Yuri!!! On Ice wins all the Crunchyroll Anime Awards it was nominated for (literally)

[Ian Wolf]

In Crunchyroll’s first ever Anime Awards, figure skating series Yuri!!! On Ice is on course to make a clean sweep and win all seven of the categories it was nominated in, winning six with one yet to be revealed.

So far, the series has won “Best Opening”, “Best Ending”, “Best Animation”, “Best Boy” (for central character, Japanese figure skater Yuri Katsuki), “Best Couple” (for Yuri K. and his Russian coach Victor Nikiforov), and “Most Heartwarming Scene”.

The series is also up for “Anime of the Year”, but this is not yet been announced. The winner will be revealed live at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards party on 28th January. However, Yuri!!! On Ice is almost certainly favourite to win if the other results are anything to go by, with the show winning all but one of its prizes with over 50% of the vote. The one that didn’t, “Best Animation”, won with 49% of the vote.

Elsewhere, the only other series to win more than one prize are time-travel murder mystery ERASED for “Best Drama” and “Villain of the Year” (not mentioned here to avoid spoilers, scroll down to results to see name) and supernatural comedy Mob Psycho 100 for “Best Action” and “Best Fight Scene”.

Meanwhile My Hero Academia won “Hero of the Year” (for Izuku “Deku” Midoriya), RE:Zero took “Best Girl” (for Rem), and Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto! picked up “Best Comedy”.

The nominations for the final award, “Anime of the Year” are (in alphabetical order) ERASED, Joker Game, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Mob Psycho 100, My Hero Academia, RE:Zero, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Yuri!!! On Ice.

Full Results (contains spoilers)

Hero of the Year

1. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya (My Hero Academia): 32% (38,325 votes)
2. Satoru Fujinuma (ERASED): 28% (32,869)
3. Mob (Psycho Mob 100): 24% (29,159)
4. Mumei (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress): 7% (8,346)

Other: 9% (10,281)

The number of votes cast: 118,980

Villain of the Year

1. Gaku Yashiro (ERASED): 33% (35,805)
2. Yoshikage Kira (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure): 33% (35,390)
3. Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia): 18% (19,129)
4. Biba (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress): 9% (9,775)

Other: 7% (7,794)

The number of votes cast: 107,893

Best Boy

1. Yuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! On Ice): 58% (83,485)
2. Arataka Reigen (Mob Psycho 100): 17% (25,043)
3. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya (My Hero Academia): 16% (22,563)
4. Yakumo (Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju): 3% (4,217)

Other: 8,890

The number of votes cast: 123,891

Best Girl

1. Rem (RE:Zero): 60% (66,441)
2. Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia): 15% (16,282)
3. Nico Niiyama (Kiznaiver): 10% (11,625)
4. Mumei (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress): 8% (8,376)

Other: 8% (8,648)

The number of votes cast: 111,372

Best Fight Scene

1. Shigeo vs. Koyama from Ep. 8 (Mob Psycho 100): 40% (38,255)
2. Deku vs. Kacchan from Ep. 7 (My Hero Academia): 25% (23,630)
3. Mumei vs. Kabane from Ep. 2 (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress): 18% (16,910)
4. Altland vs. Moss from Ep. 32 (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans): 8% (7,475)

Other: 9% (8,844)

The number of votes cast: 95,114

Best Animation

1. Yuri!!! On Ice: 49% (68,535)
2. Mob Psycho 100: 28% (39,766)
3. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: 12% (16,764)
4. Flip Flappers: 6% (8,525)

Other: 4% (6,122)

The number of votes cast: 139,712

Most Heartwarming Scene

1. The kiss from Ep. 7 (Yuri!!! On Ice): 55% (74,617)
2. Kayo’s first homecooked meal from Ep. 9 (ERASED): 31% (42,092)
3. Kakeru and Suwa learn to understand each other from Ep. 4 (Orange): 7% (8,987)
4. Makoto flies over her new home from Ep. 12 (Flying Witch): 4% (5,319)

Other: 3% (4,750)

The number of votes cast: 135,765

Drama of the Year

1. ERASED: 51% (46,528)
2. Kiznaiver: 22% (19,597)
3. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: 17% (15,698)
4. Joker Game: 5% (4,413)

Other: 5% (4,637)

