Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2026: Dark Horse Nominees Poised to Upend the Favorites

Crunchyroll has rolled out the 2026 Anime Awards slate, and it is a spicy mix of heavyweight sequels and newer entries that came out swinging. If you like your awards races with real chaos potential, this one has a few shows absolutely gunning for upsets.

Anime of the Year nominees

• Dandadan S2
• My Hero Academia S8
• Takopi's Original Sin
• The Summer Hikaru Died
• Gachiakuta
• The Apothecary Diaries S2

'El 23 de Mayo se revela al ganador'

Mark your calendar: the winner gets revealed May 23.

Takopi's Original Sin

This one came out of nowhere. When it premiered, most eyes were glued to Lord of Mysteries, which dropped around the same time. Meanwhile, Takopi's Original Sin quietly lined up a headshot and fired. Now it is in the Anime of the Year conversation, and then some.

Nominations: Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Character Design, Best Drama, Best Animation. If you are handicapping the field, it feels especially dangerous in AOTY, New Series, and Character Design.

The Summer Hikaru Died

Sticking with the dread-and-feelings corner of the bracket, The Summer Hikaru Died made a strong first impression as a slow-burn suspense piece and rode that mood right into the top categories.

Nominations: Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Background Art, plus a real push in Best Drama and Best Score. The score race is a fun wrinkle: its biggest threat there is Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which is also scored by Kensuke Ushio. Either way, Ushio likely gets a victory lap.

Gachiakuta

Here is your actual dark horse. Gachiakuta spent most of the year flying under the radar, picking up a fiercely loyal niche following while the rest of the internet argued about bigger franchises. Then the nominations hit, and, well, Studio Bones did not come to play.

Sixteen nominations. Yes, sixteen. It is firmly in the hunt for Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Animation, and Best Action, and the craft across the board suggests Bones went all-in on this one. The action is wild, and it loves to flip tropes on their heads, which never hurts with voters.

The sequel crowd is loaded too

If this all feels familiar, that is because last year was a coming-out party for newer darlings like Dan Da Dan, The Apothecary Diaries, and Solo Leveling. 2026 could echo that energy. Dandadan and The Apothecary Diaries are back with new seasons and very real awards gravity, while a legacy giant like My Hero Academia S8 is right there to keep things interesting. New blood vs. established brands is the shape of the race.

Bottom line: between Takopi's Original Sin throwing haymakers, The Summer Hikaru Died vibing its way into major categories, and Gachiakuta racking up an absurd 16 nods, this lineup is built for chaos. Which one has the juice to crash the party on May 23? Tell me your pick.