Problems With Numbers?
Jan. 31st, 2014 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerA few days ago, I noticed an "interest" article on Anime News Network about a poll of "favourite Gundam series" over in Japan with a great deal of talkback already. Some imp of the perverse made me check the reactions first, regardless of how often looking at discussion in English about Gundam (the only discussion I can understand, of course) just bludgeons it back into me that my personal reactions don't always, or even often, match the loudest opinions of everyone else. Sure enough, the very first post was one of the usual suspects foaming over how Gundam Seed had come in second (after the original anime), and Zeta Gundam had only come in third.
A great deal of the following reactions left me with the distinct impression they might be abbreviated to "How dare anyone not share my opinion!", but amongst the ritual condemnations of Gundam Seed (which do still leave me with a slight impression of resembling the all-consuming condemnation of the new Star Wars movies) there were some criticisms of Zeta Gundam, which might not be viewed with quite the same universality of reverence that might have clashed with my own reactions the first time I saw it. More than that, though, I did find myself reflecting on the impression the poll wasn't some "rank everything from top to bottom and we'll form a composite composite of everyone's opinion" deal, but just a simple "what's your favourite?" When the original Gundam got 2,883 out of 5,347 votes and Gundam Seed got 485 votes, that seems just a little bit different from "too many people value too highly a show I don't like!" Apropos of not too much, though, I did also find myself thinking of a recent weblog post making the bold declaration that "Negativity in the anime fandom is on its way out," and thinking "now wouldn't that be great..."
A great deal of the following reactions left me with the distinct impression they might be abbreviated to "How dare anyone not share my opinion!", but amongst the ritual condemnations of Gundam Seed (which do still leave me with a slight impression of resembling the all-consuming condemnation of the new Star Wars movies) there were some criticisms of Zeta Gundam, which might not be viewed with quite the same universality of reverence that might have clashed with my own reactions the first time I saw it. More than that, though, I did find myself reflecting on the impression the poll wasn't some "rank everything from top to bottom and we'll form a composite composite of everyone's opinion" deal, but just a simple "what's your favourite?" When the original Gundam got 2,883 out of 5,347 votes and Gundam Seed got 485 votes, that seems just a little bit different from "too many people value too highly a show I don't like!" Apropos of not too much, though, I did also find myself thinking of a recent weblog post making the bold declaration that "Negativity in the anime fandom is on its way out," and thinking "now wouldn't that be great..."