Two Titans, One Very Busy Director

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time was the true final chapter of the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, a franchise Hideaki Anno had been circling in one form or another since the original 1995 series. Winning Animation of the Year, Film wasn't a surprise. Winning it while also taking Best Director and Best Screenplay in the same ceremony pretty much confirms whose night this was.

Jujutsu Kaisen took Animation of the Year, Television, arriving at the peak of its first wave of popularity and cementing itself as one of the defining shonen franchises of its generation, joining a list of TV winners at this ceremony that already included some of the biggest names in the genre.

Best Music turned into a shared award this year, split between Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina. Kajiura had already become something of a TAAF regular by this point, having previously won for Weathering with You and Violet Evergarden: The Movie in earlier editions.