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In the wake of the first season ofSolo Levelingsweeping the Crunchyroll anime awardsby winning nine out of its thirteen nominations, fans are divided on the show’s rapidly rising popularity. WhileSolo Levelingfans are overjoyed to have the love for their favorite series validated for millions to see, other anime fans have ignited a wave of criticism against the state of such award shows and how many series don’t get the attention they deserve.
Some anime watchers accusethe high performance ofSolo Levelingof being due to a recency bias and the fact that Season 2 of the show had just finished airing by the time the awards came around. Fans criticizing the series’ top-level showing feel that it once again underscores the unfairness of the awards. In its wake, the Crunchyroll awards have spawned a rising tide of detractors who are unhappy with this year’s results.
Solo Leveling’s Decisive Win Stirred Discussions
Hate and Praise Abound
Solo LevelingSeason 1 managed to earn many awardsthis year, among these being: anime of the year, best main character, best new series, best action, best score, best ending, and multiple awards for best voice artist. While there was definitive excitement about the series’ win among many anime fans, it seems like an overwhelming chorus of negativity dominated discussions online.
“Every year, it gets worse. You shouldn’t be able to vote on a category unless you’ve watched like 3 out of 6 nominees at least or something, give them a test, a CAPTCHA, please. Too many average Joe voting, and the actual anime fans don’t give a [crap] about these rewards, I feel bad for the Japanese anime staff.” -ReddituserNulazanal expressing disappointment with the award results.
“This year awards has gotta be the worst I’ve ever seen in my life.” -Reddit user One_Loquat_7950feelingdismayed with this year’s anime awards.
Some anime watchers felt that voters criminally underlooked fan favorites likeFrieren: Beyond Journey’s EndandApothecary Diariesbecause they are harder to get invested in compared to the engaging action premise ofSung Jinwoo and his quest to continue leveling up.Solo Levelingmanaged to break several watch and engagement milestones during its Season 2 run, surpassed anime titanOne Pieceto become the most-rated anime on Crunchyroll, and crashed streaming servers multiple times during anticipated episode drops. It’s clear that the show’s base of support has quickly swelled, which leads to many anime fans feeling like the award shows, perhaps more than ever, are nothing more than a popularity contest.
“Popularity Poll Awards 2025” -Reddit user Nerellos,crystallizinga sentiment felt by many anime fans.
Many Feel Solo Leveling Season 1 Was Undeserving
Blaming Solo Leveling’s Victory on External Factors
One common sticking point among detractors was that people voting on the different anime categories weren’t given clear enough instructions on what they were actually voting for.
“Wooooo 2nd year in a row an anime wins because Crunchyroll straight up refuse to say it’s only season 1 of the series”- Reddit user 96Mute96reactingto the news that Solo Leveling has won anime of the year.
Critics of the awards believe that Season 1’s win was unfairly influenced by the hype built up by Season 2, which led to the results being skewed. While a panel of judges makes a selection of final nominees for each category,the winners at the Crunchyroll anime awardsare largely determined by fan votes. Compare this to the Game Awards, where judges account for 90% of the vote in the final results, and public voting accounts for only 10%. Potential problems can arise from this approach. The average anime viewer and potential voter is likely not watching every or even most popular shows all the way through every season, making it hard to judge ones they haven’t seen properly.
In this environment, it leads to a common scenario where one show, the most popular and the one with the largest number of viewers, runs away with the awards simply due to sheer vote volume. This is further supported by the fact that Crunchyroll saw an earth-shattering almost 50% increase in votes from the previous year,managing to set a new recordat 51 million votes for their 2025 Anime Awards.
While some anime fans may feel thatSolo Levelingis undeserving of so many accolades, it’s clear that it managed to win spectacularly in a record-breaking year, so at the very least, it should be respected as a top contender next year, andwhen we eventually get a Season 3.
Solo Leveling
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A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
