Anime awards are highly anticipated by thousands of fans every year. For international fans, Crunchyroll Awards are usually the most anticipated, but in Japan the NewType Awards are quite popular. The NewType Awards have already been revealedand along with the best anime, they also showed through a poll who people thought was the best male and female characters of 2025.
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For the female categoryit was Hitori Gotō, the protagonist of the series 'Bocchi the Rock!' Meanwhile, i the male category, the big winner was Hitori Gotō from Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! These results definitely shocked some foreign fans, who expected more globally trending characters to win, such as Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling, or maybe Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries
Japan's NewType Awards determine the best main characters of 2025
If there's one anime award that Japanese anime fans always look forward to, this is definitely it Japan's NewType Awards. NewType is a monthly Japanese anime magazine, and every year they give out their own awards. The NewType awards cover Best Anime, Best Anime Movie, Best Director, Best Voice Actor, as well as best female and male character of the year. The top female and male characters for this year have already been revealed, and the results may surprise some.
Hitori Gotō is 2025's Best Female Protagonist
When it comes to the Best Female Character category, the NewType awards choose Hitori Gotō as the best. Hitori Gotō is the protagonist of the acclaimed series 'Bocchi the Rock!'
In 'Bocchi the Rock!' Hitori is an extremely shy character, but also a very talented one. She is part of the Kessoku Band and plays the role of their lead guitarist and lyricist. She is definitely a character that has captured the hearts of many fans.
Kazuhiko Nukumizu is the best male lead of the year
As for the male category, the winner here was a character known as Kazuhiko Nukumizu. Kazuhiko Nukumizu is from the new popular anime Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
Kazuhiko Nukumizu is the lead in this slice-of-life anime, and fans are definitely invested in his life. After seeing a girl rejected by her love, Kazuhiko Nukumizu builds a friendship with her. It doesn't end there though, as similar events unfold with other girls around him.
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Makeine: Too many losing heroines! has definitely been a hit, so it's easy to see why Kazuhiko is as popular as he is. After all, Makeine was also the best anime of the year based on the NewType awards.
Overseas, Solo Leveling's Sung Jinwoo is the MC of the Year
Many foreign fans were surprised to see the winners for the male and female categories of the NewType awards. Makeine and “Bocchi the Rock!” is after all relatively smaller and less heard of series.
Fans abroad instead decided their own favourite main character during Crunchyroll's Anime Awards 2025and the difference in taste couldn't be clearer. Neither Kazuhiko Nukumizu nor Hitori Gotō were voted the best character. The most popular MC outside of Japan at the moment is none other than Sung Jinwoothe main character from the new hit anime Solo Leveling. Fans hope to see more of his adventures in 2026.
