I know 2020 isn’t a year to be proud of nor is it a good year in general because of the COVID-19 pandemic causing havoc around the world, but I wanna express my gratitude to all the people who worked hard to bring us all the great and fantastic anime that came out of the year. Therefore, ya boi wants to make his own Anime Award of the Year for 2020 to commemorate the said infamous year. I know most of y’all are tired of me making anime-related posts, but I’m foremost an anime fanboy first, then a Bandori fan second. Therefore, I’m not being true to myself if I force myself to post things exclusive to Bandori, I hope y’all understand that. I’m not gonna lie, throughout 2020 I had strong desires of wanting to hang out with my friends or be in person when attending classes (online classes were a terrible experience for me). Regardless of how miserable 2020 was for me and the rest of y’all most likely, I kind of do appreciate being stuck at home for the majority of the year because I was given a chance to finally catch up with a lot of anime I would have never been able to watch if things were “normal”. Anyway, this “award” is for fun and it’s just my personal opinion. Free feel to disagree with me. It’s totally fine. I wanted to do this mainly due to the fact that I heavily disagree with Crunchyroll’s Pepega choices a lot when they announce their anime awards because it’s either way too mainstream or they haven’t watched enough shows to make a half-decent anime award. Apologies if my anime posts look bland, I’m too lazy to add links or pictures to each of the categories (plus, most people don’t care anyway, so it’s not worth my effort to make it look nice), so bare with me.

Alright, without further ado, let’s get right to it. Ikuzo!

Winter 2020

• Best New Series: Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (I’ve heard a lot of good things about it even though I didn’t watch it yet; I swear I’ll watch it soon, I promise)
• Best Sequel: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T
• Honorable Mention(s): Haikyuu!!: To the Top
• Best Boy: Ikuto Tsumura (Runway de Waratte)
• Best Girl: Mikoto Misaka (Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T)
• Overrated Series: Darwin’s Game
• Underrated Series: Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.
• Best Opening: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T - “final phase” by fripSide
• Best Ending: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T - “nameless story” by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets
• Honorable Mention(s): BanG Dream! 3rd Season - “Yume wo Uchinuku Shunkan ni!” by Poppin’Party (I’m not putting it as one of the best ending because this is a Bandori site, I genuinely think the anime community are underrating this song and it’s truly one of the best endings of Winter 2020)

Spring 2020

• Best New Series: Kami no Tou (According to my close friend who’s a huge fanboy of the series, the adaptation could have been A LOT better and the original manhwa is near “masterpiece” worthy, so I’ll trust him and give my vote to this show)
• Best Sequel: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai?: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen
• Honorable Mention(s): Fruits Basket 2nd Season
• Best Boy: Yuu Ishigami (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai)
• Best Girl: Kaguya Shinomiya (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai)
• Overrated Series: Shokugeki no Souma: Gou no Sara (I love Shokugeki no Souma, but the adaptation for this season is kind of mediocre, so it gets the vote for me)
• Underrated Series: Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta… (Not really underrated per se, but I didn’t hear too much people talking about this show when it was airing, hence why I gave my vote to this show)
• Best Opening: Kami no Tou - “TOP -Japanese ver.-” by Stray Kids
• Honorable Mention(s): Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai?: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen - "DADDY! DADDY! DO! feat. Airi Suzuki" by Masayuki Suzuki (Look. I love the song, but it’s being vastly overrated by the anime community)
• Best Ending: Kami no Tou - “SLUMP -Japanese ver.-” by Stray Kids

Summer 2020

• Best New Series: Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e
• Best Sequel: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season
• Honorable Mention(s): Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan
• Best Boy: Hachiman Hikigaya (Oregairu)
• Best Girl: Yukino Yukinoshita (Oregairu)
• Honorable Mention(s): Echidna (Re:Zero); Chizuru Ichinose/Mizuhara (Kanojo, Okarishimasu); Yui Yuigahama (Oregairu)
• Overrated Series: The God of High School (Absolutely garbage and an epic failure of an adaptation)
• Underrated Series: None (There’s a clear divide for shows at top for this season and the bottom; there’s a f*ck ton of trash that aren’t worth watching this season)
• Best Opening: Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou - “SPARK-AGAIN” by Aimer
• Honorable Mention(s): Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld 2nd Season - “ANIMA” by Reona (I’m not gonna lie, I abhor SAO with a passion, but this song is an absolute banger)
• Best Ending: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - “Memento” by nonoc

Fall 2020

• Best New Series: Jujutsu Kaisen
• Best Sequel: Haikyuu!!: To the Top 2nd Season
• Best Boy: Satoru Gojou (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• Honorable Mention(s): Yuuji Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen); Nasa Yuzaki (Tonikaku Kawaii); Courier (Akudama Drive)
• Best Girl: Tsukasa Yuzaki (Tonikaku Kawaii)
• Honorable Mention(s): Elaina (Majo no Tabitabi); Swindler/Ordinary Person (Akudama Drive); Sakura Adachi (Adachi to Shimamura); Hougetsu Shimamura (Adachi to Shimamura)
• Overrated Series: Kamisama ni Natta Hi (Absolute trainwreck of a series; ten billion percent the worse Jun Maeda original series I’ve ever seen)
• Underrated Series: D4DJ First Mix (Hidden gem of the season; just for context, this show started out with a 6.89 rating on MAL when it first aired and it ended with a respectable 7.70 rating recently)
• Best Opening: Jujutsu Kaisen - “Kaikai Kitan” by Eve
• Best Ending: Jujutsu Kaisen - “LOST IN PARADISE feat. AKLO” by ALI

Anime Industry-Related Award

• Studio of the Year: MAPPA
• Anime of the Year: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season
• Controversial Anime of the Year: Ishuzoku Reviewers
• Best Male Seiyuu of the Year: Junya Enoki (Yuuji Itadori; Nasa Yuzaki)
• Best Female Seiyuu of the Year: Akari Kitou (Tsukasa Yuzaki; Sakura Adachi; Kotoko Iwanaga; Nene Yashiro)