madness? madness!?! this is march!
Categories: anime, march madness
Tagged: happiness, hayate the combat butler, minami-ke, otome wa boku, princess princess
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It’s back and bigger than ever: March Madness 2008.
The last time I did March Madness, it was a ridiculous drain on my time. Probably because of all the Dr. Jacks posts I ended up tossing up and reading through all the e-mails and comments I received. Well, I’m a glutton for punishment. I decided to bring back the tournament this year, but the rise (and fall) of Saimoe and Saigar and even SaiDFC has left me wondering, well, why bother?
One thing I always found it nearly impossible to do was rank anime. I mean, in terms of all-time. I’m not exactly enthused about the meta-rankings that Anidb and ANN give (Higurashi Kai is ranked higher than Haruhi Suzumiya on Anidb currently, for example), so I thought… hey! I’ll get my readers to do a bit of work! They’re some of the smartest fans around, even if I’m nodding my head like Sunohara’s imouto reading the feedback sometimes.
So March Madness 2008 will be a slugfest for this blog’s readership’s favorite anime. Think it’s Code Geass? Haruhi Suzumiya? Full Moon wo Sagashite? Well, it’s time to find out. 64 series chosen through a mesh of two online ranking systems and my own editorial judgment (questionable, as always) compete for this blog’s audience’s favorite anime series.
(I did originally want to do traps, but I can’t think of 64. Maybe next year, when Mako-cakes has finished breaking space, time, my readers, this blog, other anime, Obama, and the black hole in the middle of the Milky Way. YES WE CAN!)
The Procedure
- Round 1 will consist of 8 divisions. 4 divisions will square off at once, with 4 days of open voting.
- For round 1, the top two teams in each division will make it to the next round automatically with the top team receiving a bye for round 2. The next 8 highest total vote getters across all divisions will make wild card slots.
- Round 2 will then be seeded by number of total votes.
- Round 3 will be seeded with all the 8 series receiving byes as the top 8 (ordered by # of votes) and the other 8 slots ordered by the # of votes received in round 2.
- Rounds 2 through the Finals will all be 1 vs 1 with the highest vote getter moving on.
- I am the sole moderator for ties and disputes.
The 64 Challengers
- Only anime TV series considered. No OVAs; no movies.
- 42 challengers picked the top 40 and top 32 rankings of Anidb and ANN.
- 22 challengers are wild card choices made by me with consideration to this blog’s core audience. Hence why Otome wa Boku got a slot…
- Names in italics are the wild card picks.
- Sequels are only lumped together if the name indicates it. For example, Full Metal Panic The Second Raid is only The Second Raid (as Fumoffu is another challenger) whereas Black Lagoon & Second Barrage emcompasses both series.
- Decision to merge or not merge sequels is my discretion. But for cases like Fumoffu/TSR, it’s obvious that they are two very different series while Black Lagoon & Second Barrage are very similar.
Round 1 (Part 1)
First batch up for voting are the Philosophical, Shoujo, Comedy, and Action divisions. Voting will start now and end around 11PM PST on March 3th. Round 1 (Part 2) will then start and feature the Sports, Giant Mecha, Harem, and Atlantic Divisions. The full field will be revealed then as well.
If you have a strong argument for any of the series, please send me an e-mail with your pitch. Best ones will make it into a future rigging the vote or Dr. Jack style post. Thank you.
Philosophical Division
- Death Note: 5/1 on Anidb and ANN respectively. First highest overall series according to Anidb/ANN. If you see a #/# from now on, it’ll mean ranking from Anidb/ranking from ANN.
- Haibane Renmei: Made the tail end of ANN’s ranking and missed Anidb’s. I don’t have a strong opinion on this series besides, “Watch it on 2X speed. Trust me.”
- Kino’s Journey: Buried in the middle of both lists. I definitely made a, “Wait, Kino has melonpan?!” face once during this series. Shocking.
- Mushishi: 6/3. Wrote about Ginko a while ago, and not much has changed… still needs a second season and/or Ginko replacing Shinichiro in True Tears.