The number of votes cast: 90,873

Best Couple

1. Yuri and Victor (Yuri!!! On Ice): 69% (99,194)
2. Saturo and Kayo (ERASED): 14% (19,377)
3. Katsuhira and Sonozaki (Kiznaiver): 8% (11,133)
4. Luluco and Nova (Space Patrol Luluco): 5% (7,347)

Other: 4% (6,082)

The number of votes cast: 143,133

Best Comedy

1. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto!: 36% (33,102)
2. KONOSUBA-God’s blessing on this beautiful world!: 33% (30,174)
3. Keijo!!!!!!!!: 16% (14,692)
4. Space Patrol Luluco: 9% (8,567)

Other: 6% (5,472)

The number of votes cast: 63,850

Best Action

1. Mob Psycho 100: 36% (33,460)
2. My Hero Academia: 25% (23,402)
3. Drifters: 21% (19,362)
4. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: 13% (11,848)

Other: 6% (5,769)

The number of votes cast: 93,841

Best Opening

1. Yuri!!! On Ice: 57% (80,882)
2. Mob Psycho 100: 23% (32,225)
3. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: 7% (9,863)
4. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: 3% (3,663)

Other: 10% (14,115)

The number of votes cast: 140,748

Best Closing

1. Yuri!!! On Ice: 56% (71,144)
2. Mob Psycho 100: 19% (24,754)
3. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: 9% (11,208)
4. Space Patrol Luluco: 6% (8,048)

Other: 10% (12,221)

The number of votes cast: 127,375

Grand total of votes cast: 1,492,547

Continue reading...

 

[crashmatt]

I can't hide the fact I find these results very disappointing. To claim it has the best OP & ED of any show last year is just plain stupid. I suspect its the effect of block voting coupled with the fact the show is still fresh in peoples memories where as older shows fade over time.

It's also worth noting that several other big shows were not included in the awards making the whole voting processes very restrictive.

Yuri on Ice will with their anime of the year award which is clearly isn't, and before anyone says it, no I don't think Re:Zero should with it either as its too divisive.

I also suspect Anime Limited will be all over Yuri on ice so we will be back on board the hype train at some point this year when they announce a CE with a stupid frosted effect packaging.

 

[Rui]

Anything not on the shortlist was obviously going to be screwed (they should have done a huge campaign inviting submissions for the shortlisting really to get a more diverse spread) but I don't see anything wrong with the results. Sure, recency bias is helping it a lot but it's objectively one of the biggest hits of 2016 on sales figures alone. Nothing is stopping fans of other series getting all excited and voting/buying except that they aren't. It's interesting that there's surprise when members of a demographic constantly dismissed as inconsequential end up pushing their favourite things to win due to caring more about the result than the supposed majority. If a minority group can arrange bloc voting (which I haven't personally seen any signs of, but let's say they did), why can't majorities do the same?

Sorry, forever salty at being part of a demographic that certain UK companies actively try not to cater to.

Love Live Sunshine was also a big hit on sales IIRC but personally I felt it was a huge step down from the original Love Live :/

R

 

[IdiomaticLynx]

Sure, recency bias is helping it a lot but it's objectively one of the biggest hits of 2016 on sales figures alone.

The thing I always find disappointing in awards like these is that the popularity completely shadows all other factors. I can get behind the idea that it was great/popular enough to win most of these awards. From what I gather it was received very well and this must be attributable to some of its aspects, be it animation, best boy, best couple, etc...

But talking about the OP & ED, I have the feeling that the show itself should be less of a factor. There are quite a few shows that I like the OP more of than the show itself and vice versa. Now YoI had quite a nice OP, but the ED I can't remember, so I assume it must have been rather forgettable(?).
Anyway, at the end of the day, these awards are all just for fun and games.

 

[Buzz201]

I can't hide the fact I find these results very disappointing. To claim it has the best OP & ED of any show last year is just plain stupid. I suspect its the effect of block voting coupled with the fact the show is still fresh in peoples memories where as older shows fade over time.

It's also worth noting that several other big shows were not included in the awards making the whole voting processes very restrictive.

Yuri on Ice will with their anime of the year award which is clearly isn't, and before anyone says it, no I don't think Re:Zero should with it either as its too divisive.

I also suspect Anime Limited will be all over Yuri on ice so we will be back on board the hype train at some point this year when they announce a CE with a stupid frosted effect packaging.

