Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer Compete For the 53rd Saturn Awards
Attack on Titan’ final film makes an unexpected appearance as a nominee for the prestigious Saturn Awards alongside the anime film hits of 2025, Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man.
On January 28, 2026, it was announced that the 53rd Saturn Awards (2024/2025) will introduce a new category, Best International Animated Film, and this will be dominated by anime
The nominees for Best International Animated Film include “Attack on Titan The Movie: THE LAST ATTACK”, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc”, “The Colors Within”, and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Returns”.
This is also notable for being one of the few instances where two anime films from the same Japanese studio (MAPPA for Attack on Titan and Chainsaw Man) have been nominated.
Alongside these anime are “Ne Zha 2” and “Stitch Head”.
“Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-” received a nomination for “Best Animated Television Series or Event” and is thus the only anime to enter the category, being pitted against Creature Commandos, Harley Quinn, “Marvel Zombies”, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”, “Predator: Killer of Killers”, and “Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld”.
KPop Demon Hunters, which had beaten Demon Slayer in the Oscars and Golden Globe, was nominated for Best Animated Film, with contenders including “Zootopia 2” and “Elio” like in the Oscars and Golden Globes but also “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie”, “The Bad Guys 2” and “The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants”.
Since 1973, the Saturn Awards has been given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films to films and televisions that are considered the best at this genre.
The Best Animated Film Category had seen some anime in the past, with Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” winning the award in 2002 at the 29th show while “Suzume” (2022/2023), The Boy and the Heron”, also by Miyazaki and Ghibli, and Spy x Family Code: White (both for 2023/2024) were also nominated.
Demon Slayer so far has won the Critics’ Choice Awards Celebration of Cinema and Television for “International Animation Award” and the Hochi Film Awards for “Best Animated Feature” and is currently in the running for BAFTA and the Producers Guild of America Awards,
Alongside Chainsaw Man, it has been nominated for the 49th Japan Academy Film Prize’s Best Animated Film.
Chainsaw Man is also nominated for the “Best Direction – Feature” at the 53rd Annie Awards for Tatsuya Yoshihara (Black Clover) alongside another anime, Scarlet by Mamoru Hosoda, who has been nominated three times, first for Summer Wars (2010) and later for Belle (2018).
Attack on Titan won as the Gold Winner and Audience Choice Winner for the category: “Film – Best In Style” at the 2025 Collision Awards on July 23, 2025.
The 53rd annual Saturn Awards will be presented live on Sunday, March 8, 2026 from the Hilton Los Angeles in Universal City, California.
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