The Japan Academy Prize Association announced during a ceremony on Friday that the 2015 original anime movie Bakemono no Ko is the winner of the Animation of the Year award.

The movie was nominated alongside Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda., Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai, Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no F, and Love Live! The School Idol Movie in January. Nominated works must have opened in theaters in Japan between December 14, 2014 and December 15, 2015.

Bakemono no Ko opened in theaters in Japan last July. According to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, the movie earned 5.85 billion yen to become the second highest grossing domestic movie of 2015. FUNimation Entertainment has licensed it for release in North America under the title The Boy and the Beast, with screenings in select theaters beginning on March 4.

The movie is the fourth work by director Mamoru Hosoda to win the award. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (2006), Summer Wars (2009), and Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (2012) previously won the award.

Source: Official site

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