The Aspect Awards focus on the technical sides of anime. As a refresher, a panel from the Anime Trending team debates on what to nominate in the various Aspect categories — such as Best in Animation and Best in Character Design — every season before releasing the finalized candidates out into the wild for public voting. Here are the Aspect Award winners for the 11th Anime Trending Awards.
One of the big surprises from the 11th Anime Trending Awards was DAN DA DAN’s Best in Animation win. The supernatural action-comedy anime managed to beat animation powerhouse Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which sits at second place, and formidable shows like The Elusive Samurai and Sound! Euphonium Season 3 to claim victory.
DAN DAN DAN also defeated Frieren in the realm of music, with kensuke ushio’s quirky tunes taking the crown while Evan Call’s orchestral landscape followed in second place.
The roles are reversed in the Best in Sceneries and Visuals category — the portrayal of Frieren’s fantasy world may have been more appealing than DAN DA DAN’s screen-dying, color-coded supernatural scenes to our voters — and Best in Adapted Screenplay. Frieren features (background) art direction by Sawako Takagi, color designs by Harue Ohno, compositing direction by Akane Fushihara, concept art by Seiko Yoshioka, and series composition by Tomohiro Suzuki.
DAN DA DAN also had to settle for second place for Best in Episode Directing and Storyboard. It was no surprise that “To a Kinder World,” the show’s emotional seventh episode (storyboards by Shuto Enomoto, episode direction by Kotaro Matsunaga), performed incredibly well, but it could not overcome “Stepsister and Diary,” the ninth episode of teen romance drama Days with My Stepsister. “Stepsister and Diary” marks a major turning point in the relationship between the main leads, and the way the events and characters were presented by series director Souta Ueno’s storyboards, as well as the episode direction from Ueno and Mitsuki Kobayashi, proved to be a resonating hit with voters.
Elsewhere, Yukiko Nakatani’s designs for The Apothecary Diaries allowed the historical mystery anime to claim the top spot for Best in Character Design (yet another category where DAN DA DAN sat in 2nd place), while Jukki Hanada’s plotting and writing for GIRLS BAND CRY let the youth music drama rise to the top of the Best in Original Screenplay category.
Finally, Best in Voice Cast went to romantic comedy The Dangers in My Heart Season 2. The main leads were voiced by Shun Horie (as Kyotaro Ichikawa) and Hina Yomiya (as Anna Yamada), with a supporting cast that includes Ayaka Asai (Chihiro Kobayashi), Megumi Han (Moeko Sekine), Atsumi Tanezaki (Serina Yoshida), and Yukari Tamura (Kana Ichikawa).
Below are the full aspect results:
| Ranking | Best in Adapted Screenplay | Votes |
| 1 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | 5365 |
| 2 | DAN DA DAN | 5232 |
| 3 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | 4889 |
| 4 | Days with my Stepsister | 4774 |
| 5 | The Apothecary Diaries | 4159 |
| 6 | Delicious in Dungeon | 2796 |
| 7 | Sound! Euphonium S3 | 2249 |
| 8 | BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict – | 2051 |
| 9 | A Sign of Affection | 1431 |
| 10 | Shangri-la Frontier | 1072 |
| 11 | Nina the Starry Bride | 819 |
| 12 | YATAGARASU: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master | 637 |
| Ranking | Best in Animation | Votes |
| 1 | DAN DA DAN | 5557 |
| 2 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | 5377 |
| 3 | KAIJU No.8 | 4733 |
| 4 | BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict – | 4333 |
| 5 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | 3854 |
| 6 | Solo Leveling | 3477 |
| 7 | OSHI NO KO S2 | 2642 |
| 8 | Delicious in Dungeon | 2294 |
