Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024: 4 most controversial awards and 4 everyone predicted

Now that Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 has concluded, fans look back on some of the most predictable and controversial award wins that took the entire internet by storm.

To no one's surprise, Jujutsu Kaisen became the highlight of the entire event, as it managed to bag 11 awards out of the 13 categories it was nominated in. As such, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the massive popularity of the ongoing series was mostly the reason behind its victories.

While that's not to downplay the anime's achievements, a lot of fans were left frustrated and disappointed when their favorite anime series got overshadowed by Gege Akutami's magnum opus. With that said, let us look at some of the most controversial and most predictable award wins at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024.

4 most expected award wins at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024

1) Satoru Gojo wins the Best Supporting Character award

Satoru Gojo as seen in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime (Image via MAPPA)

Everyone's favorite blindfolded sensei, Satoru Gojo, ended up winning the Best Supporting Character award, which came as no surprise. Gojo is singlehandedly the most recognizable and popular character of the modern era, as his popularity can be considered one of the main reasons behind Jujutsu Kaisen's overwhelming success.

Gojo managed to beat out his former best friend, Suguru Geto, Power from Chainsaw Man, Kana Arima from Oshi No Ko, and several others to win the prestigious award.

2) Oshi No Ko's Idol wins the Best Anime Song award

Ai Hoshino as seen in the anime (Image via Doga Kobo Studios)

The massively popular Oshi No Ko anime swept the anime community off their feet not only with an engaging storyline and a cast of memorable characters but also with its catchy opening theme song as well, titled Idol by YOASOBI. It quickly became one of the most popular opening themes of the year, which made its victory at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 more or less predictable.

3) Luffy wins the Best Main Character award

Luffy as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Considering Monkey D. Luffy's popularity over the years as the titular character of One Piece, his winning the Best Main Character award was a given. Despite facing tough competition from other beloved main characters from the world of anime, Luffy managed to beat out Eren Jaeger, Thorfinn, Shigeo Kageyama, Denji, and Hitori Gotoh to bag the prestigious award.

4) One Piece wins the Best Continuing Series award

The One Piece anime wins the Best Continuing Series award once again (Image via Toei Animation)

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece series managed to win the Best Continuing Series award for a second consecutive year at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024. This victory proved that the series' initial win at last year's event was no fluke, as its overwhelming popularity led it to dominate other strong contenders, such as Attack on Titan: The Final Season, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, Spy x Family season 2, Vinland Saga season 2, and Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc.

4 most controversial award wins at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024

1) Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 wins Best Opening and Ending Sequences

Gojo and Geto as seen in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime (Image via MAPPA)

While some of the victories of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 were certainly deserved, it cannot be said for its wins in the Best Opening Sequence and Best Ending Sequence categories. For the former, the opening of the Hidden Inventory arc, titled Where Our Blue Is by Tatsuya Kitani, ended up winning the category. For the latter, Soshi Sakiyama's hit song Akari ended up winning.

While these two songs were undoubtedly some of the best soundtracks of the year, their victories are regarded as highly controversial by many. The fact that Where Our Blue Is managed to beat out Chainsaw Man's KICK BACK, Oshi No Ko's Idol, and Heavenly Delusion's innocent arrogance convinced many that Jujutsu Kaisen won the categories simply due to its popularity, which might be true to some extent.

2) Yuichi Nakamura wins Best Voice Artist Performance (Japanese)

There's no doubt that Yuichi Nakamura's stellar performance as the beloved Satoru Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 warranted an award. That said, Nakamura winning the Best Voice Artist award over Yuki Kaji, the voice actor of Eren Jaeger, simply left people speechless.

Yuki Kaji's captivating and emotional performance as the central character of Attack on Titan undoubtedly made him the most deserving candidate to win the award for the Best Voice Artist category. Being overshadowed by Yuichi Nakamura, along with the fact that this was his last time playing the beloved character, made his loss all the more heartbreaking and controversial.

3) Demon Slayer wins Best Animation

Demon Slayer season 3 won the Best Animation category (Image via Ufotable)

Demon Slayer is usually known for its stellar and eye-catching animation quality. As such, its victory in the Best Animation category at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 normally shouldn't have been a surprise.

However, the Swordsmith Village arc wasn't nearly as explosive and memorable as the Entertainment District arc in terms of animation quality, which made its victory over Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 all the more questionable.

4) Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 wins Anime of the Year

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 won 11 awards at Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 (Image via MAPPA)

Granted that some of its victories are a bit controversial and questionable, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 winning the Anime of the Year category is a deserved win to some extent. However, the fact that the nominations did not include other notable series such as Vinland Saga season 2, One Piece, and Attack on Titan finale did not sit well with the fans.

Vinland Saga season 2 was especially considered to be one of the best anime series of the year by the fans, who were understandably shocked to see that the series wasn't even a part of the nominations for the Anime of the Year category.

Final thoughts

While Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 may not have gone the way that some fans wanted it to, they can only hope that the next year proves to be better for some of the anime series that apparently got "robbed" of their deserved victories.