In a massive upset for anime fans, the 98th Academy Awards failed to nominate Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc for the Best Animated Feature Film category. Despite both movies doing extremely well at the box office, receiving critical acclaim, and garnering Oscar buzz since release, neither film made the cut. Worse, not a single anime movie was nominated for the 2026 Oscar season. This is especially egregious considering the level of quality in the final nomination list, with Elio and Zootopia 2 arguably earning unwarranted Oscar nominations over Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man.
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KPop Demon Hunters’ inclusion was a given considering the record-breaking Netflix film’s widespread popularity and strong marketing campaign, but if KPop Demon Hunters deserves a nomination, why don’t the two best anime movies of the year? If nothing else, both Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man were leagues above Disney’s offerings for the year. This 2026 Oscar snub reeks of the Academy failing to understand and respect anime as a medium, instead honoring traditional western animation at the expense of celebrating what was a truly diverse year for animated movies around the world.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle & Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Reviewed Better Than Almost Every Film Nominated For Best Animated Movie
Sporting a 98% and 96% Tomatometer score respectively on Rotten Tomatoes, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc reviewed better than all but one movie nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar. Of the nominees, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain is the best reviewed movie on the list, tying with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle for a 98% Tomatometer score. KPop Demon Hunters reviewed worse than both Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man at 92%, followed by Zootopia 2 and Arco at 91%, and Elio all the way at the bottom at 83%.
Elio's nomination is the most egregious of the lot, blatantly robbing a spot that should have rightfully gone to Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man. For what it's worth, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Arco do deserve their nominations over the rest of the films on the list, in large part due to their strong direction; but Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man were just as well-directed, if not more so. The level of artistry and animation depth on display in Infinity Castle and Reze Arc are simply head & shoulders above every animated nominee for the 98th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film.
In no world should Zootopia 2, Elio, and KPop Demon Hunters be recognized over Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle or Chainsaw Man – The Movie for their direction, art direction, or even visual storytelling. KPop Demon Hunters is the most respectable of those three films, but Zootopia 2 and Elio are bog-standard Disney and Pixar movies, as far as the complete package is concerned. Fine enough on a script level, but certainly not better than two of the greatest anime movies of all time.
The Oscars Do Not Respect Anime
Considering the Academy Awards' track record with anime, it's a miracle that Spirited Away, La Maison en Petits Cubes, and The Boy and the Heron actually managed to win their respective categories. Howl's Moving Castle lost to Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Wind Rises lost to Frozen, The Tale Of Princess Kaguya lost to Big Hero Six, When Marnie Was There somehow lost to Inside Out, and The Red Turtle lost to the original Zootopia – and these are only the movies that were actually nominated.
So many amazing anime films are snubbed year after year by the Academy Awards. With anime becoming more mainstream, so many fans believed this year would be different. Demon Slayer is one of the most popular franchises in the world right now, and broke box office records with Infinity Castle's release. Chainsaw Man's artistic quality was immediately praised by movie-goers, and has a level of merit that frankly warranted its Oscar Buzz. While Infinity Castle had the difficulty of being the climax to a long-running series (making it potentially alienating for Oscar voters), Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc does work as a stand-alone piece.
It doesn't help that the only truly diverse movie in the final nomination list is KPop Demon Hunters, which heavily takes inspiration from South Korean culture as part of its storyline, aesthetic identity, and musical score. Even then, Netflix is an American corporation. Every single movie nominated is a western-animated film. Zootopia 2 and Elio are American, and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Arco are French. Japan was completely, unceremoniously ignored by the 2026 Oscars. If even Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man can't earn nominations for the biggest film award ceremony in the industry, it just highlights that American critics and Hollywood are not taking anime seriously.