Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Character Design

Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Character Design
Awarded for	Best character design of the previous year
Country	United States Japan
First award	Takahiro Kishida — JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind (2019)
Currently held by	Naoyuki Onda — Dandadan (2025)
Most wins	Tadashi Hiramatsu (2)
Most nominations	Akira Matsushima (3)
Website	Crunchyroll Anime Awards

The Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Character Design is a character design award given at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards since its third edition in 2019. It is given for the best character design from the previous year. Winners are determined through a combined voting process by judges and public voting. ^[1]

Takahiro Kishida first won the award in 2019 for his character design of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind . In the latest edition in 2025, Naoyuki Onda won the award for his character design of Dandadan . ^{[2] [3]}

Winners and nominees

2010s

Year	Designer(s)	Anime
2018 (3rd) [4]
	Takahiro Kishida, original design by Hirohiko Araki	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind (season 4)
	Akiko Takase	Violet Evergarden
	Ayumi Kurashima, original design by Go Nagai	Devilman Crybaby
	Kasumi Fukagawa	Zombie Land Saga
	Hiroshi Shimizu, original design by Tetsuya Chiba	Megalo Box
	Yeti (for Sanrio)	Aggretsuko
2019 (4th) [5] [6]
	Satoshi Iwataki, original design by Hiroyuki Asada	Dororo
	Kayoko Ishikawa, original design by Miggy	Sarazanmai
	Takahiko Abiru, original design by Makoto Yukimura	Vinland Saga
	Tsunenori Saito, original design by Eisaku Kubonouchi	Carole & Tuesday
	Yuko Iwasa, original design by Boichi	Dr. Stone
	Yuko Yahiro, original design by Aka Akasaka	Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

2020s

Year	Designer(s)	Anime
2020 (5th) [7]
	Mayuka Itou, original designs by Iro Aida	Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
	Genice Chan and Yuusuke Yoshigaki	BNA: Brand New Animal
	Masashi Kudoh and Miho Tanino, original design by SIU	Tower of God
	Naoyuki Asano, original design by Sumito Oowara	Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
	Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihito Hishinuma	Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
	Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Hirotaka Katō	Great Pretender
2021 (6th) [8] [9]
	Tadashi Hiramatsu, original design by Gege Akutami	Jujutsu Kaisen
	Michinori Chiba	SK8 the Infinity
	Baku Kinoshita and Hiromi Nakayama	Odd Taxi
	loundraw and Yuichi Takahashi	Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song
	Atsuko Nozaki, original design by Sōsuke Tōka	Ranking of Kings
	Saki Takahashi	Wonder Egg Priority
2021/2022 (7th) [10] [11]
	Akira Matsushima, original design by Koyoharu Gotouge	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc (season 2 cour 2)
	Yoh Yoshinari	Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
	Masanori Shino, original design by Hirohiko Araki	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean (season 5)
	Kazumasa Ishida, original design by Shinichi Fukuda	My Dress-Up Darling
	Atsuko Nozaki, original design by Sōsuke Tōka	Ranking of Kings (cour 2)
	Kazuaki Shimada, original design by Tatsuya Endo	Spy × Family
2022/2023 (8th) [12] [13]
	Sayaka Koiso and Tadashi Hiramatsu, original design by Gege Akutami	Jujutsu Kaisen (season 2)
	Akira Matsushima, original design by Koyoharu Gotouge	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc (season 3)
	Kanna Hirayama, original design by Mengo Yokoyari	Oshi no Ko
	Kazutaka Sugiyama, original design by Tatsuki Fujimoto	Chainsaw Man
	Kouji Hisaki, original design by Yuji Kaku	Hell's Paradise
	Kouji Tajima	Trigun Stampede
2023/2024 (9th) [14] [15]
	Naoyuki Onda, original designs by Yukinobu Tatsu	Dandadan
	Akira Matsushima, original design by Koyoharu Gotouge	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc (season 4)
	Naoki Takeda, original design by Ryoko Kui	Delicious in Dungeon
	Reiko Nagasawa, original design by Tsukasa Abe	Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
	Tetsuya Nishio, original design by Naoya Matsumoto	Kaiju No. 8
	Yukiko Nakatani, original design by Touko Shino	The Apothecary Diaries

Records

Designer	Wins	Nominations	Anime
Tadashi Hiramatsu	2		Jujutsu Kaisen ( Season 1 , Season 2 )
Akira Matsushima	1	3	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ( Entertainment District Arc , Swordsmith Village Arc , Hashira Training Arc )
Atsuko Nozaki	0	2	Ranking of Kings (Cour 1, Cour 2)

References

1. "Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024: Your Ultimate Guide". December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
2. Grein, Paul (May 25, 2025). "Crunchyroll Reveals 2025 Anime Awards Winners: Full List". Billboard . Tokyo. Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
3. "Keiichirou Saitou". MyAnimeList.net. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
4. Schley, Matt (February 17, 2019). "Devilman Crybaby Wins Anime of the Year at Crunchyroll Anime Awards". Otaku USA Magazine . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
5. Orsini, Lauren (January 10, 2020). "Here Are All The Nominees For The 2019 Crunchyroll Anime Awards". Forbes . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
6. Ramée, Jordan (February 15, 2020). "Every Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2020 Winner, Including Anime Of The Year". GameSpot . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
7. Luster, Joseph (February 19, 2021). "Rewatch the 2021 Anime Awards Here (and Find Out Who Won!)". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
8. Schneider, Michael (January 18, 2022). "Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2022 Nominations Include '86 Eighty-Six,' 'Jujutsu Kaisen,' 'Oddtaxi' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
9. Goslin, Austen (February 9, 2022). "Attack on Titan Final Season Part 1 wins top prize at Crunchyroll's Anime Awards". Polygon . Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
10. Eisenbeis, Richard (March 4, 2023). "All the Winners of the 7th Annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards". Anime News Network . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
11. Patches, Matt (March 4, 2023). "Anime Awards 2023 name Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as Anime of the Year". Polygon . Retrieved March 4, 2023.
12. Mateo, Alex (January 17, 2024). "Crunchyroll Anime Awards Reveals 2024 Nominees". Anime News Network . Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
13. Hazra, Adriana (March 2, 2024). "All the Winners of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024". Anime News Network . Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
14. Pedersen, Erik (April 3, 2025). "Crunchyroll Anime Awards Nominations Revealed". Deadline . Archived from the original on April 3, 2025. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
15. Grein, Paul (May 25, 2025). "Crunchyroll Reveals 2025 Anime Awards Winners: Full List". Billboard . Tokyo. Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved May 28, 2025.