Joseph Luster
February 9, 2022 
If you were hoping to see Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE, or one of the many other recent anime features on the list of nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, this week was a big letdown. The Academy officially unveiled its list of nominations, and there isn’t a bit of anime to be found in the Best Animated Feature Film category or elsewhere.
Animated Feature Film category nominations went to Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Anime films that were eligible but did not receive nominations include BELLE, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, Josee, The Tiger and the Fish, The Laws of the Universe – The Age of Elohim, Pompo: The Cinéphile, and Poupelle of Chimney Town.
While that may not come as too much of a surprise given the history of the awards, there is a Japanese live-action film in the running for a number of major categories. In addition to a Best Picture nomination, director Ryusuke Hamaguchi and producer Teruhisa Yamamoto’s Drive My Car—which is based on a short story by author Haruki Murakami—is up for Best International Feature and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hamaguchi has also received a nomination in the Best Director category.
