Makeine Wins Anime of the Year at Newtype Awards 2025 Ahead of Solo Leveling

The Newtype Anime Awards 2024 to 2025 results are in, and the top prize went to a title that surprised many fans who had been following the global conversation around anime this year. Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! took first place, with Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX in second and The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 in third. The results were posted on Newtype’s official X account.

Many fans had expected Solo Leveling to dominate given its strong showing at other year-end awards ceremonies. The series came in fourth place here. Rounding out the top ten were Uma Musume Cinderella Gray in fifth, Apocalypse Hotel in eighth, Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 3rd Season in ninth, and Oshi no Ko Season 2 in tenth.

Beyond the Anime of the Year result, A-1 Pictures won the Best Animation Studio award, and the main protagonist of Makeine received the Best Male Character of the Year award from audience votes.

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! is a romantic comedy centered on a group of girls who experience rejection after confessing their feelings, and follows how each of them finds their footing afterward. The series struck a chord with Japanese audiences, and a second season has been announced.

My take: Makeine winning over Solo Leveling at a Japanese award show makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Japanese audiences have always responded warmly to grounded romantic stories with relatable characters, and Makeine delivered that in a way that action spectacle often cannot match. The Newtype vote tends to reflect that sensibility pretty consistently.