K-pop Artist BamBam, Contemporary Musician Ethan Bortnick, K-pop Singer and Dancer TEN, GRAMMY-nominated Recording Artist Young Miko to Honor Anime’s Best, Live in Tokyo
Tune into the 2026 Anime Awards on Crunchyroll’s Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube Channels with Pre-Show Starting at 5:00PM JST and Main Show Starting at 6:00PM JST
The tenth annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards is shaping up to be the biggest one yet. Today, Crunchyroll just dropped a fresh batch of celebrity presenters who’ll be flying to Tokyo for the big night.
Joining the lineup are Thai K-pop star BamBam, pianist and songwriter Ethan Bortnick, Thai K-pop singer-dancer TEN, and Puerto Rican GRAMMY-nominated artist Young Miko. That’s a pretty wild mix of talent, and honestly? They’re all huge anime fans.
These four join a growing roster of presenters that already includes Asuka Saito, RZA (yes, from Wu-Tang Clan), Rashmika Mandanna, The Weeknd, Winston Duke, and several others. Anime really is everywhere now.
Here’s a quick rundown on the new presenters:
BamBam – Thai-born rapper from GOT7, one of K-pop’s biggest boy groups. Since 2021, he’s been doing his own thing as a solo artist, showing off a more cheerful, vocal-heavy side that didn’t always come through when he was just rapping in the group.
Ethan Bortnick – Young musician, pianist, and songwriter who mixes classical training with a modern edge. His breakout tracks “cut my fingers off” and “engravings” have racked up over 135 million streams on Spotify. He’s on a mission to make classical music cool again — and it’s kind of working.
TEN – Thai singer and dancer with one of K-pop’s most unique solo careers. He’s part of NCT and WayV, but went solo in 2024 with “Nightwalker.” His 2025 EP Stunner topped iTunes album charts in 19 countries and got named one of the year’s best K-pop songs by Billboard.
Young Miko – GRAMMY-nominated artist from Puerto Rico who’s become one of the most influential voices in global music. She’s pulling over 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify and has more than 21 million followers across social media. Her sound doesn’t stick to one genre, and neither does her fanbase.
When and Where to Watch
The Crunchyroll Anime Awards go down on Saturday, May 23, 2026. The live ceremony will be hosted by popular Japanese entertainer Jon Kabira and voice actress Sally Amaki.
Here’s the schedule (JST and PHT):
· Orange Carpet Pre-Show: 5:00PM JST / 4:00PM PHT
· Main Show Ceremony: 6:00PM JST / 5:00PM PHT
You can watch the whole thing live on Crunchyroll’s Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube channels. It’ll also stream on Sony Group Corp’s global and Japanese YouTube channels.
How to Watch in Your Language
The 2026 Anime Awards will be available in nine languages: English, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, and Latin Spanish. So wherever you’re watching from, you should be covered.
About Crunchyroll
For anyone who doesn’t know, Crunchyroll is basically the biggest anime brand on the planet. They’ve got the largest dedicated anime streaming library, plus events, theatrical releases, games, merch, and news. It’s a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment (US) and Aniplex (Japan), both subsidiaries of Sony Group. Anime for everyone, pretty much anywhere.
The Pop Blog general news and updates, mostly from press releases and conferences.