{"id":1874438,"date":"2026-04-09T18:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874438"},"modified":"2026-04-09T18:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:37:58","slug":"the-weeknd-to-present-at-2026-crunchyroll-anime-awards-i-wouldnt-be-here-without-anime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1874438","title":{"rendered":"The Weeknd to Present at 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards: \u2018I Wouldn\u2019t Be Here Without Anime\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101JHHM-e1775752561113.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe Weeknd is set to present the award for anime of the year at the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards on Saturday, May 23, in Tokyo. Anime, especially famed director Shinichiro Watanabe\u2019s influence, has been a key inspiration throughout The Weeknd\u2019s career, starting with his iconic first project, House of Balloons<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"Kacey<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tCrunchyroll Reveals 2025 Anime Awards Winners: Full\u00a0List\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tFrom \u2018My Hero Academia\u2019 to \u2018Jujutsu Kaisen,\u2019 Here\u2019s How to Stream Megan Thee Stallion\u2019s Favorite\u00a0Animes\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThe Weeknd Is Ready to Retire His Persona After \u2018Hurry Up Tomorrow\u2019: \u2018It Never Ends Until You End\u00a0It\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I was first introduced to anime, I was a child,\u201d The Weeknd said in a statement. \u201cSailor Moon was one of my first crushes, Goku my first imaginary sparring partner, and \u2018One More Time\u2019 by Daft Punk was a song and music video I couldn\u2019t get out of my head.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut it wasn\u2019t until my teenage years that one specific anime changed me forever and became part of the fabric of my early career: Samurai Champloo<\/em> by Shinichiro Watanabe. It was the first time I experienced two of my favorite mediums \u2014 anime and hip-hop \u2014 blending so seamlessly that it completely reshaped the way I watched film and listened to music.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe fusion of a samurai story told with auteur precision, paired with the sounds of Nujabes, Fat Jon and Force of Nature was nothing short of transformative. That influence stayed with me all the way through the creation of House of Balloons<\/em>, where I wrote \u2018The Morning,\u2019 \u2018Glass Table Girls\u2019 and \u2018Loft Music\u2019 over Nujabes\u2019 instrumentals. Without Watanabe and Nujabes, House of Balloons<\/em> simply wouldn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSamurai Champloo<\/em> opened my eyes to a more mature world of anime and helped shape my visual DNA. The works of Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Oshii and Katsuhiro Otomo became foundational to the look and feel of The Weeknd.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo, it\u2019s safe to say I wouldn\u2019t be here without anime. It\u2019s an honor to celebrate the artists behind it and a medium that continues to inspire the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Crunchyroll Anime Awards honors the creators, musicians and performances powering the global love of anime. RZA of Wu-Tang Clan is also set to present this year. Several major music stars have presented at the show in recent years, including Kacey Musgraves, Damiano David and Megan Thee Stallion.<\/p>\n

\n\tFans around the world can cast their votes daily for their favorite anime, helping decide winners across 32 categories, including anime of the year. Voting is now open via the Anime Awards website, Crunchyroll and MyAnimeList, and runs through April 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT.<\/p>\n

\n\tSony Music Solutions Inc., part of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Dempsey Productions will support Crunchyroll in the execution of the event, which will be livestreamed for global audiences.<\/p>\n

\n\tCrunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan\u2019s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/awards\/the-weeknd-2026-crunchyroll-anime-awards-presenter-1236218927\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101JHHM-e1775752561113.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard The Weeknd is set to present the award for anime of the year at the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards on Saturday, May 23, in Tokyo. Anime, especially famed director Shinichiro Watanabe\u2019s influence, has been a key inspiration throughout The Weeknd\u2019s career, starting with his iconic first project, House of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1874438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1874438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1874438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1874438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1874438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}