- Dennou Coil: 2/22 on Anidb and ANN respectively. The most cries for Most Shafted Series for Best of 2007 That Wasn’t Animated By Shaft.
- Gankutsuou: 30/15. Of course, I’ve never watched this series.
- Aria the Natural: Ranked #23 on Anidb, higher than Haruhi Suzumiya. Didn’t make ANN’s top 40.
- Kamichu: Philosophical division had the most top 50 series from Anidb/ANN, so I could only squeeze in a single wildcard. Kamichu won Best of 2005, so let’s see how it does here.
Shoujo Division
- Nodame Cantabile: 1/7. Second overall highest series. I never made it through a third of the series. Maybe I’ll give it another try.
- Nana: 7 on Anidb, unranked on ANN. I think it’s a very hit or miss series… miss for me.
- Honey and Clover: Amazingly, the sequel is ranked higher than the original on ANN.
- Ouran Host Club: Man-whores 4tw! In the middle tier, behind Haruhi Suzumiya in both rankings (barely).
- Kaleidostar: Wait… seriously? Never watched an episode of this, and, if I did, I would never admit it.
- Beck: Needed filler for this division, so I tossed Beck in. Hope all three of its fans aren’t mad at me.
- Full Moon wo Sagashite: Only because it’s the source of the most popular post in Derailed history.
- Maria-sama ga Miteru: Just barely missing out on Anidb’s rankings. I watched this series on 1X speed, but I don’t remember much. Derailed by Darry presents more hard hitting analysis!
Comedy Division
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: 27/8. Ugh. This is why I hate rankings. Mikuru alone should get a better ranking than that. Won Best of 2006.
- Full Metal Panic Fumoffu: Tail end of both rankings. The Rugby Episode is arguably one of the greatest 25 anime episodes ever. It’s like The Contest or The Soup Nazi. There’s no explanation necessary. Just “The Rugby Episode.”
- Minami-ke: 33/not ranked, but rising. You can include ~Okawari~ if you want in the considerations, but Mako-cakes and Hosaka are all you really need to make a decision.
- Welcome to the NHK: Barely made the big dance with a not ranked/40 effort, and I sure wasn’t going to put this series in as a wildcard… why? Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei would have taken its place with a superior hikkikomori.
- Great Teacher Onizuka: 9/26. I’m very happy to see Eri Onizuka so high on both rankings. It is one of the greats, even if the animation sucks and desperately needs to be redone by Bones or Doomu. I have always been meaning to write a GTO post, but never got around to it. Maybe someday.
- Azumanga: Hilarious if Kab doesn’t vote for this one…
- Muteki Kanban Musume: The second lowest score on Anidb out of all the 64 series (7.34), yet I love it. I think it just shows that emo facial distortions are not viewed with the same due diligence here as at other places. I would take a second season of Onimaru Ramen over Mushishi.
- Keroro Gunso: Not a lot of comedy series highly ranked in the top 40 lists, and I think it’s because comedy varies widely from person to person whereas something like Death Note is more consistent. But for consistency, Keroro is surpassing the 200 episode mark, and it’s still enjoyable.
Action Division
- Black Lagoon & Second Barrage: 34/not ranked. I think any series with more than two “epics” are worth considering, and this series has four: epic Engrish, epic twincest, epic emo facial distortions, and epic killer nuns ‘n meido.
- Stand Alone Complex & 2nd Gig: 11/11 only series on the same pot on both rankings. One of the great unanswered questions in anime is “Wait, which Pazu?” I can imagine the same thing for Mako-cakes and Touma someday.
- Monster: 10/4. Any sort of thriller seems to be easy game for the rankings. I swear, Mirai Nikki is a gold mine waiting to happen.
- Banner of the Stars I & II: Fantastic series that needs the fourth novel animated (like I and II and not compressed like III). I think we need to create a Morisato/Belldandy All-Stars to describe couples like Jinto/Lafiel, Sagara/Chidori, and Yuji/Shana.
