On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, the Hollywood Critics Association revealed the nominations for its 2023 TV Awards, which included My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan. The two series are competing against Western shows such as Animaniacs, Central Park, Harley Quinn, and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
The aforementioned series are nominated under the “Best Streaming Animated Series or TV Movie”category. While Attack on Titan’s first special of the final season’s fourth part is nominated, only one episode from My Hero Academia’s sixth season is being nominated. This is episode 23, which is the 136th overall episode of the series, titled Deku vs. Class A.
Both nominations mark the first time anime series have been nominated for the HCA TV Awards category. Founded in 2016, the film critic organization held its first TV Awards event on August 29, 2021, with the second taking place on August 13 and 14 of 2022 and the third set to occur sometime in 2023. The originally planned dates of August 12 and 13 have been pushed back due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia could take home HCA TV Awards if the event comes to fruition
The 2023 HCA TV Awards nominees for Best Streaming Animated Series or TV Movie are:
Attack on Titan
My Hero Academia
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Animaniacs
Harley Quinn
Central Park #HCATVAwards #AttackonTitan #MyHeroAcademia #Animaniacs #HarleyQuinn #CentralPark pic.twitter.com/DTqz9HW970— Hollywood Critics Awards (@HCAcritics) July 11, 2023
While the nominations for Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia are certainly exciting, their chances of winning may be nixed from the start due to the writer’s strike ongoing in the USA since May 2, 2023. With the presentation of the winners of each category being delayed due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, there is a chance that the 2023 event is skipped entirely.
Nonetheless, the nomination of these two series is quite thrilling and demonstrates how the anime medium is sweeping over the Western audience, which was not previously the case. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Western fans dove into the medium while stuck at home with essentially nothing to do but watch television.
Attac on Titan ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥the best👍🏻❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
— athari zaki (@athari73900820) July 12, 2023
The nomination of My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan also makes sense because these two series are among the most popular with Western audiences for a variety of reasons. Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen have also played similar roles in Western culture over recent years, but arguably to a lesser extent overall than the aforementioned duo.
Hopefully, the 2023 TV Awards will come to pass and see either one of the aforementioned anime series take home gold in the Best Streaming Animated Series or TV Movie category. In any case, their nomination is a sign of more to come for the anime medium, especially if more globally loved series such as those above continue to highlight the medium’s potential among Western audiences.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
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