No major surprises in the results this year.
Shin Sekai Yori claimed the top spot on the first day of voting, cruising to an easy victory in the 2013 reader poll. The only real drama at the top was the see-saw battle between Shingeki no Kyoujin and Kyousougiga for third place.
The biggest gaps between my ranking and the reader ranking were for Ginga e Kickoff and Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen – in the other direction, it was Shingeki no Kyoujin and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. As for the RC poll, it was indeed won by Shingeki (I guess I was too optimistic based on SSY’s dominance in the comments). The only show common to both polls (Hunter X Hunter was not an option there, though I doubt it would have made the top 10) was Shin Sekai Yori, which placed third at RC. Chihayafuru 2 and Zetsuen no Tempest (a surprising #6 at RC) were the other two series that placed in both reader polls’ Top 10.
Ronbb
January 18, 2014 at 5:03 amWhoot whoot…SSY won the poll. No surprise there, but I'm still excited. Happy to see that I share similar tastes with your readers, but RMZ totally deserves more love. Also, you had 50% increase in number of votes this year from last..! Congrats!
admin
January 18, 2014 at 5:40 amHeh, didn't even notice that. Woot!
pross1989
January 18, 2014 at 5:55 amHaving Monogatari Season 2 being so high up in this list is the only thing I find questionable. I honestly don't see what is so likeable about any of the Monogatari series entries, especially how this year's entry (Monogatari Season 2) managed to get more votes than Watamote and Rozen Maiden.
The Nisio Isin-penned dialogue, as Guardian Enzo recently put it in succint terms, is "spectacularly pompous, vapid and self-aware tripe." For instance, the common use of pop cultural references and wordplay are shallow and often irrelevant, put there seemingly more for the sake of putting in a smart-looking reference than to add depth.
This, of course, is a vulgar way of creating symbolism.
As Ray Bradbury once put it: "I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act. Better to get the subconscious to do the work for you, and get out of the way. The best symbolism is always unsuspected and natural."
He also said: "Good symbolism should be as natural as breathing…and as unobtrusive." Which is obviously not the case with Nisio Isin's writing.
Shinbou's directing is, as Guardian Enzo also once again elegantly summarized, "hyperactive, twitchy auteurism." It's annoying to watch. It's interesting for one episode, but Shibou's style is not something that I can endure for more than that. I feel that Shinbou is better suited to be a music video director rather than a film or television show director.
What do people see in this series?
admin
January 18, 2014 at 6:14 amTo play devil's advocate, I think the fact that Monogatari didn't finish higher than it did considering how popular it is is evidence of just how out of synch with the masses this site's readership is…
Honestly, I'm fine with people liking whatever they like – my feelings on Isin could hardly be stronger, but to each his own. Still – seeing Bradbury and Isin in the same sentence puts me in mind of the scene in "Raiders" where the swastika spontaneously burns itself off the shipping crate…
As for Shinbou, I would say that there are times in his career when he's subverted his ego to the material to great effect and, predictably, they've mostly been among his bombs – Natsu no Arasi, Soredemo. But with the success of the Isin adaptations it seems as if he's pretty well decided he can't go wrong with his extreme twitchy style, and I don't know that we'll see him tone it down again.
sonicsenryaku
January 18, 2014 at 8:09 amAs much as i personally cant stand Isin's writing or Shinbo's spastic directing, i do understand the appeal behind the monogatari series and why it has such a following. I too feel that people should be able to like whatever they like; my tastes do not make me superior to others but in regards to tastes and the anime community, i just think it would be awesome if some anime fans would broaden their tastes you know. By doing so they will be able to experience things that they would have missed out on. Challenge yourself every now and then and be open-minded about what you watch; that's what i feel more people should be doing more often. I cant how many times someone has dropped something for a very silly reason, in my opinion (I.E Shin Sekai Yori's 8th ep)
Kurama Hitsugaya
January 18, 2014 at 6:37 amI'm glad that Shin Sekai Yori was #1. I hope that petition to have the novel translated into English gets enough signatures/comments. I commented on it and sent them an e-mail a few months ago when the link to it got posted on RC, but I haven't heard any new information about it.
Zeta Zero
January 18, 2014 at 7:18 amAnd so what can we surmise from this?
Jeb Nemo
January 18, 2014 at 5:41 pmI have no idea how good a stylist Yusuke Kishi is, but the ideas in Shin Sekai Yori are not that new. For perspective, take a look at the works of Cordwainer Smith from the 1960s, especially those dealing with Norstrilia and the Underpeople.
Richard
January 18, 2014 at 8:55 pmCrime Edge is so satisfingly low in the rankings.
I'm proud of these readers.