I'm sorry, but how is Yuri!!! on Ice clearly not Anime of the Year? I don't mean to defend Yuri!!! on Ice (even though I do think it is AOTY), I just think maybe if you want to criticise other people's choices, you should put forward your own and have a reasoning besides it. To be rather blunt, you claimed not to have even tried the show, so I'm not even sure how you formed your opinion.

I'm getting fed up of the whole "This show isn't aimed at me, therefore it must be awfiul" mindset amongst a lot of fans. How selfish can they be? Not all anime has to be aimed at them.

And quite frankly, the UK's largest anime distributor buying a critically acclaimed and well liked series, and giving it a nice CE, really shouldn't be a surprise at this point...

The thing I always find disappointing in awards like these is that the popularity completely shadows all other factors. I can get behind the idea that it was great/popular enough to win most of these awards. From what I gather it was received very well and this must be attributable to some of its aspects, be it animation, best boy, best couple, etc...

But talking about the OP & ED, I have the feeling that the show itself should be less of a factor. There are quite a few shows that I like the OP more of than the show itself and vice versa. Now YoI had quite a nice OP, but the ED I can't remember, so I assume it must have been rather forgettable(?).
Anyway, at the end of the day, these awards are all just for fun and games.

I suspect a lot of it's votes were for the one-off episode 10 ED, featuring the same song, but depicting Yuuri aggressively flirting and pole dancing with Victor. Which was very funny.

The criteria for Best OP & ED is quite subjective, do you judge the song? do you the judge main animation? do you judge any tweaks? It's hard to get everyone on the same page, so I don't think you can say anybody judged it wrong.

 

[Rui]

The thing I always find disappointing in awards like these is that the popularity completely shadows all other factors. I can get behind the idea that it was great/popular enough to win most of these awards. From what I gather it was received very well and this must be attributable to some of its aspects, be it animation, best boy, best couple, etc...

But talking about the OP & ED, I have the feeling that the show itself should be less of a factor. There are quite a few shows that I like the OP more of than the show itself and vice versa. Now YoI had quite a nice OP, but the ED I can't remember, so I assume it must have been rather forgettable(?).
Anyway, at the end of the day, these awards are all just for fun and games.

I personally liked the YOI ED (visually and musically) more than the OP but the OP and its singer was trending like crazy in Japan and it definitely picked up a lot of fans into that kind of artsy stuff. At the end of the day, popular stuff is popular for a reason - there were a lot of sports titles and pandering titles released last year but YOI is the only show selling multiple tens of thousands of discs in a week at the moment. And when something is popular and hits the right emotional notes, people are drawn to its music, art, message etc along the way. There's a definite correlation in my collection between the shows I really like and me buying the soundtrack for them.

But yes, awards aren't really objective and are just a bit of fun. That's definitely the important part

R

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

I definitely would be interested in how these results would have panned out if Yuri on Ice had aired at the start of the year rather than the end to see if the hype stood the test of time. I think people have a tendency to prefer things that are more recent in their memory. Anyway, I still think these awards are null and void in my eyes seeing as Sound! and JoJo got snubbed so hard in order to push advertising for series like Mob Psycho and Yuri on Ice.

 

[Rui]

The sales figures aren't the be all and end all but I do think they prove that Yuuri-mania isn't entirely down to recency bias. Nothing was stopping the same audience mass-buying other shows all year long or setting social media aflame. Where were those people all year?

(Answer: Buying Osomatsu-san discs; had that got a sequel I bet there would be a lot of complaints about it being included in any award listings ever too.)

I think that shows like Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu deserve to do better but realistically that's a very mature drama about a very niche topic which actively alienates people with no interest in Japanese history, performance art, Japanese voice acting or subtlety. Yuuri!!! On Ice hit the magic formula of taking a bunch of individually niche topics and packaging them up into a lovely, wintery, feel-good series blending action, romance and rivalry that a much more mainstream audience in almost every corner of the world could enjoy. And at the same time, it broke new ground (that shouldn't have needed breaking, except that it did) in daring to tell the story it wanted instead of adhering to the commonly-held misconception that taking risks is commercial suicide. Even if I didn't like it already, the fact that it's gone and done that and succeeded has cemented its importance to the anime industry.

I like that they published the voting breakdown though, so people who (say) hated ERASED can still see how many people acknowledged the latest JoJo antagonist etc.

