The 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards delivered one of the biggest moments in recent anime history when My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON officially claimed Anime of the Year. The victory arrived during the awards’ 10th anniversary celebration in Tokyo, where millions of fan votes and judge selections helped determine the winners across dozens of categories.

Competition for the top prize was fierce this year. This year’s Anime of the Year nominees included major hits like Dandadan Season 2, Gachiakuta, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, and The Summer Hikaru Died. Even with such heavy competition, My Hero Academia’s final chapter managed to stand above the pack and earn the night’s biggest honor.

My Hero Academia Ends Its Journey On Top

For longtime My Hero Academia fans, the 2026 Anime of the Year victory felt like the perfect ending for one of modern shōnen anime’s defining franchises. The final season adapted the manga’s climactic war arc, bringing years of storytelling to an emotional conclusion centered on Izuku Midoriya’s battle against Tomura Shigaraki and All For One.

The My Hero Academia series had already built a strong awards reputation before 2026. Earlier seasons consistently received nominations at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, while the overall My Hero Academia franchise itself became one of the most recognizable anime brands of the last decade. Winning Anime of the Year for the final season gave the series its biggest achievement yet and marked a full-circle moment for Studio Bones.

The scale of support behind the win was impossible to ignore. Crunchyroll confirmed that the 2026 awards got over 73 million of votes from anime fans around the world, which is a lot more that the 51 million votes the awards got last year. Online reactions exploded almost immediately after the announcement, with many viewers celebrating the fact that the My Hero Academia franchise ended its run with the industry’s most prestigious mainstream anime award.

Why My Hero Academia Deserved Anime Of The Year in 2026

The final season of My Hero Academia succeeded because it delivered exactly what longtime viewers hoped for with its emotional payoff, spectacular action, and meaningful character conclusions. Deku’s growth from a powerless student into the world’s greatest hero finally reached its peak, while supporting characters like Bakugo, Todoroki, and Ochaco each received major moments that paid off years of development.

Animation quality also played a massive role in the series’ victory. Studio Bones animated a lot of the key battles with cinematic-level visuals, fluid choreography, and dramatic lighting that made the war arc feel larger than anything the franchise had attempted before. Fans especially loved and praised the scale of the Deku and Shigaraki confrontations throughout the season.

Most importantly, the series captured the emotional themes that made My Hero Academia resonate worldwide in the first place. Even during its darkest moments, the story never abandoned its focus on hope, heroism, and human connection. By balancing intense action with emotional storytelling, the My Hero Academia Final Season proved why the franchise remained one of anime’s biggest global phenomena for nearly a decade.

• 

  founded

  
  May 14, 2006
  

  notable shows

  In/Spectre, Tower of God, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Shenmue the Animation

  Crunchyroll is a North American-based streaming service owned by Sony that focuses largely on Japanese anime but also covers several East Asian drama series. The service is available in several countries and has a small catalog of self-created and published series, with most of its content licensed with partners overseas.

  
  

• 
  

  

  
  My Hero Academia – Season 8
  

  Release Date

  October 4, 2025
  

  Network

  TBS, MBS, Nippon TV, YTV, CBC, Tulip Television, BSN, tys, NBC, FBS, Chukyo TV, RNB, FCT, HBC, STV, RKK, KNB, i-Television, SBS, IBC, BSS, MRO, OBS, TUF, RSK, TUY, tbc, RKB, HTV, YBS, SBC, KUTV, RAB, TVI, YBC, RBC, UTY, RCC, MRT, atv, MBC, TSB, MMT, TeNY, RNC, NIB, KKT, TOS, KTK, NKT, ABS, JRT, Daiichi-TV, FBC, RKC, KYT, KRY

  Episodes

  11