- Guardian of the Sacred Spirits: 4/21. Did Shine ever come out as a single? Maybe we can toss Tanda/Balsa in the Morisato/Belldandy All-Stars. Oh, runner up for Best of 2007.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: 13/7. I still think Hughes’ death was overdramatic and drawn out…. thus leading to the Gainax ending. Only Gainax wasn’t involved. OTL.
- Elfen Lied: Just a bloodbath. I enjoyed it, and it was the series that bumped Derailed’s readership from 4 people to 8. Doubled! Won Best of 2004.
- Berserk: Just because it’s gettin’ old and dated, it doesn’t mean it’s bad.
[poll=60] [poll=59] [poll=58] [poll=57]
62 Responses to “madness? madness!?! this is march!”
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I don’t trust these electronic voting systems. Can I send in my paper ballots instead? :)
Oh, man, I hate having to choose between Haruhi and GTO….I love them both! (Went with Haruhi, though…)
Oh, wow, now I have to choose between Berserk, FMA and Ghost in the Shell?? Jason, why do you hate me so? No fair to pit them against each other so soon…
Anxious to see how this turns out, in the end, regardless. (Went with Berserk, though I feel like I’ve betrayed the other great shows in that category…)
Azumanga or Haruhi….. Chiyo-chan’s penguin suit moe or Mikuru’s melonpan moe…. Jason, you’re a hateful man for forcing me to choose between the two.
YEah, comedy section was a hard vote. Made me sad to not vote for azumanga.
Why are all my favourite eggs in one basket ;_;
Man I was in the 90th percentile of voters, till I voted for Elfen Lied.
What surprises me is how few of these series I own or have seen. I don’t do much philosophy or shoujo.
My viewing history evidently lacks.
Wait, no Serial Experiments Lain in Philosophy?
May the best script kiddie win
That second picture… I opened it… and had to scream out loud…..
Well, at least it wasnt a picture of my idea for Celestial Being. That may have been more or less worrying…. not sure yet…
Wow. Wonderful selection but it was tremendously difficult to pick the best series, especially in the action division. GAH. Still… lots of fun.
Haruhi. Period. doesn’t matter which.
(my heart secretly goes with mushishi though.)
and oh, obligatory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pQxxvY7X4U
Sadly I own both seasons of Kaleido Star. Anyways shouldn’t the picks be seeded? Though I suppose that leads back to the meta-rankings and voting a hundred billion times – okay I misremembered what I was talking about.
Although it’s not necessarily easy to classify Haruhi, putting it in the comedy department seems a little out of place. I’m not sure why.
@DF
Woot, I think that’s the first time I saw a Chinese posting. So internet censorship hasn’t caught up with Derailed over there yet huh? Lol, let’s hope a Paskitani will post next.
I just watched five volumes of Mushi-Shi and holy crap that is an awesome series. It’s more thought-provoking and chill-inducing than ef and Shigofumi stuck together, and Ginko is the biggest pimp master in the universe. But as awesome as he is, Ginko loses out to Yurie Hitotsubashi. Cute makes right, and Kamichu is the cute.
Oh, and Chiaki, Haruhi, Natsumi, and Miki can all fall before the might of Chiyo and Osaka.
Seriously, man? GTO versus Haruhi in the first round? That’s like pitting Jenna Jameson and Chasey Lain (In their prime) against each other. It’s just ain’t fair to either one!
I give up, I can’t find Waldo anywhere.
No School Rumble in comedy category kinda fails. ;)
I find it criminal that Seto no Hanayome is not listed as an option.
Natch.
I have to agree, it seems like the bruisers came out in the very first round. The action and comedy brackets were destined to end in tears, but I didn’t expect the bloodbath that preceded it…
I’m not sure I’m voting consistently, and I’m not sure it’s necessarily easy to. I went with FMA for the action series. While it’s action aspect doesn’t strictly match up to GiTS or Guardian of the Sacred Spirit, I feel that the whole package was better for its mix of humor, drama, comedy, and action (ending excluded).
