The Japan Academy Film Prize Association announced the 46th annual Japan Academy Film Prize awards on March 10, 2023. Wherein, The First Slam Dunk an animated movie based on Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga won the Animation of the Year award.

One Piece Film Red won the Popularity Award in the film category of the awards. It also won the Special Award. The special award is similar to the Chairperson’s Distinguished Service Award, which is given to a person or group that has achieved outstanding results for that year.

The other nominees in the Animation Of the Year category were Suzume No Tojimari, INU-OH, One Piece Film Red, and Lonely Castle In the Mirror.

Whereas, RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi won the award for Best Music for Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume No Tojimari.

Other winners were Osamu Ichikawa and Keizō Suzuki for Best Cinematography, Sosuke Yoshikado for Best Lighting, and Yūji Hayashida and Eri Sakushima for Best Art Direction. All these were for a single movie called Shin Ultraman.

In addition, Aru Otoko (A Man) won the Best Picture award this year. It was competing against Shin Ultraman and Anime Supremacy! (Haken Anime!)

However, Karin Ono who was part of Anime Supremacy! won the award for Rookie Of the Year.

Other actors who won are Meru Nukumi who played Moe Sasaki in the live-action My Boyfriend in Orange (Moekare wa Orange-iro), Daiki Arioka playing Akihisa Taki in Shin Ultraman, and Hokuto Matsumura playing Shizuka Doumeki in the live-action xxxHOLiC film

Along with that, Matsumura also won the Popularity Award in the actor division for his roles as Shizuka and Sota Munakata in xxxHOLiC and Suzume, respectively.

Along with them, the Special award by the association was also given to Shōhei Kawamoto (art director of Doraemon anime & movies), Masanobu Amemiya (car stunts for live-action Ikebukuro West Gate Park, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Godzilla vs. Biollante), Yasuhiro Fukuoka (casting director for Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths) and to Naomi Koike (decoration).

Furthermore, the special award from the chairperson of the association was granted to Shunya Itо̄ (director of Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus), Yūzō Kayama (actor in Kochikame: Tokyo Beat Cops), & Hideki Mochizuki (lighting in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah) for their immense contribution in the film industry for several years.

Also, the special award was also posthumously granted to Hideo Onchi (director of Toward the Terra), Kazuki Omori (director, and screenwriter in The Boy Who Saw the Wind, Godzilla vs. Biollante), Yōichi Sai (director, and screenwriter for live-action Kamui Gaiden), Hirо̄ Matsuda (screenwriter), Mitsunobu Kawamura (producer), & Iwao Ishii (editor).

Films are eligible to participate if they were released in Japan between the time period of January 1 and December 31. The previous year’s winner was Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time in the Animation Of the Year category.

Sources: The Japan Academy Film Prize Association’s website, Comic Natalie