Fourth Estate/Viviana Smith

All wins were deserved… except one

BY VIVIANA SMITH, MANAGING EDITOR

There were some big wins at the 2024 Anime Awards on Mar. 2 in Tokyo, Japan. 

At the event, there was a spectacular lineup of talent, including Japanese singer/songwriter LiSA, American filmmaker duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who donned a Bruno Bucciarti-inspired outfit. 

The 2024 Anime Awards were held to award the best animes of 2023. With animes such as “Spy x Family”, “One Piece” and “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” in the list of nominees, fans were anxious to see which animes would receive the number one spot in the various categories, especially Anime of The Year. 

“Jujutsu Kaisen” swept the competition and went home with nine wins, including Anime of the Year and wins in both arcs of season 2, “Hidden Inventory/Premature Death” and “Shibuya Incident.” 

It came with little surprise that “Jujutsu Kaisen” won Anime of the Year, as few of the nominees had given this season a run for its money. In my opinion, the closest competitors in this category were “Vinland Saga season 2” and “Chainsaw Man.” 

“Jujutsu Kaisen” is a phenomenal anime with interesting characters, nail-biting arcs and spectacular voice acting in subbed and dubbed audio. Additionally, the anime has a large fanbase that appreciates the good and bad of the series. 

However… It did not deserve Best Opening Sequence. 

The first opening for season two of “Jujutsu Kaisen’”, “Where Our Blue Is” by Tatsuya Kitani, is a pretty good song; I even have this in my playlist! The visuals in the opening sequence are amazing and playful, reminding us of Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo’s goofy friendship at the start of each episode. However it does not deserve this win. 

This win was taken from “KICK BACK,” the season one opening sequence for “Chainsaw Man.” 

“KICK BACK” by Kenshi Yonezu is an upbeat song that plays during the first opening sequence in “Chainsaw Man.” This song perfectly illustrates the raw craziness that is this show. Additionally, the visuals align with the intense J-rock song, with psychedelic visuals and lots of action. 

One of the best aspects of this opening are the references to other films. The characters are seen recreating scenes from various films, such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The Big Lebowski.” 

This opening took the internet by storm after its release, with TikToks posted by various users, such as recreating the opening and remixing the song.

With all the attention “KICK BACK” garnered, I was disappointed that this song was not the winner in the category of Best Opening Sequence. I was sure “KICK BACK” would have won due to its outreach outside of the anime’s fanbase. 

“Jujutsu Kaisen” proved to be an amazing anime by winning in nine different categories but its opening is a bit generic compared to the opening for “Chainsaw Man.”

I hope that this doesn’t happen again at the 2025 Anime Awards. Unless another banger drops this year, I anticipate that the “Mashle: Magic and Muscles” season two opening will most likely win Best Opening in the 2025 Anime Awards.