On the other hand, I went with FMP? Fumoffu for the comedy genre for the consistent out and out laughs. It’s hard to say not to SHnY; trust me, it’s really hard. But while it was probably better as a package, the humor was less central. It’s not a balls-to-the-wall comedy, and I think it’s unfortunately a slightly weak contender in this category for that reason. For a general quality series, Haruhi would be a serious lead candidate, no question. Not to say, also, that it was easy to shut out any of the other series, since I’ve loved so many of them. Let’s say not that any of these series lose, so much as we all win!
I’m less experienced and knowledgeable in the shoujo and philosophical genres, so of the choices presented, it was a fairly easy pick of Mushishi and Ouran.
Nodame Cantabile: 1/7. Second overall highest series. I never made it through a third of the series. Maybe I’ll give it another try.
Please do.
I would have voted Fumoffu for the comedy division before, but after Minami-ke appeared, I would have to say that Minami-ke is now my favourite comedy series :D
And Ouran for shoujo, definitely!
I can’t wait for round 1 part 2. I know I’m just going to break down in tears when I have to make the choice between Kallen and TTGL.
Hey jason, you might want to cover up the the percentages and number of people voted. Doing that helped curb the multi-voters and proxywhatnots last lolitron tournament. Plus, it would add an element of suspense and surprise.
The only problems with Nodame are JCstaff’s small budget and the live-action version’s larger budget. Still very good though.
Voted, though I would have liked to see Spike and Jet in there.
I wasn’t going to release the whole bracket until the last four divisions have started polling, but to give you a taste… at least it shows the seeding mechanism for round 2 and 3.
And before I hear more complaints about this series or that series, there are 32 more series not revealed (technically 29 since I revealed 3 of them already), and an Atlantic Division. One thing is that very few of the series score under 8.5 in Anidb’s ranking. The only few were picks with scores lower than 8 are I made because of this blog’s audience, and that’s only Otome wa Boku and Muteki Kanban Musume.
For example, Lain is 7.88, which would put it in Otome wa Boku / MKM range, but it’s got nowhere the mindshare that Mizuho or Miki has with this readership. So, basically, if the series doesn’t score 8.5 or higher or doesn’t generate a lot of “Yep… these are my reader” comments, forget about it. It’s just not making the dance.
>> Hey jason, you might want to cover up the the percentages and number of people voted. Doing that helped curb the multi-voters and proxywhatnots last lolitron tournament. Plus, it would add an element of suspense and surprise.
Kinda feel strongly about showing the score at all times. You watch a basketball game, there’s an ebb and flow to it, and you know the score at all times. If Ouran is leading now, but somehow Nodame leads an epic comeback because someone energizes the shoujo voting faction, so be it. Duke vs. UNC all over again. I do want this to feel more like “March Madness” than Saimoe, so even if I need to break out my Gus Johnson blogging face, so be it.
You could have easily moved Haruhi to Philosophy division and then it wins easy.
Right now comedy and action divisions are like SEC football. Pretty much all the contenders there would cream alot of the other contenders in other divisions, but because they’re all strong many are bound to lose out prematurely. So sad(but still better than meta-ranking)
WTF BECK IN SHOUJO WTF WTF WTF!/rant
Anyway there are some tough choices but this looks like it will be pretty good. Just watch out for those proxies Jason!
Poor Kaleidostar. You never get the love you deserve. I’ll still vote for you, though.
MADNESS!!
Not only did you make me choose between Kino’s Journey, Mushishi, Dennou Coil, and Kamichu in one bracket then you forced me to choose between Haruhi, Azumanga, and Minami-ke.
But in the end Kino’s Journey and Haruhi get my vote. If only Presidential elections where this difficult to vote for.
