News Animedia Character Popularity Poll Results

[Silktree]

Actually disappointed to see Goh placing higher than Ash, but WOW Raihan being number 1 is just great!

Bias detected, but that's what popularity polls are all about, I guess.

Raihan doesn't do anything special in the games (oh, another dragon tamer), and the voters most likely hadn't even watched last week's episode by the time the poll was closed. It's a shallow choice.

 

[Silktree]

Except Dogasu's explanation clearly states that this wasn't a popularity poll, at least not an accessible or proper one. He even states how it had more of a random 'recent memory' factor to it.

So A Wild Luxray was just basing their answer on recent memory, okay. Now I get it.

The point is that these polls shouldn't matter to any of us even when they seem to make sense (which is entirely subjective; people here seem to think that BMGf and SPPf represent the entire world). Characters from different shows shouldn't even be compared.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Where were the reactions on this forum towards the Pokemon of the Year poll lol?

 

[Dogasu]

and the voters most likely hadn't even watched last week's episode by the time the poll was closed.

That's correct; the deadline for the most recent poll was June 30th. The Kibana episode didn't air until July 5th.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

Where were the reactions on this forum towards the Pokemon of the Year poll lol?

They weren't so bad actually because most people kind of knew that Greninja would win. Only a few people were annoyed by the results but it wasn't that big of a deal. This poll is interesting but not worth getting into fights over either.

 

[Kurolegacy]

They weren't so bad actually because most people kind of knew that Greninja would win. Only a few people were annoyed by the results but it wasn't that big of a deal. This poll is interesting but not worth getting into fights over either.

I think part of the problem is people who are basically looking at the poll to bolster whatever narrative of theirs that it supports. Such as over on the Serebii forum, I saw a user basically using this poll as evidence against those who dislike Go in saying just how much Japan loves Go not really taking the context of just how limited the poll was.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

anti-Goh propaganda

Are you serious?

Raihan doesn't do anything special in the games (oh, another dragon tamer)

His team composition was pretty unique for "another dragon tamer".

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

Great that the legend is in second place.

 

[nickdt]

Raihan finally defeated the Legend.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Now I can't speak for any of the people who voted but to me, at least, it seems like this was very much a case of "well I'll just write in this character's name because I literally just saw his face in this magazine five minutes ago." That's it!

Why would someone do that? "Wow I see Sakura Kinomoto in this magazine, she's my favourite character now"? Sorry but that sounds unlikely.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Why would someone do that? "Wow I see Sakura Kinomoto in this magazine, she's my favourite character now"? Sorry but that sounds unlikely.

Most people wouldn’t have an immediate answer when you ask them about their favourite character, it’d a pretty general question, now when the magazine reminds you of someone and he/she’s in "your favourites" then that character's memory would be fresh in mind and people would probably enter them as their favourite.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

now when the magazine reminds you of someone and he/she’s in "your favourites"

If that someone is already is in your favourites, that means you're voting for them because they're one of your favourite characters, not because you just see their face in a magazine. Which is exactly how popularity and polls works. How is that any different from other polls? What even that means? I find it very weird and disheartening that someone like Dogasu would post a post just to discredit a poll.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

The argument that most people voted for characters that they saw in pictures in the magazine right before voting doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because I find it really hard to believe that this many people saw Goh's, Leon's and Raihan's pictures and then just suddenly decided to vote for them over Ash who's the human mascot of the anime and the most exposed character in the show other than maybe Pikachu.

So I'm of a mind that people voted for Goh, Leon and Raihan for other reasons like them being popular game characters from the recent games in the case of Leon and Raihan or because guess what, people in Japan might actually like Goh in spite of the hate he receives from American fans.

 

[Venomaid]

Are you serious?

Did you miss the half dozen or so "Local Go ruins everything" avatars that people had in the past month and a half with his picture on them? Thankfully there's been a crackdown on them but if those don't count as anti Goh propaganda and character bashing then I don't know what does.

Raihan finally defeated the Legend.

It's funny that he could only do so in a fan magazine but I guess a win's a win?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Did you miss the half dozen or so "Local Go ruins everything" avatars that people had in the past month and a half with his picture on them? Thankfully there's been a crackdown on them but if those don't count as anti Goh propaganda and character bashing then I don't know what does.

I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a joke... At least, I took it as one. (Specially since the most common avatar photo was a joke the anime made itself with regards to Go’s drive to catch Pokémon).

