The 2026 awards
season has begun and anime continues to stomp on American soil. On the
night of this Friday, January 9, during the ninth edition of
the Astra Film Awards organized by the Hollywood
Creative Alliance (HCA), the first film of the final trilogy, Demon
Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, was awarded the honorary "Animation
is Cinema" award.
Special
honor, but without the jackpot
Although the
special recognition celebrates the cinematic impact of Ufotable's work,
the night had an intense competitive undertone. The film was also nominated in
the main category of Best Animated Feature, where it went up
against giants such as Zootopia 2, Arco, In
Your Dreams and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.
Finally, the main
statuette did not go to the Japanese demon hunters, but to Kpop Demon
Hunters, a production that dominated the evening also taking the awards
for Best Voice Performance (for Arden Cho)
and Best Original Song.
The legacy of
anime in the Astra
The Hollywood
Creative Alliance has proven to be a very receptive organization to
anime in recent years. It should be remembered that in the television edition
held in June 2025, Dragon Ball Daima won the award
for Best Anime Series, while Aleks Le won Best
Voice Actor for his role as Sung Jinwoo in the second season of Solo
Leveling.
This honorary
award for Demon Slayer reaffirms that, although they do not
always win the overall category against Western productions (or hybrids like
this year's winner), the Japanese industry is already an immovable pillar of
global cinema.
