The Pits 2025: Results!

You voted. We tallied. Here are The Avocado’s favourite media works and most memorable comments of 2025.

Without further ado, let’s get to the awards!

Film

Hosted by El Santo [Ballots and results]

Best Film of 2025

This was a runaway victory for Sinners, which earned 344 points. In second place, we have One Battle After Another, which earned a respectable 233 points. Hooray for vampires!

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Wake Up Dead Man
4. Superman
5. 28 Years Later
6. Weapons
7. Thunderbolts*
8. Frankenstein
9. Sorry, Baby
10. Black Bag

Fun fact: Sinners was the top choice on 19 ballots!

Retrospective Best Film of 2024

This was a much closer race, with Dune: Part Two (127 points) eking out a victory over runner-up I Saw the TV Glow (120 points). Congratulations to the Kwisatz Haderach!

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Furiosa
4. Anora
5. The Wild Robot
6. Flow
7. Conclave
8. Wicked
9. The Substance
10. Challengers

Fun fact: Only eight points separated I Saw the TV Glow from Furiosa.

Television

Hosted by MrsLangdonAlger [Ballots | Full results]

Best Comedy

This was a close race, with twelve points separating the winner and the runner-up. Congratulations to the first-place finisher, The Studio, with 149 points, and the second-place finisher, The Rehearsal, with 137 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Hacks
4. Abbott Elementary
5. The Chair Company
6. Peacemaker
7. Ghosts
8. Poker Face
9. Long Story Short
10. The Righteous Gemstones

Fun fact: This year’s third-place finisher, Hacks, was last year’s winner.

Best Drama

The points totals are higher in the drama category. Taking the crown, we have Andor at 259 points. Coming in second at 233 points, we have The Pitt.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Severance
4. Pluribus
5. Adolescence
6. The Lowdown
7. Heated Rivalry
8. Alien: Earth
9. Paradise
10. Common Side Effects

Fun fact: You folks really loved Andor. It was first place on a whopping 18 ballots! The next most first-place votes went to The Pitt, with 7.

Best Reality/Non-Fiction

By popular request, we introduced a new category this year. Winning the inaugural reality/non-fiction award with 58 points, we have The Great British Bake Off. In second place, we have Taskmaster, with 40 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Pee-Wee as Himself
4. The American Revolution
5. Survivor
6. Game Changer
7. Colbert
8. The Traitors
9. Celebrity Traitors
10. The Amazing Race

Fun fact: Pee-Wee as Himself also earned 40 points, but Taskmaster had more first-place choices, so the latter was declared the runner-up on the basis of tiebreaking rules.

Books

Hosted by Lamb Dance [Ballots and results]

Best Fiction

This year’s winner was Unboxing Libby by Steph Cherrywell, with 41 points. Coming in second was The Ink Witch, also by Steph Cherrywell, with 25 points. (Hmm… this Steph Cherrywell seems familiar…)

Rounding out the top 10:

3. A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo
4. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
5. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang / Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix [tie]
6. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang / Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix [tie]
7. Luminous by Sylvia Park
8. The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
9. All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles
10. When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley

Fun fact: We read a lot in 2025! We voted for 72 different books.

Best Non-Fiction

In first place, we have a tie between Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green and The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You by Neko Case. After that, we have Good Game, No Rematch by Mike Drucker and No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit, followed by a 15-way tie for 5th place.

Fun fact: Only nineteen books received votes last year. This year, there were nearly double the number of contenders: 37!

Music

Hosted by Side Character [Ballots and results]

Best Album

This was a pretty close contest. Eusexua by FKA Twigs takes the top spot with 34 points, followed by Lux by Rosalía at 31 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

1. The Beths – Straight Line Was a Lie (31 pts)
2. Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory – Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory (29 pts)
3. Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party (25 pts)
4. Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out (24 pts)
5. Wet Leg – Moisturizer (23 pts)
6. The Hives – The Hives Forever Forever the Hives (22 pts)
7. Tyler, the Creator – Don’t Tap the Glass (21 pts)
8. Florence + the Machine – Everybody Scream (19 pts)

Fun fact: Lux had more first-place votes than Straight Line Was a Lie, so Lux takes the silver medal.

Best Song

The top spot goes to “Legalize Living” by The Hives (23 points), followed by “Euro-Country” by CMAT (20 points).

Rounding out the top 10:

3. &TEAM – “Magic Hour” (15 pts)
4. Florence + the Machine – “One of the Greats” (14 pts, won tiebreaker with more first place votes)
5. Monsta X – “Baby Blue” (14 pts)
6. Kenshi Yonezu & Hikaru Utada – “Jane Doe” (13 pts)
7. Nine Inch Nails – “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” (12 pts)
8. The Beths – “Metal” (11 pts, won tiebreaker with higher-ranked votes)
9. The Beths – “Straight Line Was a Lie” (11 pts)
10. Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar – “Chains & Whips” (11 pts)

Fun fact: We’re an eclectic bunch. We voted for 216 different songs!

