Another year has passed, and it's time once again for the Japan Academy Film Prize—one of the most prestigious awards in the Japanese film calendar—to crown the Best Animated Film. Ahead of the full event on March 13, the Award for Excellence recipients were released today, revealing that both Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle are up for Best Animation Film. Winners for each category are chosen from those picked for an Award for Excellence, a kind of nomination process. The complete list of the Award for Excellence for the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Animation Film includes: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle 100 Meters Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback The full award is really anyone's game this year, as Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train won the award in 2020, and Look Back , based on another manga written by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, won last year. Of course, 100 Meters has been praised for its animation, and Detective Conan is a continuing cultural icon of the Japanese entertainment landscape, having been nominated many times before without winning. Outside the Best Animation Film award, anime director Gisaburo Sugii will receive an Award for Distinguished Service from the Chairman. Sugii is best known as the director of the Touch series, but has also worked as an animator on the original Astro Boy series, and as a director on Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and Cinnamoroll: The Movie . For best film, Kokuho , Hero's Island , Suzuki=Bakudan , 1st Kiss and Tokyo Taxi are up for the top honors while Conclave , Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In , Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning , One Battle After Another and F1 are up for Best Foreign Language Film. Kokuho , currently the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film, has the most nominations at 17, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, two nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and three for Best Supporting Actress. The 49th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony will be held on March 13 at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa. Source: Japan Academy Film Prize Website
