The post-apocalyptic mystery series Tengoku Daimakyo won Anime of the Season in the Spring 2023 Anime Awards, marking it as the first Production I.G and Disney+ exclusive series to win at Anime Trending.
Tengoku Daimakyo was previously ranked #16 in the Pre-Spring 2023 Anime Polls but continued to climb the ranks during the last four weeks of the season. By the eighth week, the series dominated the polls in first place, beating out fan favorites like【OSHI NO KO】by 51 votes, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury by 68 votes, and Hell’s Paradise by 223 votes.
Additionally, Tengoku Daimakyo took home two genre awards in Favorite Mystery or Psychological Anime and Favorite Supernatural Anime.
Tengoku Daimakyo is the first from the Disney+ lineup to break the usual monopoly of Crunchyroll-acquired shows winning Anime of the Season or Anime of the Year. In the past, the Disney+ series Summertime Rendering almost clinched the same awards but placed third in the Final Spring 2022 Anime Tally and second for the Anime of the Year 2022 Polls in the 9th Anime Trending Awards.
Both the anime adaptation’s director and the original manga creator reacted to the victory in separate tweets:
【OSHI NO KO】Dominates the Character, Genre, and Favorite Opening Theme Awards in Spring 2023 Anime Awards
The drama mystery 【OSHI NO KO】 took home four awards this spring, most notably the Best Female Character and Best Supporting Female Character awards through Kana Arima. Her passion for the idol industry, her due diligence to take up any role, and her humbling journey of self-discovery likely dazzled fans, enough that they quite literally catapulted her into stardom. Arima is the first female character in Anime Trending history to obtain both awards in a single season.
【OSHI NO KO】 also secured the Favorite Drama Anime award and the Favorite Opening Theme Award for “IDOL” by YOASOBI. “IDOL” is the first Japanese song to reach #1 on U.S. Billboard Global Hot 100, and it’s no surprise that it’s the second YOASOBI song to win a seasonal Anime Trending theme song award. The first one was “Shukufuku,” the ending theme song of the first season of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
The second season of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury managed to win the Best Male Character and Best Supporting Male Character awards through Guel Jeturk. His tremendous character growth from a cocky young master to a pacifist may have inspired fans to vote for him, and he now shares this double-win feat with Alstolfo (Fate/Apocrypha), who won both awards back in Summer 2017.
Together, Arima and Jeturk’s double wins mark the first season ever in Anime Trending history where all the character awards were won by supporting characters. Despite their popularity, the main characters of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury — Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran — failed to grab any nominations this year. Mercury placed 8th overall in the Final Character Awards and was nominated for the Wildcard Round, while Rembran was nominated for Girl of the Year last year but was not nominated for the Wildcard Round.
At the annual level, the only character to have achieved both Best Character and Best Supporting Character was Rem (Re:Zero) during the 3rd Anime Trending Awards.
Ganta and Isaki’s Love Transcends Space and Time as the Favorite Couple or Ship
The two leads from Insomniacs After School won Favorite Couple or Ship in the Spring 2023 Anime Awards after the emotional firework festival episode that captured the fans’ hearts between Week 6 to Week 8. Ganta and Isaki toppled the popular ship of Kyoutarou Ichikawa and Anna Yamada (The Dangers in My Heart) with a 152-vote lead. Despite the loss, The Dangers in My Heart still won the Favorite Romance Anime Award.
Other couples that contested for the top spot this season included Mitsumi Iwakura and Sousuke Shima (Skip and Loafer) and Akito Yamada and Akane Kinoshita (My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999). All four ships were from brand new shows, outranking former champions Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki (TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You), who won the Couple-Ship of the Year at the 7th Anime Trending Awards and Miorine Rembran and Suletta Mercury (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury), who won Couple-Ship of the Season in Fall 2022. Both ships were nowhere to be found in the Final Top 10 Tally of the Couple Ship Poll for Spring 2023.
Other anime that won at least one anime award this season include MASHLE: Magic and Muscles in Favorite Comedy Anime, KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World in Favorite Fantasy Anime, Blue Orchestra in Favorite Music Anime, and Skip and Loafer in Favorite Slice of Life Anime.
The full list of awards and results is available on our Spring 2023 Anime Awards Winners Portal.
Check out how the community reacted to the winners on Facebook and Twitter.
For the list of Spring 2023 anime that are nominated for Anime of the Year and the other awards to be presented in Anime Trending’s 10th Annual Anime Awards, visit the 10th Anime Trending Awards Nominee Portal.
