Solo Leveling Loses ‘Best Work’ Award to the Real Best Anime of 2025

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Fans experienced a lot of ups and downs recently. There were initial reports that Solo Leveling had won a prestigious award in Japan, being named ‘Best Work’ of 2025 at the Newtype Anime Awards, but it turned out to be a mistake.

Newtype is a highly respected anime magazine in Japan, so receiving an award from them is a significant achievement. This would have been especially meaningful for Solo Leveling, as it’s been suggested the series isn’t as popular in Japan as it is internationally. This is why fans were so excited when the official Korean Solo Leveling social media account announced that Season 2 had won awards, including ‘Best Work.’ Unfortunately, that announcement, as translated from the original Korean post, turned out to be inaccurate.

A Mistranslation Caused Confusion For Solo Leveling Fans During the Newtype Anime Awards

Fans of Solo Leveling discovered that an automatic translation caused a big misunderstanding. The official Solo Leveling social media account wasn’t announcing that Season 2 was being released, but rather that it had been nominated for several awards, including Best Work. Actually, Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!—another romantic comedy series animated by the same studio, A-1 Pictures—won the Best Work award, making it Japan’s top-rated anime of the year.

A-1 Pictures won the award for Best Studio, and fans of Solo Leveling likely feel it was a fitting reward. The Newtype Anime Awards are largely decided by fan votes, with some input from judges. Solo Leveling itself finished 4th in the Best Work category. Considering some people believed the anime wasn’t popular in Japan, 4th place is a strong result.

Japan Actually Does Like Solo Leveling, Despite Previous Reports to the Contrary

I was looking at the Newtype anime rankings, and while Solo Leveling didn’t win the top prize as some translations claimed, it definitely outperformed expectations. In fact, it ended up in 4th place, beating out several hugely popular anime like Re:Zero, Dandadan, Oshi No Ko, Medalist, and Uma Musume Cinderalla Gray. Considering how big those other shows are in Japan, it really shows that Solo Leveling is popular over there too, despite what some critics might say.

Recently, Solo Leveling placed lower than Uma Musume Cinderella Gray, Re:Zero, and Medalist on Filmarks’ list of Japan’s most popular anime. This suggested Solo Leveling wasn’t as popular with Japanese viewers, making it surprising that it outperformed all of those series in a Newtype ranking. While it hasn’t reached the same level of massive popularity in Japan as it has in Western countries, Solo Leveling consistently ranks among the top anime in popularity polls.

It’s been incredibly difficult for anything to match the massive success of Solo Leveling Season 2 in Western countries. Recent reports suggesting the series wasn’t popular in Japan, which I investigated myself earlier this year, now appear to be inaccurate. While producer Atsushi Kaneko stated earlier this year that Solo Leveling hadn’t yet achieved widespread recognition in Japan, new evidence indicates the series is actually more popular there than previously thought. While it didn’t become a viral sensation to the same degree as in other parts of the world, claims about its lack of popularity in Japan don’t tell the full story.

Even though fans of Solo Leveling might disagree, and machine translations aren’t always reliable, Japan has already chosen what they consider the best anime of 2025. Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! may not be as well-known in the US as it is internationally, but it’s a big success for A-1 Pictures – which is good news for Solo Leveling fans, considering A-1 Pictures also animated that series.

Solo Leveling and Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! are both streaming on Crunchyroll.

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2025-10-22 00:39