R

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

The sales figures aren't the be all and end all but I do think they prove that Yuuri-mania isn't entirely down to recency bias. Nothing was stopping the same audience mass-buying other shows all year long or setting social media aflame. Where were those people all year?

(Answer: Buying Osomatsu-san discs; had that got a sequel I bet there would be a lot of complaints about it being included in any award listings ever too.)

I think that shows like Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu deserve to do better but realistically that's a very mature drama about a very niche topic which actively alienates people with no interest in Japanese history, performance art, Japanese voice acting or subtlety. Yuuri!!! On Ice hit the magic formula of taking a bunch of individually niche topics and packaging them up into a lovely, wintery, feel-good series blending action, romance and rivalry that a much more mainstream audience in almost every corner of the world could enjoy. And at the same time, it broke new ground (that shouldn't have needed breaking, except that it did) in daring to tell the story it wanted instead of adhering to the commonly-held misconception that taking risks is commercial suicide.

I like that they published the voting breakdown though, so people who (say) hated ERASED can still see how many people acknowledged the latest JoJo antagonist etc.

R

Given this is a CR poll, I'm not sure Japanese sales numbers really have much to do with things, seeing as this is clearly a poll aimed at Western viewers. Whilst this wouldn't stop Japanese people from voting anyway, I am going off the assumption that the majority of the votes came from the US and Europe.

 

[Rui]

Given this is a CR poll, I'm not sure Japanese sales numbers really have much to do with things, seeing as this is clearly a poll aimed at Western viewers. Whilst this wouldn't stop Japanese people from voting anyway, I am going off the assumption that the majority of the votes came from the US and Europe.

I don't think the markets are so different in this case. While you can get strange variations (some massive Japanese hits will never, ever be licensed in the US as they're too culturally different, while some US hits barely registered in Japan) it's plain to see that the YOI fever is playing out very similarly in both markets at the moment online. If 60,000+ Japanese fans liked it enough to shell out a small fortune for a disc for something they already watched, it's obviously not just a bit of silly hype that will fade away in a couple of weeks. That's way too high a number to be dismissed as a passing fad.

R

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

I don't think the markets are so different in this case. While you can get strange variations (some massive Japanese hits will never, ever be licensed in the US as they're too culturally different, while some US hits barely registered in Japan) it's plain to see that the YOI fever is playing out very similarly in both markets at the moment online. If 60,000+ Japanese fans liked it enough to shell out a small fortune for a disc for something they already watched, it's obviously not just a bit of silly hype that will fade away in a couple of weeks. That's way too high a number to be dismissed as a passing fad.

R

Perhaps. I guess only time will tell.

 

[Buzz201]

(Answer: Buying Osomatsu-san discs; had that got a sequel I bet there would be a lot of complaints about it being included in any award listings ever too.)

R

It kinda did. Did you miss that really grim image of Osomatsu getting ****** by a horse?

I mean I appreciate the joke, and it is a solid joke, but sometimes tell is better than show.

 

[thedoctor2016]

If AL drop a real nice CE for YOI then yes I do want a nice CE for it.

 

[Rui]

It kinda did. Did you miss that really grim image of Osomatsu getting ****** by a horse?

I mean I appreciate the joke, and it is a solid joke, but sometimes tell is better than show.

Hey, if your only sequel is a half-hour episode shilling for a horseracing organisation you may as well push it as far as you can. It's not as though he hasn't been ****ed by weird boys with gigantic flagpoles before in his desperation for success.

(In all seriousness I accept your discomfort with it. But I want a proper sequel. Around 300 episodes would be about right.)

R

 

[Buzz201]

Hey, if your only sequel is a half-hour episode shilling for a horseracing organisation you may as well push it as far as you can. It's not as though he hasn't been ****ed by weird boys with gigantic flagpoles before in his desperation for success.

(In all seriousness I accept your discomfort with it. But I want a proper sequel. Around 300 episodes would be about right.)

R

I mean they kind of had to. If you're doing a horseracing special, you have to make that joke. I guess I should just be glad Choromatsu was the set-up, not the punchline.

In all seriousness, I expect such an image breaches the OPA, so that special probably won't get a UK release.

 

[Rui]

In all seriousness, I expect such an image breaches the OPA, so that special probably won't get a UK release.

