Popular picks Solo Leveling and Dandadan were up for the Anime of the Year award at the 11th Anime Trending Awards, but neither snagged the top spot. So, which show came out on top? It was the thrilling adventure fantasy Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. With a whopping 10,280 votes from fans, it triumphed over its nearest rival, The Dangers in My Heart Season 2, which received 10,098 votes.

Solo Leveling not even in the final Top 10 nominees

Out of the 17 shows up for the biggest award of the day, Frieren, The Dangers in My Heart Season 2, Dandadan, Makein, The Apothecary Diaries, Girls Band Cry, Re:ZERO Season 3, Days With My Stepsister, 7th Time Loop, and Oshi No Ko Season 2 all made it into the Top 10 based on the final votes. Interestingly, Solo Leveling didn’t crack the Top 10 at all, while Dandadan snagged third place with 9,749 votes.

Spy x Family: Code White takes home the title of Anime Movie of the Year

In contrast to Frieren snagging the Anime of the Year title, Spy x Family: Code White brought its A-game by winning the Anime Movie of the Year award with 17,176 votes. Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning flick, The Boy and the Heron, came in a close second with 16,187 votes. Rounding out the final Top 6 were other nominees like Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid, Gridman Universe, The First Slam Dunk, and Blue Giant, trailing behind the top two.

Frieren and Dandadan face off at the 11th Anime Trending Awards

The winners of the 2025 Anime Trending Awards were announced on Sunday, March 9. The first season of Frieren took home several awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sceneries and Visuals, Action/Adventure Anime of the Year, and Fantasy Anime of the Year.

On the other hand, Dandadan triumphed in some tough competition, winning in the Aspect Awards for Best Animation and Best Soundtrack. Plus, it snagged the Opening Theme Song of the Year. The show also claimed the title of Supernatural Anime of the Year. Natsuki Hanae, who voices the main character Ken Takakura, also won Best Voice Acting Performance by a Male.

Check out the full list of winners from this year's Anime Trending Awards.

Here’s the complete list of winners for the 2025 Anime Trending Awards

Best Anime Awards

Best Anime of the Year: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Best Anime of the Year: Spy x Family: Code White

Character Honors

Boy of the Year: Kyotaro Ichikawa from The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Girl of the Year: Kana Arima from Oshi No Ko Season 2

Supporting Boy of the Year: Himmel from Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Supporting Girl of the Year: Yuki Suou from Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

Couple Ship of the Year: Kyotaro and Anna from The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Aspect Awards

 Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, crafted by Tomohiro Suzuki.

Best Animation honors go to Dandadan, thanks to Koji Haneda and Naoyuki Onda.

For Character Design, The Apothecary Diaries takes the prize, with Yukiko Nakatani at the helm.

In the category of Episode Directing and Storyboard, "Stepsister and Diary" from Days with my Stepsister EP9 shines, directed by Souta Ueno and storyboarded by Mitsuki Kobayashi.

Girls Band Cry wins Best Original Screenplay, written by Jukki Hanada.

For Sceneries and Visuals, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is recognized, with contributions from Sawako Takagi (Art Director), Akane Fushihara (Director of Photography), and Harue Ono (Color Design).

Dandadan also takes home the award for Best Soundtrack, composed by Kensuke Ushio.

Finally, Best Voice Cast goes to The Dangers in My Heart S2, featuring a talented core cast including Megumi Han, Shun Horie, Gen Satou, Yukari Tamura, Aki Toyosaki, and Hina Youmiya.

Theme Song Awards can be rephrased as Theme Tune Honors

Opening Theme Song of the Year goes to “Otonoke” from Dandadan by Creepy Nuts.

Ending Theme Song of the Year is “Burning” from Oshi No Ko Season 2 by Hitsujibungaku.

Category Awards

Action/Adventure Anime of the Year goes to Frieren: Beyond Journey's End from MADHOUSE.

Comedy Anime of the Year is awarded to Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines by A-1 Pictures.

For Drama Anime of the Year, we have Oshi No Ko Season 2 from Doga Kobo.

In the Fantasy category, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End takes the crown again.

Mystery/Psychological Anime of the Year is Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 by White Fox.

The Romance Anime of the Year is The Dangers in My Heart Season 2 from Shin-Ei Animation.

For Sci-Fi/Mecha, Kaiju No 8 from Production IG wins the title.

In the Slice of Life category, we have Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

Lastly, the Supernatural Anime of the Year is Dandadan from Science SARU.

And just to note, The Dangers in My Heart Season 2 also comes from Kinema Citrus in the Romance category.

Voiceover Awards

Best Male Voice Acting Performance: Natsuki Hanae for his role as Ken Takakura in DAN DA DAN.

Best Female Voice Acting Performance: Hikaur Toono as Anna Yanami in Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines.

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