The Best Male and Female Seiyuu Akars went to Kouichi Yamadera (Spike, "Bebop"), with over 28%, and Megumi Hayashibara (Faye Valentine, "Bebop"), with over 38%, respectively. Masaya Onosaka's Vash ("Trigun") fell shy two points behind Yamadera and Mayo Suzukaze's Kenshin ("Samurai X") nearly elbowed Hayashibara's femme fatale out of the top spot, short only a fraction of a percent.

Voicing a broader acceptance for dubbing in the fan community, the Akadot readership gave the Akar for Best Dub Studio to Vancouver-based Ocean Studios, responsible for the dubs for "Ranma 1/2" and "Maison Ikkoku" among many other titles, with a resounding 30% of the vote. However, accolades also befell Animaze.. (25%), which engineered the dub for "Bebop," and Coastal Carolina (10%), which pulled together a stellar English version of "Blue Submarine No. 6" that wound up on the Cartoon Network. But the Akar for Best Dub Production befell Miramax for "Mononoke," a remarkable endeavor directed by Jack Fletcher that starred some of the best Hollywood acting talent money can buy. It snagged over 35% of the tally, jetting ahead of the 30% picked up by ZRO for "Bebop." And, again, "Blue Sub" undeservedly placed at the bottom with little more than 5% of the vote.

In a surprising departure from the Mononoke/Bebop sweep, the Best Screenplay Akar went to Masahi Sogo for "Samurai X," which culled over 35%, only inches in front of Keiko Nobumoto's stylistically eclectic, narratively transcendent "Cowboy Bebop," which slid into second place with 34%. These two left worthy contenders "Gasaraki" and "Blue Sub" in the dust. And with a movie release planned by Sunrise for later this year, penned by Nobumoto, "Bebop" might very well sprint ahead of the competition at next year's awards.

"Mononoke" won't enjoy the second wind vitality that Ridley Scott's Roman epic will, but its 2000 DVD release has reached the broad audience that Miramax's limited cinema run may have alienated, enabling this most recent Miyazaki film to nab the Akars for Best Director (Miyazaki taking in nearly 45% of the vote over runner up "Bebop" director, Shinichiro Watanabe) and Best Anime Feature Film (beating out anime brethren with 62%, the highest count for any of the nominees in any of the other categories). "Bebop" rounded out its strong Akar showing with the awards for Best Anime TV/OAV series (45%) over "Samurai" (29%) and Best Character Design, which went to Toshihiro Kawamoto (noted designer for "Gundam 0083" and "Golden Boy," and even more notable for beating out Hayao Miyazaki himself who did the character designs for "Mononoke").

But with the new Miyazaki, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi," about a young girl, Chihiro, and her adventures in a surreal dreamscape, coming out this July, the "Bebop" movie, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," is going head to head with one of anime's classic institutions.