We are approaching the halfway point for the Fall/Autumn 2014 anime season and many people have already started to form their opinions on the season’s top and worst series so far. One of the ways to identify which series are worth watching is by looking at the ratings and rankings of the series on anime community websites, and the biggest one is MyAnimeList. Whilst it is not the best method of calculating the best series it is one of the most widely used scales where many people use and depend on it. But of course not everyone will agree on the rankings, especially with how the site is dominated by Western flags.
A recent post on the Japanese news blog Yaraon has compiled the top rated anime from this season and presented the list to their audience, who are Japanese anime fans. And the comments themselves were rather shocked at what Western anime fans rated the best (so far).
Here is the ratings and rankings of the top anime from Fall/Autumn 2014 so far (as of October 26th):
| 1. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works | 8.84 |
| 2. Mushishi Zoku Shou Season 2 | 8.78 |
| 3. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte -the maxim-) | 8.30 |
| 4. Psycho-Pass Season 2 | 8.23 |
| 5. Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road | 8.22 |
| 6. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso | 8.21 |
| 7. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis | 7.85 |
| 8. Gundam Build Fighters Try | 7.85 |
| 9. Amagi Brilliant Park | 7.66 |
| 10. Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle | 7.61 |
| 11. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji | 7.57 |
| 12. Trinity Seven | 7.56 |
| 13. Grisaia no Kajitsu | 7.53 |
| 14. Madan no Ou to Vanadis | 7.52 |
| 15. Gugure! Kokkuri-san | 7.51 |
| 16. Selector Infected WIXOSS | 7.47 |
| 17. Akatsuki no Yona | 7.43 |
| 18. Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de | 7.33 |
| 19. Shirobako | 7.21 |
| 20. Garo: Honoo no Kokuin | 7.20 |
| 21. Donten ni Warau | 7.13 |
| 22. Denki-gai no Honya-san | 7.06 |
| 23. Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru | 7.05 |
| 24. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai | 7.01 |
| 25. Sora no Method | 6.97 |
| 26. Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu. | 6.88 |
| 27. Terra Formars | 6.71 |
| 28. Gundam: G no Reconguista | 6.60 |
| 29. Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete | 6.60 |
| 30. Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo | 6.49 |
| 31. Girl Friend (Beta) | 5.80 |
The blog commenters are not pleased with the ratings, especially with ufotable’s Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works taking 1st place, surprised that the second season of Mushishi Zoku Shou taking 2nd, and that Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam: G no Reconguista not getting well received at all.
Here is a small collection of their comments, with some translations by redditor DragonsOnOurMountain:
３位に寄生獣があるのはあいつらのジョークなのか
Parasyte is ranked third, is this a joke?
妥当なランキングだと思うがね
今期は寄生獣も漫画の存在を知らなければ面白いだろうし
I think it’s a reasonable ranking
It’ll be interesting to see this season if Parasyte will know of the existence of its manga
ＢＦ＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞Ｇレコｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ
Gundam Battle Figures >>>>>>>>> Gundam: G no Reconguista lol lol lol lol
Gレコは富野信者にしかうけてないという現実
Gundam: G no Reconguista is only well received by Tomino fans
エロゲが一位はないわ
Eroge should not be first place
Gレコもあれ富野ファン以外には受けない内容だし
G Reco’s content is not well received by any non-Tomino fan
なにげにBF2期が外人に受けてるのが意外
It’s surprising how Build Fighters season 2 is received by foreignersIn response:
アジア圏だとガンダム人気自体高いしガンプラ文化もあるからね。 ガンプラ王選手権は台湾と香港でもエントリー受け付けてる。
It’s because there’s also a big Gunpla culture to the popular Gundam itself in Asia.
Gunpla championships are being accepted entries in Taiwan and in Hong Kong.
蟲師は普通にクオリティ高いじゃねえかよ
むしろfateより下なのがおかしい
Mushishi is simply high quality, no?
It’s funny that it’s one below Fate
ガールフレンド(仮)がエロゲアニメ以下の最下位なのって
アニメの出来も悪いがそれ以上に
声優博物館だからそっちの需要がほぼ無いGAIJINにとっては無意味なのが大きいのかな
Girlfriend (Beta) is the lowest of all the eroge anime
The anime can be bad, but it’s more than that
I wonder if it’s because the large amount of voice actors has almost no demand to foreigners.
