Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2025: Celebrating Animation Excellence

The Tokyo Anime Award Festival took place from March 8-11 in Ikebukuro, showcasing the best in animation.

Student Award Winner

This year, the festival honored Miou Hiruma's animation, "Yobi and Amari: Story of Spares," with the 2025 Student Award. The film was screened at Mixalive TOKYO on March 8 and 9.

Yobi and Amari

Story Synopsis

The narrative unfolds in a captivating world where:

A splendid stage of playing cards fits in the palm of your hand.
54 cards entertain guests night after night.
Yobi and Amari, blank spare cards, train backstage, yearning for their moment to shine.
An unexpected accident occurs when Jack the Diamond is destroyed by fire.

Animation Merit Award Honorees

The festival also recognized several notable figures in the Animation Merit Award category:

Shunzō Katō, producer of Soreike! Anpanman
Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragonball

Other Winners

Television Category: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Animated Film Category: Look Back

Additional winners included:

Hiroyuki Yoshino (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, GeGeGe no Kitarō (TV 2018), Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)
Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Look Back, Flip Flappers)
Tōko Yatabe (The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, The Dragon Dentist)

For a complete list of winners, check out the official announcement.

Looking Ahead

The 2024 Tokyo Anime Award Festival is already on the horizon, set to take place from March 8-11 in Ikebukuro.