The Hollywood Creative Alliance (formerly the Hollywood Critics Association) has announced the nominees for the 2026 Astra TV Awards, spotlighting an impressive and diverse slate of anime series for the coveted Best Anime Series category. The awards ceremony will take place on August 15 in Los Angeles.
Best Anime Series Nominees
- Dandelion — Production I.G's original fantasy film series adaptation
- MAO — Rumiko Takahashi's supernatural shonen series
- Rooster Fighter — The breakout action-comedy hit
- Sakamoto Days — TMS Entertainment's hitman action-comedy adaptation
- STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Part 7) — David Production's acclaimed adaptation
- Witch Hat Atelier — Buga's critically adored magical fantasy
Voice Acting Nominations
Anjali Kunapaneni has been nominated for Best Lead Voice Over Performance in a Series for her English dub role as Coco in Witch Hat Atelier. Patrick Seitz also earned a nomination in the same category for his role as Keiji in Rooster Fighter. Additionally, Joshua Waters is nominated for Best Supporting Voice Over Performance for his work as Qifrey in Witch Hat Atelier.
Previous Winners and Context
At the 2025 Astra TV Awards, Dragon Ball Daima won Best Anime Series, and Aleks Le won Best Lead Voice-Over Performance for his role as Sung Jinwoo in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-. Earlier this year, the first Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle anime film won the “Animation is Cinema” honorary award at the 9th Annual Astra Film Awards in January.
The HCA organizes four sets of awards: the Astra Creative Arts Awards, Astra Film Awards, Astra Podcast Awards, and Astra TV Awards. The organization is composed of critics, journalists, actors, producers, podcasters, and other entertainment industry professionals.
Community Reception
The nomination list has generated discussion among anime fans, with Witch Hat Atelier emerging as a likely frontrunner given its strong critical reception and the dual nominations for its English voice cast. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: STEEL BALL RUN’s nomination is widely seen as recognition of David Production's ambitious adaptation of what many fans consider the best JoJo arc. Sakamoto Days and Rooster Fighter represent the action-comedy side of the medium, while Rumiko Takahashi's MAO continues its slow-burn recognition among awards bodies. Dandelion rounds out the list as the sole original work nominee.
The inclusion of Witch Hat Atelier across multiple categories suggests strong industry support for the series, which has become one of the most acclaimed new anime of the 2025-2026 season. The awards will be closely watched as a bellwether ahead of the larger Crunchyroll Anime Awards cycle.