^{Credit: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Witch Hat Atelier, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Dan Da Dan (Crunchyroll)}

ASIFA-Hollywood has opened submissions for the 54^th Annie Awards. This announcement came with an exciting announcement for fans of Japanese animation. The Annies will be introducing a category for Best International Anime Production for TV/Media. “This new Annie Award shall be given to a worldwide TV/Media production that features Anime-centric elements that are inspired, styled and/or designed employing traditional anime techniques, tropes and/or themes,” said Michael Paxton, the newly named executive producer of the Annie Awards. That’s not the only leadership shift, as Frank Gladstone has been elected as ASIFA-Hollywood’s president, taking over for Sue Shakespeare.

Although anime accounts for some of the most acclaimed and popular animation on television, it’s often gone overlooked at the Annie Awards. At the 53^rd Annies, Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Góngora were nominated for their direction on the Dan Da Dan episode “Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot!" That same year, the stop-motion anime My Melody & Kuromi got nominated for Best TV/Media – Children. Those were the only anime television productions nominated that year, unless you count Japanese co-productions like Star Wars: Visions, which has united studios from around the world. This past year, Shinya Ohira directed the Visions episode “BLACK,” which scored an Annie nomination. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a Japan/Poland co-production, also got nominated for Yoshiyuki Kaneko’s storyboards in 2023.

Yet, only a handful of animated shows that originated from Japan have been nominated at the Annies. Japanese animation has fared better on the feature front. One of the earliest films to get nominated for a competitive Annie was Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a Japan/U.S. co-production. Ghost in the Shell was supposedly nominated for several Annies. I say, “supposedly,” because the Annie Awards’ website is inconsistent with what I found in that year’s program book and an Inbetweener issue. For a deeper dive, check out this article: The Annie Awards Archive | Confusion Over the 1996 Nominees?

In any case, Spirited Away became the first Japanese film to win the Annie for Best Animated Feature. In 2015, ASIFA-Hollywood introduced another category: Best Animated Feature – Independent. Japanese animation is often represented here, with The Red Turtle and Mirai pulling off wins. Since “independent” doesn’t necessarily equal “international,” though, Japanese productions can still be submitted for the Best Animated Feature Annie. The Boy and the Heron and Suzume were both nominated for Best Animated Feature, rather than in the Independent category.

ASIFA-Hollywood has also nominated and even awarded several American shows with a heavy anime influence, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Devil May Cry, Castlevania, and Blue Eye Samurai. That said, it’s not entirely clear what ASIFA-Hollywood will consider “anime” at the Annies. Based on Paxton’s description, it doesn’t sound like a show needs to originate from Japan to be eligible. It just needs to be “inspired, styled and/or designed employing traditional anime techniques, tropes and/or themes.” The rules listed on the Annie website go on to say, “To be eligible to receive this award, creators from around the world can submit anime-centric productions that have appeared on television or other qualified media venues (streaming, internet, mobile device or similar series broadcast) in the United States or globally between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026.”

^{Would Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix) and Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi (Disney+) count as anime at the Annie Awards?}

This could provide a gateway for Japan/U.S. co-productions like Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi. It will also be interesting to see if Blue Eye Samurai Season 2 would count as an Anime, despite being an American production. Of course, it’ll also be up to the studios to decide which categories they want their shows entered in. The rules additionally state, “Productions entered in this category shall not be eligible for an Annie Award in any other Production categories. However, individuals or teams are encouraged to submit in TV/Media Achievement categories.” In other words, a show can’t be submitted for Best TV/Media - International Anime Production and Best TV/Media – Mature.

Anime can be a broad term. This new category is inclined to spark a debate about what is and isn’t anime. There’s also the matter of which anime programs will be submitted for Annie consideration. 2026 has already given us a few potential contenders, such as Witch Hat Atelier, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, and the second season of Frieren. ASIFA-Hollywood can’t nominate them if they’re not submitted, however. On that note, submissions for the 54^th Annie Awards run from August 3 to November 30, 2026. The nominations will be announced on January 20, 2027, with the ceremony taking place on February 20, 2027.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!