These winners are also the nominees for the Best Award winners at the main award ceremony to be held in March.
The winners of the ‘Awards of Excellence’ for the 49th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes were announced on Monday, 19 January. Japan Academy Film Association revealed that anime movies such as “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie - Infinity Castle Arc Chapter One - Akaza’s Return”, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc”, and other titles have won the award in the Animated Film category.
Awards of Excellence winners in the Animated Category for the 49th Japan Academy Film Prizes
A total of five anime movies that were released in Japan between 1 January, 2025 and 31 Decembe, 2025 were selected for the Awards of Excellence:
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie - Infinity Castle Arc Chapter One - Akaza’s Return
Synopsis by Crunchyroll:
Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joined an organization dedicated to hunting down demons called the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister Nezuko was turned into a demon. While growing stronger and deepening his friendships and bonds with fellow corps members, Tanjiro has battled many demons with his comrades, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira. Along the way, his journey has led him to fight alongside the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira, including Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku aboard the Mugen Train, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui within the Entertainment District, as well as Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji at the Swordsmith Village.
As the Demon Slayer Corps members and Hashira engaged in a group strength training program, the Hashira Training, in preparation for the forthcoming battle against the demons, Muzan Kibutsuji appears at the Ubuyashiki Mansion. With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji. The destination of where Tanjiro and Demon Slayer Corps have fallen is the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle. And so, the battleground is set as the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons ignites.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Synopsis by Crunchyroll:
Denji worked as a Devil Hunter for the yakuza, trying to pay off the debt he inherited from his parents, until the yakuza betrayed him and had him killed. As he was losing consciousness, Denji’s beloved chainsaw-powered devil-dog, Pochita, made a deal with Denji and saved his life. This fused the two together, creating the unstoppable Chainsaw Man. Now, in a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into his world, and Denji faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.
100 Meters
Synopsis by GKIDS Movies:
100 METERS follows Togashi, a track star who is born to run. As a kid, he is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without effort. But in sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves.
Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise
Synopsis by Hakusensha:
Shouwa 19 (1944), summer. Tamaru, a soldier who aspired to be a manga artist, was on Peleliu Island at the end of the Pacific War. The island was a paradise covered with beautiful forests and surrounded by a sea of coral reefs. It was also a battlefield on which 50,000 soldiers from Japan and the United States killed each other. At that time, 40,000 elite US troops invaded in an attempt to seize the airfield, which was touted as the best in East Asia. A garrison of 10,000 Japanese troops was ordered to meet the aggressors and "thoroughly endure" the attack. What did they fight for and what was on their minds on this small island far from their homeland?!? A long-forgotten record of truth from young people who lived in the "war" era!
Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback
Synopsis:
In the snow-laden peaks of Mitaodake, within Nagano’s Yatsugatake mountain range, Inspector Kansuke Yamato of the Nagano Prefectural Police pursues a elusive suspect. A fleeting shadow distracts him, and in that split second, a sniper’s bullet grazes his left eye. A deafening roar follows as an avalanche swallows him whole— Ten months later, Kansuke, having narrowly escaped death, joins Yui Uehara to investigate an assault on a researcher at the Nobeyama National Observatory. As they question witnesses, the observatory’s massive parabolic antenna whirs to life, triggering an inexplicable, searing pain in Kansuke’s now one-eyed gaze, hinting at a buried connection to his past. That same night, Kogoro Mouri receives a call at his detective agency from “Wani,” a former colleague from his Metropolitan Police days. Wani reveals he’s probing the Mitaodake avalanche and found Kogoro’s name in the case files. Arranging a meeting, Kogoro sets out with Conan in tow, only for gunfire to shatter the silence en route to their rendezvous. An unkept promise and the haunting afterimage etched in Kansuke’s wounded eye converge. Amid the blizzard-ravaged mountains, a chilling whiteout mystery unfolds, unraveling long-hidden truths.
All five of these movies are now nominated for the respective category’s ‘Best Awards’. The ultimate winner in each category will be revealed on 13 March, 2026, at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo.
Last year, Look Back, based on Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga of the same title, won both the Best Animated Film Award and the Creative Contribution award.
Other than these anime movies, the live-action 5 Centimeters Per Second film, based on Makoto Shinkai’s anime film, received multiple Awards of Excellence. Hokuto Matsumura received it in the Best Actor category, Noa Shiroyama received it in the New Actor category, Keisuke Imamura received it for the cinematography, while Kōshirō Ueno received it for the lighting.