Crunchyroll Awards 2026 was held in Tokyo on May 23, 2026, with several awards to be given to various anime series and characters. Every year, we eagerly await the Crunchyroll Awards to see who gets crowned as the king of various categories after the previous year's best performance. The most incredible anime and characters of 2025 were competing in this year's awards, and My Hero Academia was the dominant force. In large part, this was thanks to its incredible final season, which ended on December 13, 2025.
Not only My Hero Academia Go ahead to win Anime of the Year, but its deuteragonist, Bakugo Katsuki, who is also the most popular character in the entire franchise ahead of Izuku Midoriya, was also crowned King of the Deuteragonists with the award for Best Supporting Character for 2025.
Bakugo officially claims the title of Best Supporting Character at the 2026 Crunchyroll Awards on May 23, 2026.
On May 23, 2026, the 2026 Crunchyroll Awards released their results after revealing the nominees on April 2, 2026 at an event held in Tokyo. Voting was completed shortly after, on April 15, 2026. 2026 claimed the prize alongside some of the most exciting years. Claimed by My Hero Academia Season 8.
Along with that, we were also eager to know who to vote for as the best supporting character, and this year, Bakugo came out on top, making him the King of Deuteragonists for 2025. Bakugou's strong presence. My Hero Academia Season 8, Joe came up with amazing character development and a fiery personality display in which he played All For One which took him straight to the top. It's not exactly surprising, but a pleasant revelation nonetheless. To win this title, Bakugo had to defeat several other popular 2025 side characters, including:
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Engine from Gachiakuta
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Jin Anjoji from Dandaan (Season 2)
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Jincy from Apothecary Diaries (Season 2)
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Lulan from Apothecary Diaries (Season 2)
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Turbo Granny Dandadan (Season 2)
This is especially significant for Bakugou, as it marks his first standalone win at the Crunchyroll Award, which he had never pulled off before. With My Hero Academia officially over, it was the perfect way to crown its most popular character worldwide.
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Bakugou's popularity at the Crunchyroll 2026 Awards is certainly no surprise. In My Hero Academia, he is second in importance after Deku. His supporting role is particularly highlighted in the last season, where, despite a life-threatening injury, he shows his heroic spirit by fighting to win against all odds. Bakugo proved his worth by going toe-to-toe with All For One. Fighting for everyone, he not only saved his friends, but also all the powers and all of Japan. His contribution was unforgettable, and it was very well highlighted through the incredible work put forward by Studio Bones.
Bakugo's rise from bullying to self-sacrificing support is his greatest appeal among the fanbase. In fact, he's so popular that he's been dominating the MHA fandom for a while now. Except for the first MHA popularity poll, Bakugo has always finished on top. Although he managed to win his title as Best Side Character, Deku couldn't do the same this year and lost the title of Best MC to The Apothecary Diary's Maomao.
That being said, not only is Bakugo incredibly popular in MHA, he's one of the most popular and beloved anime characters overall, and his recent win at the Crunchyroll Awards further proves this point. Bakugo will always be a great example of a side character who steals the show with his abilities and personality.
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My Hero Academia had the strongest showing at the 2026 awards
My Hero Academia It won big with its supporting character, Bakugo, but the series also took home other awards. Kohei Horikoshi's Story left the ceremony as Animation of the Year. 2025 was dominated by solo leveling while 2026 was the year of iconic hero anime. In large part, that's because the series ended and left a huge generational impact. Thanks to Horikoshi's amazing story and Studio Bones' amazing work, both fans and judges saw fit to keep the title. Aside from Anime of the Year, MHA also picked up other wins, notably, Best Ending Sequence with “I” from Bump of Chicken and Best French VA Performance with Bastien Borle as Izuku.
All episodes of My Hero Academia are available to watch on Crunchyroll.