I still doubt the main series itself will ever get a UK release for other reasons; we have a terrible history in general for this kind of show despite its obvious appeal. Might have to get the Australian release you pointed out at some point for the main series just to show support, even though Australian regions are annoying and I recklessly bought the JP discs.

R

 

[Buzz201]

I still doubt the main series itself will ever get a UK release for other reasons; we have a terrible history in general for this kind of show despite its obvious appeal. Might have to get the Australian release you pointed out at some point for the main series just to show support, even though Australian regions are annoying and I r̶e̶c̶k̶l̶e̶s̶s̶l̶y̶ bought the JP discs.

R

It doesn't even have a US distributor, I suspect the JP release might be your only chance for blu-rays.

Also, if your financial adviser asks, just say Ichimatsu made you do it...

 

[crashmatt]

I'm sorry, but how is Yuri!!! on Ice clearly not Anime of the Year? I don't mean to defend Yuri!!! on Ice (even though I do think it is AOTY), I just think maybe if you want to criticise other people's choices, you should put forward your own and have a reasoning besides it. To be rather blunt, you claimed not to have even tried the show, so I'm not even sure how you formed your opinion.

I'm getting fed up of the whole "This show isn't aimed at me, therefore it must be awfiul" mindset amongst a lot of fans. How selfish can they be? Not all anime has to be aimed at them.

And quite frankly, the UK's largest anime distributor buying a critically acclaimed and well liked series, and giving it a nice CE, really shouldn't be a surprise at this point...


I suspect a lot of it's votes were for the one-off episode 10 ED, featuring the same song, but depicting Yuuri aggressively flirting and pole dancing with Victor. Which was very funny.

The criteria for Best OP & ED is quite subjective, do you judge the song? do you the judge main animation? do you judge any tweaks? It's hard to get everyone on the same page, so I don't think you can say anybody judged it wrong.

You know what? I am a selfish viewer I watch what I like and avoid things I won’t like. I’m sure many people do the same.

I haven’t seen Yuri nor will I ever watch it but at the same time I’m not implying its **** or not popular either. I am however sick to death of seeing it on my twitter feed mainly thanks to Crunchyroll and their ridiculous spoof commentary on the show. It got a far bigger push than any other show that season which they have every right to do but is no less annoying either. I have also seen comments on supposed animation issues which got worse as the show progressed and many of the reviews I’ve read on other sites have been mixed.

The awards themselves were open to abuse as you could vote more than once but as said maybe those people ‘cared more’ or whatever.
I would have loved Re:Zero to win anime of the year but I know it won’t for reasons previously stated , in fact based on what i’ve seen I would argue Erased should have won it as it dealt with theme’s and issues you rarely see in anime.

 

[Buzz201]

You know what? I am a selfish viewer I watch what I like and avoid things I won’t like. I’m sure many people do the same.

I haven’t seen Yuri nor will I ever watch it but at the same time I’m not implying its **** or not popular either. I am however sick to death of seeing it on my twitter feed mainly thanks to Crunchyroll and their ridiculous spoof commentary on the show. It got a far bigger push than any other show that season which they have every right to do but is no less annoying either. I have also seen comments on supposed animation issues which got worse as the show progressed and many of the reviews I’ve read on other sites have been mixed.

The awards themselves were open to abuse as you could vote more than once but as said maybe those people ‘cared more’ or whatever.
I would have loved Re:Zero to win anime of the year but I know it won’t for reasons previously stated , in fact based on what i’ve seen I would argue Erased should have won it as it dealt with theme’s and issues you rarely see in anime.

There's a difference between avoiding things you won't like and criticising them. I didn't watch Flip Flappers, it didn't look like it was for me, that doesn't make it bad. Many people on Twitter seem to be expressly saying that anything that forms part of a genre/style they don't like or isn't aimed at them is bad.

Then unfollow people, or mute their RTs. You're responsible for what appears on your Twitter timeline, not anyone else.

If that's the argument you're using, a biracial homosexual relationship of characters that aren't high school age probably also qualifies as themes and issues you rarely see in anime...

 

[Ian Wolf]

If that's the argument you're using, a biracial homosexual relationship of characters that aren't high school age probably also qualifies as themes and issues you rarely see in anime...

Is YOI's main relationship biracial? I don't think anything about the race of Yuri or Victor is mentioned.