Why Frieren Deserved the 2025 Anime of the Year More Than Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling has won the most coveted prizes in the anime industry during the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Due to its massive popularity, it earned multiple nominations and won nine awards, including the Anime of the Year award. There were six nominations in this category, but Chugong’s magnum opus has managed to leave the rest behind.

However, some of the fans are still not over the decision since they believe that it should have been Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End rather than Solo Leveling. Solo Leveling is indeed a great anime and is a form of peak entertainment, but when it comes to the best of the best, Frieren has excelled in almost every aspect, making it a complete anime.

There is also a new criterion that was introduced this year, stating that an anime can be nominated if it airs a single episode between the stipulated nomination time. If the rule had been enacted last year, Frieren could have had a chance at the Anime of the Year Award in 2024, also.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Has One Of A Kind World Building

Kanehito Yamada’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has one of the most intriguing plots ever. While most anime showcases a linear story where the hero or the heroine defeats the main antagonist and the story ends (which is what Solo Leveling is doing), Frieren starts when everything ends. The anime begins after the protagonist buries her traveling companion after they defeat the Demon King to bring peace. The story revolves around Frieren, an elf who is more than a thousand years old.

She has to go through the pain of losing her companions over and over again, but with time, she learned to be more direct with her approach to the people nearby so that she does not regret getting closer to them later. A person can not only feel the pain as the story goes on, but also learn a way to lead life.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End gifted the fans with some of the best characters ever. Even though the story begins with Frieren burying Himmel, the flashbacks do a great job of portraying him. The duo had spent a lot of time together, and when he died, Frieren was full of regrets. The anime portrays Himmel’s memories as both haunting and delightful for the protagonist, as she regrets losing him but also cherishes every memory she has with him. While most anime does a great job in singular aspects, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has taken it a step further with all aspects.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’s Nominations Projects A Wide Variety To Its Content

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End earned 20 nominations at the 2025 Crunchyroll Awards and won a few of them, but the wide variety of its nominations proves that it is a total package. From the character perspective, it earned five nominations, two for Best Supporting Character and one for Best Main Character, Best Character Design, and “Must Protect At All Costs” Character, respectively.

Then there is the nomination for Best Animation, Best Background Art, and Best Drama Anime, which says that it excels in animation and art, thanks to Madhouse, along with great storytelling. Apart from these, there are multiple nominations in the song section, with Best Score, Best Anime Song, etc.

Solo Leveling also has multiple nominations, but it lacks the variety like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The former follows a linear story where everything is focused on the protagonist, but the latter takes time to build and gives equal importance to every character.

Moreover, there are tons of anime like Solo Leveling, but only a few when it comes to Kanehito Yamada’s magnum opus, that too with one of the best female protagonists. In the end, nothing can be changed, but somewhere, it feels like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End should have won the Anime of the Year award at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.

---

Also Read: 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards Winners Announced

---

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is available to stream on Crunchyroll.