I am predicting a KyoAni domination of the tournament…
Nanoha StrikerS not in the Shoujo division? Jason, how could you…
Damnit. Ouran doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Honey & Clover. Stop voting for it :(
And before I hear more complaints about this series or that series, there are 32 more series not revealed
I understand, so im curious where you could slide in Bebop if not in the action category.
I am predicting a KyoAni domination of the tournament…
Wait, are we voting for best anime? Guess not, since Kyoto has only given birth to one great series and a bunch of above average ones.
Making me choose between Sagara, Onizuka, Haruhi and Osaka!!??
THIS IS MADNESS
now if we can just put all three of them into Onizuka’s class… Good times Good times
I’m in despair! This topic’s selected anime have left me in despair!
So I’m having trouble believing that Mushishi places higher than Kino no Tabi, the quintessential philosophical anime. No gimmicks, nothing else, just insightful….
Wait, why am I trying to make my case here? This is teh intarweb.
Why monster is in action? As far as I remember it did not have that much action to begin with. Not to mention that the interest of Monster lies in its plot and Johann.
My prediction?
Gurren Lagann wins by a landslide.
We must live in a messed up world where a bunch of manwhores (ouran) is trumping over emo kids (H&C).
I had a hard time for the first category, but Mushishi impressed me so much, that I have to vote for it
As for Nodame Cantabile, watch the live-action, it’s much more satifying. I got annoyed with the anime’s budget problems, esp. the static images for the concert performances, and out of place CGI hands for piano playing…
I even got bored and stopped for several months until seeing the live-action.
Although “shine” hasn’t been released as a single, it has a potential to be. I have no idea why L’Arc didn’t release as a single earlier.. (no one at the L’Arc forum I mod at knows why..) but since they played a full length version at Theatre of Kiss concert in Japan, it’s guaranteed to be in some album eventually. My hope is that this delay might indicate a second series of Seirei no Moribito. I really hope they make one..
This is the most compelling argument yet for instant runoff voting…
Voted for the winning option on the first three, and then it turns out that nobody likes (has heard of?) Monster.
Why can’t I vote? All I see are the results… I cleared my cache and private data, and I haven’t voted yet, so this is very strange. BECK AND MONSTER NEED SOME LOVE! THE CAPITALS REPRESENT MY DEDICATION.
Why isn’t Gurren Lagann considered Action?
K.K. said:
“Why isn’t Gurren Lagann considered Action?”
Did you look at the other categories that are not being voted on yet? That he mentioned twice? ^_^
Death Note over Mushishi? Epic phail. These are not your readers…
Go Host Club! Still my favorite after two (HOLY CRAP TWO?!) years!
Cuz if he puts it in “Giant Mecha” category, I’ll have to pick between that and Evangelion, while currently, the Action category is devoid of anything really outstanding. Like, Monster – that should be under Philosophical, don’t you think?
Whatever, I guess they’ll all have to play each other eventually anyways.
Dammit, no love for Ergo Proxy?
Oh, couldn’t believe that I voted for Minami-ke over Azumanga… until I remembered Haruka-neesama is AMAZING/Hosaka’s fantasies/Mako-cakes.
What have you done to me!?
As for Nodame Cantabile, watch the live-action, it’s much more satifying. I got annoyed with the anime’s budget problems, esp. the static images for the concert performances, and out of place CGI hands for piano playing… I even got bored and stopped for several months until seeing the live-action.
I got annoyed with the live-action’s miscasting of several characters, Chiaki’s embarrassingly poor conducting performances and out of place slapstick moments. Also, it’s your opinion, but the two main complaints of yours contradict each other.
I got annoyed with the live-action’s miscasting of several characters, Chiaki’s embarrassingly poor conducting performances and out of place slapstick moments. Also, it’s your opinion, but the two main complaints of yours contradict each other.
Those are valid points, but they did annoy me as much as the static images for the anime.
Just how do my main complaints contradict each other? I’m a bit confused. Did you misinterpret my “CGI” piano hands? I didn’t mean that it was not in time with the music, I just dislike random CGI over animated sequences.
