Newtype popularity character polls in, time to overanalyze

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

This poll came to my attention thanks to Anime News Network.
Newtype character polls [https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-07-08/sword-art-online-kirito-tops-newtype-character-popularity-poll/.76422]

Well, got a few observations on the poll

1, Kirito is the top character in the male chracter polls, of course the character that feels the most self-insert like gets number one.
2. Despite Asuna getting 1st place on the "girlfriend" poll(Crunchyroll re-report [http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/03/13/poll-top-10-female-anime-characters-japanese-male-otaku-want-as-a-girlfriend] and original poll [http://www.charapedia.jp/research/0005/pc01.php]), It was Chaika that got the 1st place in the Newtype poll while Asuna is 4th.
3.HOW ARE KIRA AND LACUS IN 3RD AND 5TH PLACE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE POLL?!?!?!? I like their characters but how are they still popular even 12 years after Seed and 10 years after Destiny?
4. The 2nd place in the male and 3rd place in the female polls are from "Irregular at Magic High School". This feels a bit wrong given, from what I heard, how the two are in a relation with implications on incestuous overtones.
5. 2nd and 4th in the male polls fit into the emotionless or stoic archetypes while Kirito is more expressive. Could the old stereotype that "Japanese like stoic and cold characters shown as reduced emotional expression" going away.

Edit
6. Where are the Index/Railgun chracters? I thought the meta-series was fairly popular

 

[Elfgore]

Let's see here. I can understand why Kirito is number one, he never really gives you a reason to dislike him. I've never self inserted myself into him *giggle* but I could see people trying to. Since you know, he's a nerd and still gets the ladies wet. I think he deserves it though.

The girl poll surprised me. By how little I heard of Chaika the Coffin Princess I assumed it was generally overlooked. She does deserve that place though. She is adorable as all hell.

The 2nd for men surprises me. I haven't watched much of that series, but he seems like nothing more than Boring McGruff man. His sister seems pretty bland to me as well. It's not the incest part that makes me surprised, just they still made the list being boring as hell.

How Saber is on there still shocks me a little.

To answer number six, they're in an off season right now. I think people tend to forget that show exist if it isn't airing.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Let's see here. I can understand why Kirito is number one, he never really gives you a reason to dislike him. I've never self inserted myself into him *giggle* but I could see people trying to. Since you know, he's a nerd and still gets the ladies wet. I think he deserves it though.

The girl poll surprised me. By how little I heard of Chaika the Coffin Princess I assumed it was generally overlooked. She does deserve that place though. She is adorable as all hell.

The 2nd for men surprises me. I haven't watched much of that series, but he seems like nothing more than Boring McGruff man. His sister seems pretty bland to me as well. It's not the incest part that makes me surprised, just they still made the list being boring as hell.

How Saber is on there still shocks me a little.

To answer number six, they're in an off season right now. I think people tend to forget that show exist if it isn't airing.

The new Fate/ Stay Night anime is not out yet so, as by the logic you presented with index, people don't focus on her yet.

Chaika also surprised me in how she got 1st since A) Asuna seems to be waifu bait designed to get everyone to like her and B) Chaika, while adorable with her little speech quirk, is not part of a really well known show. I would expect Onodera of Nisekoi to have shown up instead of her

I really wanted to get into Irregular since, doing some basic research, the magic system seems to be a very ritual based system focused on modifying information in the environment. That type of formalized magic appeals to me but I heard so many people say it sucks and it's boring. I still think that the lack of emotion, while it may make people boring like you said, can be reflected of some preference towards stoicism and careful thinking.

You can try to contextualize why Kirito gets all the girls but there is still this element of self-insert fantasy that kind of ticks me off.

edit: again, i will reiterate. HOW ARE KIRA AND LACUS STILL ON THE LIST?

 

[Sack of Cheese]

Female rank: Tokaku's rank dropped... I'm a bit upset. Don't know or care about the rest.

Male rank: I'm surprised Jotaro isn't on top 3, considering Jojo's a cult classic series and the new anime has been running since 2012. Nishinoya makes it to top 10, I'm pleased.

 

[Scarim Coral]

First thing, wait? Kira and Lacus are still popular to this day even when that Gundam series was somewhat lackluster at best.

Second thing, I'm suprise that Chaika is rank 1st since I didn't think the anime/ series is that super popular. Toru being 6th is reasonable.

 

[Bat Vader]

I am surprised to see Haruhi on that list. That is pry bias on my part though. I hate the character Haruhi. She is just so bossy, controlling, and feels like she can do whatever she wants with her friends.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

I am surprised to see Haruhi on that list. That is pry bias on my part though. I hate the character Haruhi. She is just so bossy, controlling, and feels like she can do whatever she wants with her friends.

I had a similar reaction to seeing Kira and Lacus still on the list despite the fact I like them, IT'S BEEN OVER A DECADE, HOW ARE THEY STILL ON THE LIST?

 

[Dr. Cakey]

Ignore ignore ignore Japanese anime polls. These publications all are owned by the media conglomerates that put out the anime to begin with, so they're really not much more than an advertising arm.

