The official nominees of the 50th Annie Awards have been released! These include a few notable anime like Inu-Oh, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Exception, and Oni: Thunder God’s Tale. Some even received multiple nominations! 2022 is truly a great year for anime because a lot of amazing stories came out.
To add to this, the Death Note spoof episode of the Simpsons also got nominated. This episode is entitled, “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII”, which was nominated for Best TV/Media – Mature Content.
Let us hope that an anime will win this time, as it did not bring home a trophy in the last 49th Annie Awards. Fingers crossed!
The awards ceremony will be held in February 23, 2023 in UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, United States.
Here are the nominated anime:
1. Inu-Oh
Produced by: Science SARU
Nominations:
- Best Indie Feature
- Best Writing Feature – Akiko Nogi
Synopsis: An incident led to Tomona losing his sight and his father. Left with no other options, he settled with playing the biwa. Eventually, he became exceptionally skilled on it to the point of joining a prestigious troupe of performers. Tomona then takes on a new name, “Tomoichi”.
He then encounters a strange person who has a deformed appearance who enjoys scaring others with the name of Inu-Oh. Nevertheless, the two became fast friends and Inu-Oh discovered his talent for dancing. They became performing duos from that moment on.
They gained mass popularity, but their unconventional ways is challenging the deeply rooted values of the society around them. How would they deal with this?
2. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Produced by: Trigger, CD Projekt Red
Nomination:
- Best Storyboarding in TV/Media – Kaneko Yoshiyuk
Synopsis: David Martinez is a teenager living in the slums of Night City, a futuristic Californian metropolis. His mother had dreams of him being in Arasaka, the world’s top leading security corporation. Determined to make his mother proud, David enrolls in the Arasaka Academy while his mother works hard to sustain them.
However, an incident with a street gang led to David’s life getting ruined. He discovers a Sandevistan cyberware, which enhances the wearer’s abilities like superhuman speed. Embittered, David uses this to take revenge against one of those people who ganged up on him. Unfortunately, this got him expelled from Arasaka Academy.
Data thief Lucyna “Lucy” Kushinada noticed his abilities and offered to join forces with him. But this association led to David being exposed to Edgerunners – cyborg outlaws who are desperate for money. They also use the Sandevistan cyberware that might break their minds.
3. Exception
Produced by: Bakken Record, 5 Inc.
Nomination:
- Best Direction in TV/Media – Yûzô Satô
Synopsis: This is an age of humanity where they are forced to leave Earth and to find a new planet. To explore “Womb”, a potential planet, an expedition team was created by a 3D biological printer. However, one crew member named Lewis got misprinted to become a deformed and dangerous monster. The new and successful print of Lewis joins the crew to deal with the circumstances.
4. Oni: Thunder God’s Tale
Produced by: Tonko House
Nominations:
- Best Limited Series in TV/Media
- Best Character Animation in TV/Media – Toshihiro Nakamura
- Best Direction in TV/Media – Daisuke Tsutsumi
- Best Character Design – Rebecca Chan
- Best Music in TV/Media – Zach Johnston, Matteo Roberts
- Best Production Design in TV/Media – Robert Kondo, Rachel Tiep-Daniels, Lia Tin, Yohei Hashizume, and Masa Inada
Synopsis: A free-spirited child named Onari has dreamed of becoming one of the mighty heroes yet she does not know what her powers are. In a world full of Japanese mythological creatures, she embarked on a journey to discover her own abilities.
However, one day, a mysterious group called the “Oni” posed a danger to her village. This was unexpected as the Oni are known to be peaceful creatures. Can Onari be able to protect her village just like all the mighty heroes she has heard of?
Read More: One Piece Film: Red, Doraemon, and Others Win Big at 46th Japan Academy Film Awards
