Rules

Here you can see the rules I use to determine what anime are and aren’t eligible for a specific year or category of the awards!

General Rules

For an anime to be eligible for awards, the following rules apply:

AIR DATE

TV/ONA series:

The anime must have aired and finished in the given year (for TV anime/ONA series)
- For an example, take the year 2024 and 3 sample anime:
  - Anime A is a two cour series carrying over from 2023, and airs from October 2023 to March 2024
    - Anime A is eligible for nearly every category of the 2024 awards, with a couple exceptions
      - Episodes that aired in the Fall 2023 season are NOT eligible for Best Episode, because they aired in 2023. Similarly, the OP and ED from that season are not eligible for Best OP and Best ED (unless they’re also used in the 2024 episodes)
      - However, the Episodes, OP and ED from the Winter 2024 season ARE eligible for the 2024 awards
    - Anime B is a one cour series that aired from April 2024 to June 2024
      - Anime B is eligible for all categories of the 2024 awards
    - Anime C is a two cour series that begins in 2024, and airs from October 2024 to March 2025
      - Anime C is ineligible for nearly every category of the 2024 awards with a couple exceptions, and would instead be eligible in the 2025 awards
        
        Exceptions: Episodes, OP and ED aired in Fall 2024 will be eligible for Best Episode, Best OP and Best ED
- I will make an exception for small runovers – for example, if an anime is a Fall 2024 series, and two episodes get delayed into mid January, I’ll still consider that series for 2024 rather than 2025
- The logic regarding air date is that I want to see a series to completion before judging it. If the story or production is great in the first half but ends up taking a nosedive in the second half, I don’t want to be judging it based only on the first half – I want the whole picture

Movies:

The movie must have become available for streaming online with English subs and/or released in theaters in the west in the given year
- For example, take the year 2024 and 3 sample movies
  - Movie A releases in Japan in Summer 2023, then gets released online in the west in Winter 2024 (either via streaming platforms or fansubs)
    - Movie A is eligible for the 2024 awards
  - Movie B releases in Japan in Winter 2024, then gets a theatrical run in the west in Summer 2024
    - Movie B is eligible for the 2024 awards
  - Movie C releases in Japan in Spring 2024, then gets a theatrical run in the west in Winter 2025
    - Movie C is ineligible for the 2024 awards (but eligible for 2025)

MOVIES

I don’t personally consider it fair to compare TV series and Movies in some production categories, so movies are ineligible for the Best Animation award. Movies are still eligible for all other awards.

CHARACTERS

For characters, there’s a few clarifications on what each category is and who’s eligible

Best Protagonist
- This doesn’t mean “best main character” – only the actual protagonist is eligible
- However, if a series has a deuteragonist who I personally consider equal to the protagonist, then both are eligible for the best protagonist award
  - Ex: Kaguya and Shirogane from Love is War
  - Ex: Holo and Lawrence from Spice and Wolf
Best Supporting Character
- Any character OTHER than the protagonist, an equal deuteragonist, or the main antagonist is eligible. This includes main characters who aren’t the protagonist, deuteragonists who are a step below protagonists, side characters, etc
- Some deuteragonist examples who would fall in Best Supporting are below:
  - Ex: Reigen from Mob Psycho 100 would go in Supporting (Protagonist would be Mob)
  - Ex: Kamina from Gurren Lagann would go in Supporting (Protagonist would be Simon)

SEQUELS

At most, only ONE sequel/spinoff will be nominated for Anime of the Year
- The logic behind this is that I already have a Best Sequel/Spinoff award, and chances are that series will also be nominated for AOTY. Since it already won Best Sequel/Spinoff, then it more or less goes without saying that a different sequel wouldn’t beat it out for AOTY
  - There was one instance of this not happening (in the 2021 awards, when I gave Attack on Titan: Final Season the Best Sequel award, and Fruits Basket: The Final Season the AOTY award), but it was before I implemented this rule and I still stand by the choices

REPEAT WINNERS

I personally find repeat winners spanning multiple years to be boring as a fan and viewer (in the case of a long running series that continues to get new seasons). To mitigate this and prevent my personal favorite series or characters from continuing to win certain categories, I’ve limited which awards can and can’t be won multiple times

Awards that CAN be won repeatedly (with sequels):
- Some overall awards: Best Movie, Sequel/Spinoff and Anime of the Year
Awards that CAN be won repeatedly with a caveat:
- For all the following awards, a SERIES can win the award more than once, but a SPECIFIC character, song or episode cant
  - Most character awards: Best Protagonist, Antagonist, Supporting, Girl, Guy, Couple/Ship
  - Some music awards: Best OP, ED, OST Track, Insert Song
  - Best VA
  - Best Episode
Awards that CAN’T be won more than once:
- All genre awards: Best Action, Adventure/Fantasy, Comedy/SOL, Drama, Romance and Suspense
- Some character awards: Best Cast
- Some music awards: Best Soundtrack and Insert Use
- Some production awards: Best Art, Character Design and Animation
- Some overall awards: Best Story and Most Underrated/Underwatched