Best Live Show

This year’s winner is Fujii Kaze with 19 points, and second place goes to Jack White with 16 points.

As for the rest of the top 9:

3. Magdalena Bay (15 pts, won tiebreaker with higher-ranked votes)
4. Matmos (15 pts)
5. Scandal (15 pts) / Bitchin Bajas with Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer (15 pts) [full tie]
6. Scandal (15 pts) / Bitchin Bajas with Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer (15 pts) [full tie]
7. Rilo Kiley (13 pts)
8. David Byrne (12 pts)
9. 10-way tie between Marc Rebillet, Herbie Hancock, Pygmylush, &TEAM, Ceremony, Charli XCX, Ghost, Sum 41, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Monsta X (10 pts)

Fun fact: No artist received more than 2 votes.

Anime

Hosted by Lutair [Ballots | Full results]

Watanabe Award for Best Anime Series

Last year’s sixth place finisher is this year’s winner. Congratulations to The Apothecary Diaries (113 points). Coming in a close second with a respectable 104 points, we have Apocalypse Hotel.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. CITY the Animation
4. The Summer Hikaru Died
5. Medalist
6. Dandadan
7. Takopi’s Original Sin
8. My Dress-Up Darling
9. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
10. With You and the Rain

Fun fact: The Apothecary Diaries isn’t the only series to repeat in the top 10 this year. Dandadan and Orb are also back!

Miyazaki Award for Best Anime Film

This year’s winner is Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, with 54 points. The runner-up is The Colors Within, with 38.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. The Rose of Versailles
4. 100 Meters
5. Bâan -The Boundaries of Adulthood
6. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns
7. K-Pop Demon Hunters
8. Senpai Is an Otokonoko Movie: Sunshine After the Rain
9. Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26
10. Lost in Starlight

Fun fact: Overall, 15 films garnered votes.

Comics

Hosted by Blip [Ballots | Full results]

Best Comic Book

This year, we had a runaway victory. Taking the top spot is Absolute Wonder Woman at 70 points. And in second place, we have The Ultimates at 40 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Absolute Batman
4. Absolute Martian Manhunter
5. The Power Fantasy
6. Absolute Superman
7. Batman & Robin: Year One
8. Ultimate Spider-Man
9. Assorted Crisis Events
10. Transformers

Fun fact: “Ultimate” or “Absolute” titles appearing outside the top 10 include Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Wolverine, and Absolute Black Panther, among others.

Best Strip or Webcomic

It’s déjà vu all over again! Wallace the Brave and Sally Forth once again take the top two spots, this time with 49 and 41 points, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Pooch Café
4. Flash Gordon
5. Mark Trail
6. Hagar the Horrible
7. Questionable Content
8. Mother’s Marriage Contract
9. Youngest Sister-in-Law in a Tragic Reverse Harem
10. Trapped at Home with the Male Leads

Fun fact: Heathcliff did not receive a single vote this year. What’s wrong with you people???

Best Manga

In a close contest, Ichi the Witch takes first place with 27 points, while last year’s winner, A Sign of Affection, moves down to second place with 22 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Don’t Call It Mystery
4. Tower Dungeon
5. Akane-banashi
6. Witch Hat Atelier
7. Land of the Lustrous
8. Centuria
9. The Summer Hikaru Died
10. Colette Decides to Die

Fun fact: Cosmos and Our Dining Table: Seconds, Please! earned the same number of points (10) as Colette Decides to Die in the same voting pattern. The tie was broken by randomization.

Podcasting and Online Video

Hosted by Grumproro [Ballots | Full results]

Best Comedy Podcast

This year’s winner was, once again, Blank Check, with 58 points. Can anyone unseat Blank Check at this point? Maybe second-place finisher The Weekly Planet (38 points) will do it next year.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
4. The Flop House
5. Doughboys
6. Normal Gossip
7. How Did This Get Made?
8. Smosh Mouth
9. Best Friends
10. Double Love

Fun fact: Somebody actually voted for the AVoCADo GamesCast for some reason. Lol.

Best Non-Comedy Podcast

The winner for this category was, once again, If Books Could Kill, with 33 points. The Devil You Know came in second with 20 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. 99% Invisible
4. Remap Radio
5. Axe of the Blood God
6. The Plot Thickens
7. A More Civilized Age
8. The Iron Age of Comics
9. Triple Click
10. Heavyweight

Fun fact: Last year’s runner-up, 99% Invisible, almost repeated in second place, earning 19 points to The Devil You Know‘s 20.

Best YouTube Channel

Last year’s runner-up, Mr. Sunday Movies, leaps into first place with 29 points. Following in second place with 27 points is F.D Signifier, a channel I had totally heard of before I started compiling these results. I’m hip! I’m with the youth!