Besides, the anime got a lot more interesting later in the series. It’s just about as good as the drama in terms of content, but it did not intially grab me as the drama did because it felt boring. Looking back at the anime, I felt like it could have been so much more. It could’ve easily surpassed the drama, since it covered more content and the humor felt more natural, but it felt lacking…
Jason, any chance you might release a PDF of the full bracket once the whole thing’s said and done?
Hmm Nodame has one of the best the best seiyuu ever though. If you hated the anime but love the voice actor you might wanna give Ganshiken a try. I’m surprised it got left out of the comedy division.
Also, damn man making me chose between Major Matoko cyber thigh meat, and the greatness that is Spoor! Oh well, all hair the abh empire!
Am I the only one slightly disturbed by the fact that Death Note is beating out Mushishi, Dennou Coil, Kino and Haibane Renmei? And Black Lagoon beating out FMA, GitS:SAC, Elfen Lied and Berserk? Im sorry, but your readers dont have good taste. That, or maybe they just got into anime last year.
I love every show in the ‘Philosophical’ section, frankly. Haibane, Kino, Gankutsuou, Dennou Coil, and Death Note were all amazing for me.
Heh, I’d love to see the Count vs Light in a grudge match. Pun intended.
Like Haruhi a lot taken as a whole but I don’t think the whole season was half as funny as just that last episode of Fumoffu!. Same deal with FMA vs Black Lagoon… former is a great show in general but the action, good as it could be, was still just an accomplice to the drama, Black Lagoon is retarded over-the-top action for the sheer joy of it and that’s hard to beat.
That, or maybe they just got into anime last year.
Don’t think so, as Haruhi the elder is barreling to the top as per usual.
Just how do my main complaints contradict each other? I’m a bit confused.
Static images vs. CGI. Cel animation might be more artistic or classy or whatever you want to call it, but it’s not always feasible to do so. We’re talking about Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 or Chopin’s Etude in C sharp minor, not some generic pop song with the same main riffs over and over again. I’m amazed J.C. Staff even bothered to animate portions of it.
Like Haruhi a lot taken as a whole but I don’t think the whole season was half as funny as just that last episode of Fumoffu!. Same deal with FMA vs Black Lagoon… former is a great show in general but the action, good as it could be, was still just an accomplice to the drama, Black Lagoon is retarded over-the-top action for the sheer joy of it and that’s hard to beat.
I think you are missing the whole point. Jason, is trying to find the BEST anime overall, according to his readers, as im sure these “divisions” will go out the window in the next round. Yes, Fumoffu is funnier than Haruhi, that isnt really debatable, but Haruhi is a much better series overall. Black Lagoon has great action, but its not better than FMA, GitS:SAC or Berserk, not even close.
Don’t think so, as Haruhi the elder is barreling to the top as per usual.
Make it two years then. Not surprisingly all 4 leaders right now are less than two years old, they are all relatively new.
Make it two years then. All four leaders are less than two years old.
Ah, I screwed that up.
major kudos for leaving out lucky star. no sarcasm here.
I’m not quite sure why Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi is in the comedy bracket, but I won’t complain since I can’t think of a better place to put it.
But seriously, Minami-ke over Azumanga Daioh? WHAT THE HELL???!? Minami-ke isn’t bad, but in terms of funny it isn’t even in the same league as Azumanga.
I’m going to chalk Death Note over Mushi-shi up to the fact that Death Note is more recent and widely known. And as far a being philosophical, Death Note only really had one thought provoking issue (which still puts it one up over 99.9% of anime) – everything else was cunning and plotting and scheming. Intelligent activities, sure, but not quite philosophical.
Welcome To The NHK is COMEDY?? Now THAT is funny!!
is it just me, or did Ouran really belong in the comedy division?
I would have voted for it over anything else nominated in that division, but nothing beats Honey & Clover in shoujo. Nothing.
So, if the current pattern of almost no one voting for MKM (sniff) holds up … um … who’s going to tell Onimaru Miki that she lost in the opening round?