And they aren’t aiming at changing anyone else’s opinion or forcing them to take up a similar avatar (you’ll notice that I have a normal avatar and I have been accused of being a “Go hater” In the past) so I find the term “propaganda” inappropriate here. Propaganda is showing facts under a narrative to shift people’s opinions. These people are just expressing their opinions without bullying anyone mostly.

I just find “Anti-Go propaganda” as a term a bit extreme since we’re literally discussing a children’s anime here.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

Ugh, I'd rather we all move past the "Local Go Ruins Everything" shenanigans. It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to move past that. I'm still embarrassed by the whole thing, but I think we should all put that behind us.

 

[Almonds]

Considering Raihan's popularity on the internet, I'm not too surprised he won BEFORE his actual anime debut XD

 

[Dogasu]

If that someone is already is in your favourites, that means you're voting for them because they're one of your favourite characters, not because you just see their face in a magazine.

The argument that most people voted for characters that they saw in pictures in the magazine right before voting doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because I find it really hard to believe that this many people saw Goh's, Leon's and Raihan's pictures and then just suddenly decided to vote for them over Ash who's the human mascot of the anime and the most exposed character in the show other than maybe Pikachu.

I think you two are spending way more effort / energy thinking about this more than any of the people who actually voted in this poll. It's a survey from a niche anime magazine with a very small sample size, not a vote for President.

I doubt very many people in Japan take a monthly Animedia poll even a tiny bit serious.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

I'm pretty sure you misinterpreted what @PkmnTrainerV and @Dogasu said. What they said was that most people would have voted for someone because that character reminded them of their own personal favorites or had superficial traits or appearance resembling said favorite. That, or because the said character appeared more appealing in the magazine's content. It's pretty much akin to a non-football fan suddenly voting for Messi or Ronaldo in polls because they're mainstream names or are more appealing in a way and not because they actually know anything about the performance of those individual players.

It's way more common for this to happen than you'd realize, I've seen it happen quite often within the gaming industry itself.

Let's make an example now: in 2004 if you put a poll in a mainstream media of who was the best soccer player in the world the results were going to be Ronaldo (The fat one not the other) Ronaldinho,Schevchenko, Figo,Zidane, Oliver Kahn, Henry, Van Nistelroy... however is you put that poll in a gossip magazine I asure to all of you that David Beckham would be in the top. Cause he is a good player? No, Cause he is good looking and he had a celebrity lifestyle. (He was still a really good player I liked him alot)

This is the same, polls results depend on the type of audience that are directed to.

Did you miss the half dozen or so "Local Go ruins everything" avatars that people had in the past month and a half with his picture on them? Thankfully there's been a crackdown on them but if those don't count as anti Goh propaganda and character bashing then I don't know what does.

As the instigator of that "movement" I would like to clarify some things:

1- It was a joke started by me cause Go and his catching sprees annoyed me also I'm a huge Simpsons fan (That meme is from a simpsons episode). Then when the Sobble capture happened people put that as his avatar, but it was just a joke.

2- This is a forum so we can criticize a character or a person if we do it with respect. This is what freedom of expression is all about.

3-Bashing would be insulting people who likes Go or going to his voice actor and told him that he stinks at his job. (A good example: Natdexers insulting Masuda via Twitter). I did not do that nor the other ones who put this avatar since I see them rational enough to differentiate between fiction and reality.

4-Disliking or liking a character is a natural reaction. What about Scrappy Doo or Mineta from BNHA? or Jar Jar Binks? Not all the characters will get the same reaction.

5- Propaganda? It's just a meme that maybe got out of hand a bit. We are not a cult or something like that

And that's all I will say about this here. We can always discuss this in private with anybody who wants it since I don't want the forum to enter and endless loop.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

What they said was that most people would have voted for someone because that character reminded them of their own personal favorites or had superficial traits or appearance resembling said favorite.

I very much doubt that. Yami already answered "mainstream" part of your post.

I think you two are spending way more effort / energy thinking about this more than any of the people who actually voted in this poll. It's a survey from a niche anime magazine with a very small sample size, not a vote for President.I doubt very many people in Japan take a monthly Animedia poll even a tiny bit serious.

Dear Dogasu...we're fans, of course we take those kind of things more serious than some regular magazine reader from Japan. Why is that relevant? How does that relate? No one is claiming that we're choosing Shinzo Abe's successor here, true it's just a poll, but it still show us some hints about japanese audience's preferences. You can say same things about other polls too. It's especially strange that you use "you take it so seriously" card after just posting a mini research about Animedia.