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Secret Base
4. Any Austin
5. Be Kind Rewind
6. Tasting History with Max Miller
7. Red Letter Media
8. Smosh
9. Colleen’s Manga Recs
10. Yuzuru Hanyu

Fun fact: No channel appeared on more than 3 ballots.

Video Games

Hosted by Merve [Ballots | Full results]

Best Video Game of 2025

We had a decisive victory this year. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took the top spot with 141 points. Coming in second, we had Hades II, with a respectable 103 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Donkey Kong Bananza
4. Hollow Knight: Silksong
5. Blue Prince
6. Ghost of Yōtei
7. Mario Kart World
8. Dispatch
9. Deltarune, chapters 3 and 4
10. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Fun fact: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 appeared on a whopping 16 ballots!

Retrospective Best Video Game of 2024

This was an extremely close race, but in the end, last year’s results got flipped by a margin of one point. Congratulations to Balatro, which earned 63 points. And of course, that means Astro Bot came in second place with 62 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. UFO 50
4. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
5. 1000xRESIST
6. Metaphor: ReFantazio
7. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
8. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
9. Dragon Age: The Veilguard
10. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Fun fact: Neither 1000xRESIST nor Indiana Jones and the Great Circle appeared in the top 10 last year. Word of mouth works!

Commenting Awards

Hosted by Merve [Votes]

Our annual awards show wouldn’t be complete without taking a second to honour you, the community. We have 24 awards to hand out, plus Hall of Fame inductions.

Let’s get to the awards!

1. Best Comment or Conversation – Funny: Nate the Great, with some trademark Avocado smartassery [30 votes]

2. Best Comment or Conversation – Serious: YUZURU’s 4A‘s comment about the J-drama series Old Fashion Cupcake [4 votes]
3. Best Use of The Avocado as a Response: Aiwendil, on fragile fences [4 votes]

4. Best Username: Anus Presley [15 votes]
5. Best Avatar: Also Anus Presley [13 votes]

6. Best Gimmick Account: The Taco Bell Bell. BONG! [15 votes]
7. Best Pet Photo: Flubba posts a photo of pure comedy [20 votes]

8. Best Photoshop Job: Dashboard Dough, for giving us this Pokémon edit [19 votes]

9. Best Discovery: Natsume’s Book of Friends, recommended by Grumproro [9 votes]
10. Best OT or PT Header: DourifLeMoko‘s vampire movie countdown [21 votes]
11. Best Meme Spiral: Flag spirals [8 votes]

12. Best Recurring Thread: It’s a tie between the Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Threads and the Weekly Video Games Threads! [16 votes]
13. Best One-Off Thread: The Nature Thread‘s tribute to dearly departed community member Sirilicious (RIP), by Nate the Lesser [21 votes]
14. Best Avocado Tournament: AmeriCadoVision, run by TheCleverGuy [11 votes]
15. Best Werewolf Game: A tie between Murder on the Orient Express, modded by Pablo Pizazzo, and Choose Your Own Werewolf 2, modded by Cork [5 votes]
16. Best Rabbit/Hyperbeam/Tuturru Screening: Superman 2025, hosted by Wolfman Jew [3 votes]
17. Best Live-Chat: The Game Awards 2025, hosted by Jarathen [9 votes]
18. Best Review or Spotlight: Adventure Time – “Stakes”, by Prestidigititis, Malcolm Rambert, CedricTheOwl, LibraryLass, Katie, Grumproro, and Josephus Brown [12 votes]
19. Best Recipe: exexalien‘s cheese dak-galbi recipe [6 votes]
20. Coolest Fact You Learned from The Avocado: the reversibility of medicine bottle caps (teacher unknown) [22 votes]
21. The Ack-Ack Memorial Kindest Commenter Award: Stars (they come & go) [34 votes]
22. Best buds: Aoqi888 and lyona5, geeking out about period dramas [16 votes]
23. Rookie of the Year: Zsu Zsu Funkenstein [28 votes]
24. The Holy Guacamole Lifetime Shitposting Achievement Award for Most Active Commenter: The Wasp [29 votes]

And now it’s time for the Hall of Fame inductions. We have 4 inductions this year!

• Heberta, for the saga of Honorary Child
• Pinot Pie, for being the guardian angel/Boo Radley of The Avocado
• Sirilicious, whose sweetness and thoughtfulness in the Nature Thread will be deeply missed (RIP)
• Yiling Laozuningyou, for fantastic Politics Thread headers, featuring news from the U.S. and around the globe

That does it for the 2025 Pits! Thanks to the topic leaders for filling out spreadsheets and compiling results. This would not have been possible without you. And thank you to the community for making such a wonderful, thoughtful, and hilarious place to hang out. Have a wonderful 2026!