エロゲが一位はないわ
No way an eroge is first place
Gレコはつまんないからだろ、単純にｗ
Gundam: G no Reconguista is rated low since it’s boring lol
こっくりさんとか外人は理解できんだろ
Foreigners probably can’t understand Kokkuri-san
「SHIROBAKO」と「失われた未来を求めて」が低すぎる。
Shirobako and Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete are rate too low
蟲師存在忘れてたｗ
I forgot Mushishi existed lol
エロゲwww
Eroge [Fate/stay night] lol
俺、ツインテールはヒロイン可愛くてシコシコしたなぁ。貧乳大好きの俺にとっては最高や。
Ore, Twintails had a cute heroine fapfap. I love small boobs the most.
俺ツイは、一部がさわいでるだけか
Only some are clamoring about Ore TwintailsIn response:
俺ツイなんて円盤売り上げ3桁だろう
Ore Twintails will have 3-digit sales
ツインテールも低いｗｗｗ
Twintails is also low lol
saoの売上下がりそう
fateに食われてるし
The sales of SAO decrease and
they are eaten up by Fate
海外にも声豚っているのかな
I wonder if there are also seiyuu pigs [hardcore voice actor fans] overseas
続編無しだと寄生獣、四月、バハムートか
妥当だな
Leaving out sequels we’ve got Parasyte, Your lie in April, and Bahamut,
huh That’s reasonable
クロアン低すぎやないかｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ
Cross Ange too low or not lolIn response:
つまんねーじゃん
水樹に主題歌を歌わせるためだけのアニメだし
It’s in a pinch
It’s an anime for Mizuki only so she could sing the theme songIn response:
。・゜・(/Д`)・゜・。うわぁぁぁぁん
*crying*
Fateはハリウッドを越えた！！！
Fate exceeds Hollywood!!!
なぜかわからいけどガンダムは海外で人気ないんだっけ
I’m somehow not sure Gundam is not popular overseas
このランキング自体は少数除いてクオリティ順に並んでる感じでそんな変な所はないでしょ
I feel the ranking is not so strange except the order of quality for a few
そらメソの評価は大体こっちと同じ
The Sora no Method ranking is roughly the same as here
七つの大罪？とログホラ２期はまさかランキングにも入らなかった？
Seven Deadly Sins and Log Horizon season 2 did not even enter the ranking?
評価というか人気と置き換えたら納得出来るんじゃないか？
Wouldn’t you understand it more if rating was replaced by popularity?
まあ妥当なランキングじゃね
It’s a reasonable ranking
海外の方も円盤買ってくださいよ
Please also buy the discs foreigners
蟲師はもっと日本で話題になってもいいと思うんだけど
It wouldn’t hurt for Mushishi to be more talked about in Japan
蟲師とか四月が上位にきてるのが意外
このアニメの良さがあいつらに分るのか
逆にテラフォが低いな。アメリカ映画っぽくて外人受けしそうなのに
It’s surprising that Mushishi and Shigatsu are at the top
Those guys know the goodness of these anime
On the other hand, Terraformars is low. Even though it is likely to be received well to foreigners since it looks very American
SHIROBAKOの面白さがわからないのが外人の限界。
文化がちがーう ってことやね
Foreigners are limited and don’t know the joys of Shirobako
It might be a culture issue
SHIROBAKOは内輪ネタ多いからよく分かってない外人が多そう
Foreigners don’t understand Shirobako since it’s likely they don’t understand all the small inside jokes
And here is Japan’s ranking for the top 20 anime of the season, which is sorted by the popularity of the series:
| 1. Nanatsu no Taizai | 23.8% |
| 2. Gundam: G no Reconguista | 22.6% |
| 3. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works | 20.5% |
| 4. Magic Kaito 1412 | 19.3% |
| 5. Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road | 18.7% |
| 6. Terra Formars | 18.4% |
| 7. Sword Art Online II | 17.8% |
| 8. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte -the maxim-) | 17.2% |
| 9. Sailor Moon Crystal | 16.6% |
| 10. Girlfriend (Beta) | 16.3% |
| 11. Psycho-pass Season 2 | 16.3% |
| 12. Denki-gai no Honya-san | 15.1% |
| 13. Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken | 14.8% |
| 14. Akame ga Kill! | 14.5% |
| 15. Mushishi Zoku Shou Season 2 | 13.3% |
| 16. World Trigger | 13.0% |
| 17. Grisaia no Kajitsu | 12.7% |
| 18. Gugure! Kokkuri-san | 12.3% |
| 19. Amagi Brilliant Park | 12.0% |
| 20. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai | 12.0% |
And of course the Japanese rankings aren’t without negative comments as well:
むしろ日本のランキングがおかしい
Japan’s ranking is rather funny
日本のランキングの方がよっぽどゴミだな
Japan’s rankings are definitely garbage in comparison
So what did you think about the rankings and the comments?
Source Translations – Reddit Anime