{"id":475,"date":"2008-03-08T19:27:33","date_gmt":"2008-03-09T01:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tancos.net\/wp\/2008\/03\/08\/foolishness\/"},"modified":"2008-03-08T19:27:33","modified_gmt":"2008-03-09T01:27:33","slug":"foolishness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/foolishness\/","title":{"rendered":"Foolishness"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been following the “March madness” at Derailed by Darry<\/a>. It’s depressing; it demonstrates yet again that popular taste is a lousy guide to quality. In search of further bad news, I took a close look at the list of the “Top 50 best rated<\/a>” animes at ANN. ((There are two different lists of the “best,” each calculated differently, but both essentially the same. This one is the “bayesian estimate.”)) Here it is, with my comments:<\/p>\n


\n1 Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (OAV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Sitting on my shelf, unwatched. I’ll get around to it eventually.
\n2 Death Note (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Two episodes viewed. Promising; I’ll watch the rest when it’s all out in a boxed set.
\n3 Cowboy Bebop (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Six episodes viewed (there’s more on the shelf, but I haven’t bothered to watch it). Overrated; Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack is the best part of the show.
\n4 Spirited Away (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my shelf.
\n5 Mushi-Shi (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my “buy” list.
\n6 The Girl Who Leapt through Time (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 The best Studio Ghibli movie in years, except it’s not from Studio Ghibli. On my “buy” list.
\n7 Princess Mononoke (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my shelf.
\n8 Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Two episodes viewed. Waiting for the boxed set.
\n9 Nodame Cantabile (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Four episodes, and I lost patience with the all the flakes.
\n10 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Overrated; I’ll wait for the boxed set, on sale.
\n11 Fullmetal Alchemist (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I might investigate this someday.
\n12 Monster (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Another I might investigate.
\n13 Kanon (TV 2\/2006)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Four episodes viewed. Not what I like.
\n14 5 Centimeters Per Second (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my “buy” list.
\n15 Honey and Clover II (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not interested.
\n16 Grave of the Fireflies (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I suppose I ought to see this someday, but I’m in no hurry.
\n17 Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Two episodes viewed. One of the “best”? Yeah, right. Ubu may have something to say about that<\/a>.
\n18 ef – a tale of memories (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 The first episode did not impress me, but I suppose I ought to give it another chance.
\n19 Nausica\u00e4 of the Valley of the Wind (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my shelf.
\n20 Baccano! (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my “buy” list if it’s licensed.
\n21 Clannad (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not interested.
\n22 Honey and Clover (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I got fed up with Takemoto about two-thirds the way through.
\n23 Kino’s Journey (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my shelf. A good series to show to people who think they don’t like anime.
\n24 Whisper of the Heart (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my shelf.
\n25 Ouran High School Host Club (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I ought to loathe this \u2014 high school setting, pointy chins, a [reverse] harem, rich vs. poor, cross-dressing, etc. \u2014 but it’s the best series of 2006. On my “buy” list.
\n26 Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I’m mildly curious.
\n27 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Maybe someday. Maybe not.
\n28 Fighting Spirit (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 It’s supposed to be outstanding, but it doesn’t sound like anything I’d like.
\n29 My Neighbor Totoro (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I gave my copy to my nephews and niece. I might get another for myself someday.
\n30 Denno Coil (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Gee, I kinda like this one. On my “buy” list when it’s licensed.
\n31 Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I kinda like this one, too. On my “buy” list if it’s licensed (again).
\n32 Planetes (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my “buy” list.
\n33 Millennium Actress (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On loan to a friend. A better introduction to Satoshi Kon than Paprika<\/b><\/i>.
\n34 Higurashi no Naku Koroni Kai (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Hell no.
\n35 Haibane Renmei (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 This should be 34 places higher. On my shelf.
\n36 Great Teacher Onizuka (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I’m mildly curious.
\n37 Mononoke (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Highly stylized; an anime unlike other anime. On my “buy” list if it’s licensed.
\n38 Legend of the Galactic Heroes (OAV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I suppose I ought to watch this, but 110 episodes? Never mind.
\n39 The Twelve Kingdoms (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 On my “buy” list.
\n40 Comedy (OAV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Hard to find. It looks atypically dreary for a Studio 4\u00b0C show.
\n41 Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not even slightly interested.
\n42 Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not interested.
\n43 Howl’s Moving Castle (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Hayao Miyazaki’s worst movie. Not on my “buy” list.
\n44 Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not interested.
\n45 Castle in the Sky (movie)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Miyazaki’s done better.
\n46 Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations (OAV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I might listen to the Yuki Kajiura soundtrack sometime; otherwise, no thanks.
\n47 Hunter X Hunter (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 and
\n48 Hunter X Hunter (OAV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 I might investigate these someday.
\n49 Cowboy Bebop: The Movie<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Better than the series, but still a title to rent, not buy.
\n50 Touch (TV)<\/b><\/i> \u2014 Not interested.<\/p>\n

The most interesting feature of this list is what’s missing. It omits at least half of the shows I consider first-rate. Serial Experiments Lain<\/b><\/i>, Cardcaptor Sakura<\/b><\/i>, Noir<\/b><\/i>, Crest\/Banner of the Stars<\/b><\/i>, Paranoia Agent<\/b><\/i>, Sugar, a Tiny Snow Fairy<\/b><\/i>, Porco Rosso<\/b><\/i> and Shingu<\/b><\/i> are all absent. It’s also heavily biased towards recent shows. Six of the first ten are from the last three years. Which of those six will still be there in 2011?<\/p>\n

It’s not entirely worthless as a guide to what’s worth watching. Most of the titles I’m familiar with are at least watchable, and the list does include many of the best. Still, this is not a much better way of determing the best than the voting at Jason’s.<\/p>\n

Update: Here’s a look at the list<\/a> by someone whose taste is quite different than mine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been following the “March madness” at Derailed by Darry. It’s depressing; it demonstrates yet again that popular taste is a lousy guide to quality. In search of further bad news, I took a close look at the list of the “Top 50 best rated” animes at ANN. ((There are two different lists of the … Continue reading “Foolishness”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[224,422,677],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-future-viewing","tag-otakusphere","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xam3-7F","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}