| 9 | The Elusive Samurai | 1637 |
| 10 | Sound! Euphonium S3 | 1360 |
| 11 | WIND BREAKER | 1261 |
| 12 | Shangri-la Frontier | 849 |
| Ranking | Best in Character Design | Votes |
| 1 | The Apothecary Diaries | 5359 |
| 2 | DAN DA DAN | 4883 |
| 3 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | 4869 |
| 4 | Delicious in Dungeon | 4519 |
| 5 | 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! | 3604 |
| 6 | Ranma ½ (2024) | 2961 |
| 7 | WIND BREAKER | 2592 |
| 8 | Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night | 2129 |
| 9 | A Sign of Affection | 1396 |
| 10 | The Elusive Samurai | 1388 |
| 11 | Delico’s Nursery | 771 |
| Ranking | Best in Original Screenplay | Votes |
| 1 | GIRLS BAND CRY | 5717 |
| 2 | Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night | 4361 |
| 3 | Negative Positive Angler | 3573 |
| 4 | Train to the End of the World | 3054 |
| 5 | Ninja Kamui | 1938 |
| 6 | Bang Brave Bang Bravern! | 1683 |
| 7 | Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms | 1396 |
| 8 | HIGH CARD S2 | 1225 |
| Ranking | Best in Sceneries and Visuals | Votes |
| 1 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | 6637 |
| 2 | DAN DA DAN | 5951 |
| 3 | Delicious in Dungeon | 4265 |
| 4 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | 4084 |
| 5 | A Sign of Affection | 3635 |
| 6 | Sound! Euphonium S3 | 3282 |
| 7 | The Elusive Samurai | 1894 |
| 8 | The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant… | 1807 |
| 9 | Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night | 1597 |
| 10 | SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary | 1250 |
| 11 | Negative Positive Angler | 1044 |
| Ranking | Best in Soundtrack | Votes |
| 1 | DAN DA DAN | 5687 |
| 2 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | 5358 |
| 3 | Sound! Euphonium S3 | 5052 |
| 4 | The Apothecary Diaries | 4763 |
| 5 | Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf | 3381 |
| 6 | BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict – | 2959 |
| 7 | MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES S2 | 2593 |
| 8 | OSHI NO KO S2 | 2422 |
| 9 | Wistoria: Wand and Sword | 2274 |
| 10 | Delicious in Dungeon | 1746 |
| 11 | Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii | 1107 |
| 12 | Metallic Rouge | 920 |
| Ranking | Best in Voice Cast | Votes |
| 1 | The Dangers in My Heart S2 | 5283 |
| 2 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | 5100 |
| 3 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | 5058 |
| 4 | Days with my Stepsister | 4592 |
| 5 | DAN DA DAN | 4227 |
| 6 | OSHI NO KO S2 | 3643 |
| 7 | Delicious in Dungeon | 2572 |
| 8 | Ranma ½ (2024) | 2054 |
| 9 | Sound! Euphonium S3 | 1866 |
| 10 | UNDEAD UNLUCK | 1177 |
| 11 | How I Attended an All Guy’s Mixer | 1056 |
| 12 | Go! Go! Loser Ranger! | 936 |
| Ranking | Best in Episode Directing and Storyboard | Votes |
| 1 | Stepsister and Diary – Days with My Stepsister EP9 | 4715 |
| 2 | To a Kinder World – DAN DA DAN EP7 | 4619 |
| 3 | The Height of Magic – Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End EP16 | 4462 |
| 4 | Lakan – The Apothecary Diaries EP 18 | 4218 |
| 5 | The Last Soloist – Sound Euphonium S3.EP12 | 3781 |
| 6 | Sun – OSHI NO KO S2.EP7 | 3595 |
| 7 | Am I Actually Just Some Unseasoned Rando Who Drops in for the Last Episode With the Losing Heroine? – Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! EP12 | 2962 |
| 8 | Red Dragon I – Delicious in Dungeon EP11 | 2477 |
| 9 | I Thought I Wanted to Keep Watching Her Forever – A Sign of Affection EP6 | 2010 |
| 10 | Jellyfish in the Night – Jellyfish in the Night EP1 | 1341 |
| 11 | Our Evil Will Bloom, Someday – Go! Go! Loser Ranger! EP3 | 792 |
| 12 | Sweet Bitter Summer- Puniru Is a Cute Slime EP7 | 286 |
To see the full results of the 11th Anime Trending Awards, click here.
