The awards honoured outstanding Japanese voice actors this Sunday.
The organizers of the Seiyū Awards announced the winners of the 20th Annual Seiyū Awards on Sunday, recognizing voice actors and works across anime, games, and other media.
The works eligible for the awards were those produced between 1 October, 2024 to 30 September, 2025, and includes:
- Works broadcast on TV as new works
- DVD or video releases
- Works first screened or distributed online
- Works released as games
The selection for each category, excluding Most Valuable Seiyū (MVS), was conducted by an Executive and Selection committee, while the winners were selected after a review held by the Central Selection Committee. The MVS was selected through voting from the general public, which were collected through various voting sites and the official website, and after which was reviewed by the Central Selection Committee.
20th Seiyū Awards winners
Best Lead Actor Award
Awarded for outstanding leading performances during the year
- Kikunosuke Toya
- Shion Wakayama
Best Supporting Actor Award
Awarded for notable supporting performances
- Reina Ueda
- Shinji Kawada
- Mayumi Tanaka
Best New Actor Award
Awarded for noteworthy performances by actors who debuted within the last five years
- Taihi Kimura
- Taiga Takano
- Momoka Terasawa
- Yoshinori Nakayama
- Hana Hishikawa
- Minori Fujidera
- Haruna Mikawa
- Manatsu Murakami
Singing Award
Awarded for singing performances by voice actors
- AiScReam (from the Love Live! franchise)
Personality Award
Awarded to voice actors with notable work as radio or TV personalities
- Yōko Hikasa
Game Award
- Fate/Grand Order
Kids/Family Award
- Lilo & Stitch
Foreign Film/Live-Action Show Award
- Matsuya Onoe
- Maaya Sakamoto
- Mutsumi Tamura
MVS (Most Valuable Seiyū) Award
- Akira Ishida
Previously announced awards
The awards committee had earlier revealed several special categories, which are:
Merit Awards
Honoring voice actors who have contributed to multiple genres over many years
- Aruno Tahara
- Keiko Yokozawa
Synergy Award
Recognizing works that best showcase the talent of voice actors
- The Idolmaster series
Kei Tomiyama / Kazue Takahashi Awards
Awarded to voice actors active across multiple fields
- Shinichirō Kamio
- Rei Sakuma
Special Award
- Nami Mizuno
Since 2023, the Best Lead Voice Actor, Best Supporting Voice Actor, and New Voice Actor categories were no longer divided by gender. The awards committee stated that voice acting often transcends gender, noting that voice actors frequently portray characters of different genders. The committee added that the change came after several years of discussion and was made out of respect for diversity.
In 2017, the Special Merit Award category, which previously honored deceased voice actors, was replaced with a segment recognizing voice actors who passed away during the previous year.
The awards also introduced several new categories in 2019, including Foreign Movie/Series Award, Game Award, Influencer Award, and MVS (Most Valuable Seiyū).