The Crunchyroll Anime Awards Film of the Year lineup is stacked with theatrical juggernauts, especially after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle carved through the global box office with staggering revenue numbers. Meanwhile, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc arrived with pure chaos and sold-out hype. The nominee slate feels unusually fearless this year, mixing explosive spectacle with emotionally bruising storytelling in a way that makes the category genuinely unpredictable.

Then there are 100 Meters and Scarlet, the dark horses who skipped theatrical chest-thumping, while the names below dealt with box office numbers with no mercy.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle did not merely dominate theaters; it bulldozed them. The Ufotable spectacle stormed past $741 million globally, with projections climbing near $800 million after China’s enormous $52.4 million surge. In North America alone, the anime titan earned $136.9 million, achieving the biggest U.S. haul for an international release since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Rather than squeezing the manga’s devastating finale into weekly episodes, Aniplex and Toho gambled on an ambitious theatrical trilogy. The result feels appropriately colossal. Infinity Castle plunges Tanjiro Kamado and the Demon Slayer Corps into surreal, gravity-defying carnage inside Muzan Kibutsuji’s shifting fortress. Somewhere between the dazzling animation and relentless heartbreak, the blockbuster even secured a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Film.

It would hardly be an exaggeration to say audiences were completely locked into the premise long before opening weekend arrived. The idea of Muzan Kibutsuji dragging the entire Demon Slayer Corps into the warped chaos of the Infinity Castle felt engineered for maximum cinematic hysteria. The storyline promised relentless emotional damage wrapped inside breathtaking spectacle, even making the audience look forward to Part 2.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc arrived carrying enormous expectations and somehow still managed to over-perform like a caffeinated devil hunter. The MAPPA production carved out $191.4 million worldwide, while North America contributed a muscular $43.4 million, including an explosive $18 million opening weekend debut at number one. Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll essentially watched Denji turn theatrical chaos into a commercial victory lap.

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Beneath the gore and flying chainsaws, the film thrives as a doomed romantic tragedy between Denji and the enigmatic Reze. The phenomenon even overtook Jujutsu Kaisen 0 on the all-time anime box-office chart, and is followed by The Rose of Versailles.

The Rose of Versailles never chased blockbuster dominance, yet the elegant historical drama still carved out attention as a prestige theatrical event in Japan. The MAPPA production earned roughly $1.48 million worldwide after debuting at number nine domestically. Directed by Ai Yoshimura, the adaptation revived Riyoko Ikeda’s legendary shōjo classic with lavish visuals and a distinctly modern emotional sensibility.

At the center stands Lady Oscar, the aristocratic swordswoman raised as a man to guard Marie Antoinette during France’s slow collapse into revolution. The film thrives on political tension, doomed loyalty, and aching identity crises rather than explosive spectacle. After its limited theatrical run, Netflix carried the historical epic to global audiences, where the beautifully tragic drama steadily built awards-season momentum.

Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II — The Ashes of Rage never pretended to chase mainstream box-office glory. The surreal horror feature earned roughly $660,000 globally while leaning fully into its hypnotic paper-texture visuals and experimental storytelling.  The story follows the enigmatic Medicine Seller as he investigates a furious spirit born from the suffering of women trapped inside Edo Castle’s Ooku. Netflix later expanded the haunting supernatural mystery to international audiences, proving that the Crunchyroll Anime Awards lineup this year celebrated everything from billion-dollar juggernauts to fiercely uncompromising artistic risks.

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Which of these movies do you think should win Film of the Year? Let us know in the comments!