EXCLUSIVE: Crunchyroll Anime Awards fan voting topped 73M this year, marking a major leap for the anime streamer’s flagship annual event. Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini revealed the figure in an interview with Deadline ahead of Saturday’s tenth edition of the awards in Tokyo.

The award noms are selected by judges and then voted on by fans. With the popularity of anime increasing, engagement with the awards has hit a new level. Fan votes jumped from 51M votes last year to 73M this year.

It’s notable growth for what started out as a small awards event held in a local venue in San Francisco with a handful of categories. The awards then moved to LA before landing in their current home, Tokyo, Japan.

Anime brand and streaming service Crunchyroll is owned by Sony, and President and CEO of Sony Group Corporation, Hiroki Totoki will deliver the opening remarks at the awards ceremony.

We previously detailed this year’s noms, which include box office smashes Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc in the Film Of The Year category. Dan Da Dan and My Hero Academia are among those vying for the marquee Anime of the Year accolade.

Voice actress Sally Amaki and entertainer Jon Kabira are on awards hosting duties. Celebrity presenters for the tenth edition include The Weeknd and RZA, as well as Thai K-pop artist BamBam, Puerto Rican singer Young Miko, Mexican singer-songwriter-actress DANNA and comedy duo Mitorizu.

“When we ask somebody to come present at Anime Awards, they have to be an authentic fan, which is the first thing we look at,” Purini said. “They talk about how anime has inspired them, whether they’re a musician or an artist, a director or an athlete.”

In terms of where the awards votes are coming from, Purini says the geography tracks with the countries where anime and Crunchyroll are most popular, including Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico and the U.S.

The growth in Anime Awards voting comes as Crunchyroll expands. Sony’s most recent earnings results revealed the service has 21M paying subscribers, up from 17M a year earlier. It has 25,000 hours on its streaming service, and works with Sony Pictures Entertainment to bring movies to theaters.

Purini broke down the movie strategy. “The reason we are in the theatrical is we know fans want to watch their favorite shows, their favorite characters, on a big screen with friends and family. And so theatrical is a big component of us delivering on our proposition of being everything for the anime fan. We are committed to theatrical. We plan to bring eight to 12 movies to fans every year in theaters.”

The combination of releasing streaming series and theatrical releases has become a proven strategy in anime. “Japan has really figured out how to tell stories through TV series with movies in between,” Purini said. “Demon Slayer is a great example. They did two seasons, then they did a movie, then they did another season, then they’re finishing up the series with a trilogy of movies, with the first one last year. That helps build a franchise and a fandom.”

Crunchyroll’s recent streaming highlights include the latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen. Purini namechecked Daemons of the Shadow Realm and Witch Hat Atelier as ones to look out for this quarter. The hugely anticipated new season of Solo Leveling is still to come as is Ghost of Tsushima, based on the PlayStation video game. “We want to do more of those,” Purini said of game adaptations and Crunchyroll’s collaboration with PlayStation, another Sony business.

In the meantime, all eyes in the anime world will be on Tokyo this weekend for the awards as anime continues to grow as a commercial and cultural force.