The biggest celebration of Japanese film, the Japan Academy Prize, is gearing up for its 48th annual ceremony on March 14, 2025. Ahead of then, the Japan Academy Prize Association revealed the nominees for all the top awards today. The Animation category is filled with some of the biggest anime films from 2024, including Look Back, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, and more!
The full list for Animation of the Year includes:
Ganbatte Ikimasshoi
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle
Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram
Look Back
Outside of anime, the latest Kingdom live-action film, Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General, is up for Picture of the Year, with director Shinsuke Sato up for Best Director, lead actor and supporting actor Kento Yamazaki and Takao Osawa up for their respective awards as well as many production awards. The Cells at Work live-action film also picked up a few nominations, with Mana Ashida up for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Face 2 fAKE for Outstanding Achievement in Music, Masumi Miura for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Hiroshi Matsuo for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing.Golden Kamuy’s live-action film also achieved some nominations, including Daisuke Soma for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Kota Sato for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction, Emiko Tsuyuki and Toshihiro Isomi for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Anna Yamada for Newcomer of the Year in her performance as Asirpa.
The 47th Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year went to the latest Hayao Miyazaki anime film, The Boy and the Heron. At the same time, Godzilla Minus One won the top prize, winning Picture of the Year.The Japan Academy Prize awards the best in films released in the last calendar year in Japan, including foreign movies that may have been released earlier than that in their domestic countries but only released in Japanese theaters in 2024. Its 48th iteration is set to be held at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa on March 14.
Sources: Oricon, Japan Academy Prize official website
