So, with the recent discussions about elections, and CJAS voting, and the constant question as to where CJAS dinner will be held, I wanted to post some quick reflections on the community’s collective attitudes regarding voting, and rankings specifically.
I’ve found that there seems to be three methods in which voting and rankings for shows are performed throughout the anime community as an aggregate: cumulative, individualistic, and sub-categorized.
Cumulative Voting:
We’re talking MyAnimeList ratings. Rank every show on a scale of 1-10, no questions asked; purely quantitative polls with no requirement for support. I find this measure to be a better guide of what people as a whole are feeling. It’s the only effective way to filter out bias that I have seen so far wherever I wonder on the inter-webs for the sole fact that large sample sizes will tend to balance extremes and give people in the middle a voice in the conversation, even if that voice is a simple click vote. However, the catch, as I am sure those using MyAnimeList are aware, is that early polls are amazingly HYPE. Case in point, I do recall finding Beserk (2016)’s score before release to be 8.4, a far stretch from the 6.81 rating today.
Individualistic Scoring:
Ya, opinions on the internet are somethin’ fierce. People making entire YouTube channels to scoring shows based on personal opinions (looking at you GRArkada). Idk, I get the same feeling watching these as I do when reading news on Facebook; if I agree, I come back for more like a hungry weeb at comicon. I know it’s all opinion, but when people start putting numbers to feelings and pass it as fact, well… it’s no wonder some /a threads can get out of hand. In the end, these videos and articles offer different perspectives can be enlightening, but everything I’ve ever consumed has been with a grain of salt to keep me sober (well, as much as possible anyway hehu)
Sub-Categorized Ranking:
These threads pop up breaking down entire genres into sub-genres, and on…and on…and on, until i’m left with a niche pile of shows, and people apply one of the two methods above to decide which show is better. I get the appeal, stratify shows to compare apples to oranges. Yet, you still get these 500+ length flame wars about who’s best girl, when the answer is obviously Shinobu, how is this a debate?
…but you see my point about opinions – they work themselves into the core of a conversation about something that was designed to discuss a show’s merits objectively. Idk, it’s probably too much to ask the internets to be rational. Anyway, just wanted to write out a little reflection, let me know what you think in le comment section below. Or not, do whatever you want, i’m not your dad. luv ya yuki