Every anime needs a bit of drama to be successful. Who would Tanjiro or Gon be without the experiences they have had with their friends and family throughout Demon Slayer and Hunter X Hunter? Without drama, Gon and Tanjiro surely couldn't have risen to the top ranks of Shonen anime.
There are a number of incredible anime dramas from 2020, like Fruits Basket and the Netflix Original Great Pretender, that were nominated for the prestigious Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Drama in 2021 – but there can only be one winner.
7 Nominee: Fruits Basket (Season 2) Is A Twist On The Familiar Drama Trope
Any anime that is able to earn itself a reboot deserves the respect of fans. Fruits Basket, like Hunter X Hunter, received not just one, but two anime debuts thanks to the popularity of the source material.
Even though this anime was produced once already back in 2001, Crunchyroll's viewership was so enamored by the reboot that it earned a spot for the best anime drama of the year. How a show could manage to put such a twist on the familiar drama in the context of Fruits Basket is still being debated across the fandom, but that doesn't mean fans can't celebrate its success.
6 Nominee: Somali And The Forest Spirit Is Packed With A Diverse Cast Of Magical Creatures
Somali and the Forest Spirit shares a lot of similarities with the hit new anime, The Promised Neverland. Both tell the story of a war between humans and demons that results in humanity being viewed as a source of food rather than a respectable species in their own right.
Somali and the Forest Spirit really separates itself from other anime in the drama that stirs up between the protagonist Somali and the other magical creatures that surround them. Unlike The Promised Neverland, however, this anime is full of a diverse cast of magical creatures other than just Demons. This diversity is what truly allows the anime to shine because it opens the door to dramatic incidents that aren't possible in other anime.
5 Nominee: Beastars Indulges In An Artificial Class Structure Between Herbivores And Carnivores
In order to simulate real world drama in the imaginary world, the mangaka behind Beastars created a fictional class structure based on what different animal species eat. The world of Beastars is always on the brink of devastation due to the fact that herbivore and carnivores are expected to coexist.
By creating an artificial societal structure, and beginning the anime with the death of a young herbivore, Beastars quickly throws their viewers into the middle of a class war packed with exciting, and troublesome, events. It was a brilliant experiment that earned Beastars a nomination for best drama and best anime of the year.
4 Nominee: Sing "Yesterday" For Me Is A Well-Written Love Triangle
After college, Rikuo Uozumias resigned himself to a life standing behind a convenience store checkout desk, waiting for customers to brighten up his day. In fact, before Haru Nonaka enters the story, Rikuo had all but verbally committed himself to his fate. Luckily, Haru Nonaka appears just in time to save Rikuo from his depressing outlook on life.
The drama in Sing "Yesterday" For Me doesn't really start until Rikuo's former crush Shinako Morinome steps in between Haru and Rikuo's' budding relationship. The love triangle that ensues is not original by any means, but it is extraordinarily well-written.
3 Nominee: Japan Sinks 2020 Is A Post-Apocalyptic Family Drama
There are plenty of anime that cast a family as the primary characters, but only a few ask a family to survive an apocalyptic level threat. The Motou family is just like every other. The dad works hard every day at a construction site so that his wife and children can enjoy a happy and comfortable life. Ayumu, the daughter, runs track for her school and Gou, the son, is a video game fanatic.
Japan Sinks 2020 embraces a family formula that is as relatable as it is reliable. To add to the stresses that surely already exist in this family's life, an earthquake like no other the Earth has ever seen before sinks the Japanese Archipelago into the ocean, forcing the Motou family to fight for their survival and learn to deal with loss.
2 Nominee: Great Pretender Is Filled With Con Artists And Exciting Heists
Great Pretender brings the world of anime to the United States with a cast of con artists that are full of theatrics. Of course, this drama is just one more obstacle that the team is forced to work through as they pull off heists in the new Netflix Original anime.
Even though Great Pretender debuted on a different streaming platform than Crunchyroll, it still earned a number of nominations in this year's annual Crunchyroll anime awards. This is surely a testament to the genius behind Great Pretender.
1 Winner: Fruits Basket (Season 2) Broke The Standards Set By Crunchyroll
By winning the award for best drama from Crunchyroll's annual anime awards, Fruits Basket proves that it doesn't matter how many times good content is adapted, as long as its quality remains unaltered. Not only that, Fruits Basket is one of the only anime nominated for any of Crunchyroll's annual awards that didn't debut in 2020.
This means that season two of the reboot was so beautifully dramatic that it managed to break standards set by Crunchyroll themselves. For fans of the series, Akito Sohma, the antagonist, is enough to instill the feelings of dread caused by the second season of Fruits Basket.