Crunchyroll's Biggest Anime of the Year Snub Isn't Solo Leveling

Published Apr 12, 2026, 11:03 PM EDT

To Be Hero X Got Zero Crunchyroll Award Nominations

To Be Hero X takes place in a world where heroes' abilities are dictated by public perception and their strength determined by public trust, quantified on their wrists as Trust Values. In this society, the top ten heroes compete in a tournament that takes place once every two years to determine who is the strongest among them and deserves the title, X.

The series follows these ten heroes in an anthology-like format, exploring their history and driving motivations. As the story tells the tale of each hero through nonlinear events that lead to the present tournament, audiences gradually piece together just how broken their hero society truly is.

To Be Hero X stands out for its experimental style and unconventional storytelling approach. Beyond centering on several well-developed and intriguing protagonists, the series also shifts from 3D animation to various 2D styles, delivering a visually stunning and memorable experience. Despite its large cast and nonlinear storyline, the series remains accessible without sacrificing any of its complexity.

The story’s ability to shift from one perspective to another without missing a beat or falling into inconsistency makes the series stronger and reinforces its ambitious creative choices. Yet even with all its merits, To Be Hero X received no nominations across any Crunchyroll Award category, despite the fact that it's easily Anime of the Year material.

To Be Hero X Is Anime of the Year Material

To Be Hero X’s complete absence from Crunchyroll’s yearly awards is a clear oversight of all that the series did achieve and the new standards it set for ambitious and risky approaches to animated storytelling. Beyond its multiple protagonists, nonlinear structure, and unique visual identity, To Be Hero X also operated in a way that allowed fans to interact with and influence the story.

With a voting system tied directly to the series’ Trust Values, fans were able to vote for their favorites to determine the characters’ strength and screen time in the second season, an impressive choice that drove audience engagement in ways and on a scale no other series has ever achieved. Given all its experimentation and how well it paid off, the series arguably deserves a nomination above many others that are currently featured in Crunchyroll’s lineup.

Even in comparison to the Anime of the Year nominees, including Dandadan Season 2, Gachiakuta, My Hero Academia: The Final Season, Takopi’s Original Sin, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, and The Summer Hikaru Died, To Be Hero X stands out for its broad scale and appeal. With the series standing out for its humor, action, drama, and more, To Be Hero X demonstrates its range without sacrificing or diluting its storytelling.

While each current nominee has its own clear strengths, To Be Hero X offers a different kind of achievement that can’t be overlooked. With all that it has already achieved, and the ways it pushed the boundaries of animated storytelling, not having a single nomination in Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards is arguably one of the streaming platform’s greatest mistakes.