the biggest of its kind across Japan.

The project was officially revealed on July 4, 2026, during Anime Expo 2026, specifically at the I.G x Wit Studio Industry Panel. The awards show is a WIT Studio initiative. WIT Studio is a Japanese animation company founded on June 1, 2012, by George Wada and Tetsuya Nakatake. Over the past decade, it has been closely tied to anime’s surge in popularity, and it’s especially associated with titles such as Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, Spy x Family, Ranking of Kings, and more recently, The One Piece remake.

The news was delivered by George Wada, who currently serves as the studio’s president. He said Tokyo Anime Next will launch on October 30, 2026, and run through November 2, 2026.

Beyond the basic schedule, additional details are still missing. It’s unclear how voting will work, who will sit on any jury, and what criteria will be used to select nominees. For now, the core idea is clear: the program aims to keep Japanese fans and Japanese viewers at the center of the conversation around anime. Wada explained the purpose of the event in this way:

“We want to judge, recognize, and give awards to the anime in Japan, by the Japanese people.” — George Wada

Unsurprisingly, some viewers reacted negatively to that statement, since it appears to focus on Japanese audiences while leaving international fans out of the discussion. Even so, the concept isn’t completely out of the blue. Wada previously floated the idea of a new awards show on April 14, arguing that Japan needs its own awards program created by Japanese anime professionals for Japanese audiences.

Separately, WIT Studio’s anime adaptation of The One Piece is set to arrive in February 2027, with the first look expected to be shared next month.

WIT Studio’s new awards could put it on a collision course with the Crunchyroll Awards

Tokyo Anime Next won’t be the first anime awards show built around Japan’s audience. Japan already has several major annual events, including the Anime Grand Prix, Tokyo Anime Awards, Japan Academy Film Prize, Animation Kobe, and others. Some of these events also incorporate audience voting, which means Tokyo Anime Next isn’t introducing a completely new model in that respect.

What Tokyo Anime Next is trying to do differently is attract attention from outside Japan, something many other Japanese-focused awards don’t consistently achieve internationally. In that sense, the new show is positioned as a direct competitor to the Crunchyroll Awards—both in terms of appeal and in the hope that overseas fans will actually start tuning in. WIT Studio is leading the project, but it’s not acting alone: the effort is being developed through a coalition of studios, meaning multiple Japan-based companies are backing the initiative.

Crunchyroll Awards 2026 reportedly generated 73 million total votes, a scale that no Japanese awards show had reached before. With that kind of momentum, Tokyo Anime Next could be expected to chase similar numbers if it gains traction with viewers next year.

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Why fans say they’re unhappy with the Crunchyroll Awards

The Crunchyroll Awards began on January 11, 2017, meaning the event is now about nine years old. Outside Japan, the awards are widely known and are widely considered the biggest anime awards show in the world. But within Japan, many people say the Crunchyroll Awards are largely unknown, and they point to several reasons.

One major issue is that Crunchyroll is not available as a streaming service in Japan, because it operates alongside local streaming platforms. Fans also say the awards themselves aren’t properly advertised or made accessible to Japanese audiences, and that Japanese viewers can’t participate in the voting.

That situation can feel surprising given that the ceremonies are held in Tokyo. Even so, the claim is that almost no Japanese fans have heard of the Crunchyroll Awards. Tokyo Anime Next is intended to address that gap, since Wada believes events like this should involve Japan. The ideal outcome, in this view, would be a better balance where both Japanese and international fans can participate in the same anime awards.

There are further complaints tied to how nominations are handled. Some fans dislike the nomination process for the Crunchyroll Awards, saying nominees are selected by an unidentified group of jurors whose qualifications are not clear to the public. This has led to frustration over some of the nominations, with certain titles criticized as repetitive picks. On other occasions, viewers argue that nominees feel more like fashionable trends than truly deserving choices—meaning strong series can end up overlooked.

With Tokyo Anime Next, there’s a suggestion that major industry figures—such as anime directors and animators, storyboard artists, and other people actively shaping the medium—could be involved. The expectation is that these professionals would have a more direct role in deciding both nominations and winners. That’s framed as one of Crunchyroll’s shortcomings that WIT Studio may be able to improve. For now, fans will have to wait for more information as Tokyo Anime Next continues to take shape, and they’ll likely compare it directly to the Crunchyroll Awards once the new event finally launches.