Look at the male poll. All the characters there are from a show which is either currently airing or just finished airing. The ones at the top are from ones that are current, and the ones at the bottom just finished. Literally the only exception is Kira Yamato, who is always on these lists because...Japan likes him? Japan liked Gundam Seed? Newtype likes him?

The female poll is a little bit more varied (I'd have predicted Asuna #1), but once again the only characters not for an airing or just-finished show are Saber, Haruhi, and Lacus Clyne, all of whom are perennials.

We all on the same page now? Good.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I think I hate anime fans because of this...
I mean Kirito is the most bullshit-14-year-old-wishfufullment character I've ever seen in one of the worst anime's I've ever seen

and a character from Captain Earth made it in to the top 10? even though the phrase "Character from Captain Earth" is an oxymoron.

It makes me sad. I want to cry now.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Ignore ignore ignore Japanese anime polls. These publications all are owned by the media conglomerates that put out the anime to begin with, so they're really not much more than an advertising arm.

Look at the male poll. All the characters there are from a show which is either currently airing or just finished airing. The ones at the top are from ones that are current, and the ones at the bottom just finished. Literally the only exception is Kira Yamato, who is always on these lists because...Japan likes him? Japan liked Gundam Seed? Newtype likes him?

The female poll is a little bit more varied (I'd have predicted Asuna #1), but once again the only characters not for an airing or just-finished show are Saber, Haruhi, and Lacus Clyne, all of whom are perennials.

We all on the same page now? Good.

Okay then, lets turn the question around. If the polls that we, the American anime watching community, get exposed to are falsified which I am not entirely sure about (doing some wiki searches, Newtype is a magazine owned by Kadokawa Shoten, a manga and magazine publisher), then what would the poll actually look like if we were to drop into the middle of the major anime hubs like Akiba and interview random men and women on the street?

How would it be different and what trends would be exposed there?

 

[Fappy]

Ignore ignore ignore Japanese anime polls. These publications all are owned by the media conglomerates that put out the anime to begin with, so they're really not much more than an advertising arm.

Look at the male poll. All the characters there are from a show which is either currently airing or just finished airing. The ones at the top are from ones that are current, and the ones at the bottom just finished. Literally the only exception is Kira Yamato, who is always on these lists because...Japan likes him? Japan liked Gundam Seed? Newtype likes him?

The female poll is a little bit more varied (I'd have predicted Asuna #1), but once again the only characters not for an airing or just-finished show are Saber, Haruhi, and Lacus Clyne, all of whom are perennials.

We all on the same page now? Good.

Besides, anime fans should never trust the opinions of other anime fans. Chances are, they are idiots and wrong about everything.

At least, that's how I feel XD

 

[Dr. Cakey]

Okay then, lets turn the question around. If the polls that we, the American anime watching community, get exposed to are falsified which I am not entirely sure about (doing some wiki searches, Newtype is a magazine owned by Kadokawa Shoten, a manga and magazine publisher), then what would the poll actually look like if we were to drop into the middle of the major anime hubs like Akiba and interview random men and women on the street?

How would it be different and what trends would be exposed there?

Let me preface everything I'm about to say by noting that everything I have said and will say is based on speculation, pure bullshit, and the occasional fact related by someone who actually knows about these things.

Falsified is a strong word. I don't think there are PR guys sitting in a boardroom picking out the most useful characters to pretend people like. I think it's more in the vein of Nintendo Power, where they control the information going out to readers which in turn controls the information they take back in. Nintendo Power handed out inflated scores, and doubly inflated scores to first-party games, but they were still a legitimate source for news and reviews. I imagine Newtype and other Japanese magazines are similar. But, as a reminder, I don't know in the least.

And now you pose the difficult (impossible) question. We actually have very accurate, readily available data about anime, manga, and light novel sales numbers, as well as TV anime viewership numbers. The data we receive in regards to anime is average volume sales (so an anime which had one volume and sold 100 copies would be reported as 100, while an anime which had two volumes, 1st selling 150 and 50 would be reported as 100, even though the total was 200), which makes things a little fuzzy, but the stuff at the top is pretty unquestionable. The best-selling anime of all time is Evangelion, and in second place (which is also first place among 21st century anime) is Bakemonogatari. Third is Madoka Magica.

But that doesn't give you all the information you need. First and most importantly, anime is a side thing. Most of the money is made in manga and merchandising, and that's where the majority of the audience is, too. Anime is usually (but far from always) not much more than an advertisement. As an extreme example, One Piece is the best-selling manga of all time, and it has something like the third or fourth-highest viewership among anime in Japanese households (it's beat out by family shows like Sazae-san and Crayon Shin-chan). But its DVD/BR sales are so low they don't even get charted.

But all that said, I don't know the real answer. I have never been to Japan, nor do I speak Japanese. If you were to ask me to guess, I'd say Sword Art Online is definitely up there, but Attack on Titan would surely have a showing as well. Oh, and Index/Railgun, definitely, that's ridiculously popular. And I'd like to think Madoka Magica would sneak up there in the female category, considering what a juggernaut that franchise is.

tl;dr Learn Japanese and lurk on 2chan.

Besides, anime fans should never trust the opinions of other anime fans. Chances are, they are idiots and wrong about everything.

At least, that's how I feel XD

If our opinions were trustworthy, we wouldn't be anime fans in the first place.