The 2026 Oscars have revealed the nominees for their long-established film categories, honoring some of the best and brightest worldwide when it comes to film. Unfortunately, while many movies received the honor of being nominated for Academy Awards, one genre was seemingly absent from the proceedings. With 2025 being a giant year for anime thanks to the likes of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc, and many other entries, fans of the genre might be surprised to learn that the Oscars don’t have good news for the anime world. Taking place this March, the 98th Academy Awards won’t see Tanjiro or Denji get a nod this year.
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In the past, anime has been an up-and-comer for the Academy Awards, with many films of the medium being nominated, or even winning an Oscar. The most prevalent examples were Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and The Boy And The Heron, which both won Best Animated Picture in 2003 and 2024, respectively. This year, however, no anime films were nominated for “Best Animated Feature,” though the list is nothing to sneeze at in terms of cinematic output. The current animated nominees include Zootopia 2, Little Amelie or The Character of Rain. Elio, Arco, and KPop Demon Hunters. While the Netflix demon hunters have plenty in common with anime, the singing trio doesn’t fall under the medium, and thus, anime has been left out in the cold.
The Anime Movies of 2025 That Missed The Oscars
Leaving out anime from “Best Animated Feature” will certainly come as a surprise to many, especially considering how successful Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was. Tanjiro and the Hashira’s adventure became the biggest anime film of all time, netting hundreds of millions of dollars, far surpassing anything released by Studio Ghibli. While Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc didn’t hit the same heights in overall profits, Denji’s tale was routinely thought of as one of the best animated films of last year. Even though the worlds of demon slayers and devil hunters took the lion’s share of attention, there were other major anime entries to hit the silver screen.
2025 was filled with major anime movies that could be argued would make for worthy Oscar nominees. Films including Scarlet, Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl, Mononoke The Movie: The Ashes of Rage, The Colors Within, and All You Need Is Kill (which just arrived in North America) are all worthy examples of the anime medium. While Oscar gold is never a certainty for any film, especially when it comes to anime, not receiving any nominations is certainly a blow to anime fans in lieu of how big the medium has become.
As for what awaits anime on the silver screen this year, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether 2026’s anime fare will be nominated for an Academy Award. Movies like ChaO, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime The Movie: Tears of The Azure Sea, and The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie are just a few major contenders for an Oscar, but only time will tell if they get a nod.
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