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Originally Posted by Radd
Any "top whatever" list is a poll of opinions. Opinions are based on many things.
"Does this have any real merits that appeal to me?"
I believe this ranks very low for most people, as far as their priorities for deciding what they "like" and what they don't.
"Is this popular with others?"
Mob mentality is a very real phenominon. Much of our culture and society is based on this principle. If something gains popularity with enough people, others will join in simply because they are led to believe that it is "cool" to like it. On the other hand, some people will choose to dislike something, despite any merits it may have, simply because the person in question wants to stand apart from the crowd. Further muddying this principle, there are those who will see a growing number of people disliking a show because it's popular, and then they throw in with that crowd because they want to be an individual, but only if it's just like everybody else.
"Was this created by someone who has done other stuff I've ranked highly?"
For some people, there are those who can do no wrong. Perhaps there is a creator that made something they really, really liked. Many will tend to praise everything they do, regardless of how well the actual product is. The same goes for franchises. Look at Star Trek, all the shows are very different and I would argue show a huge gap in quality levels, yet there are those that will stand by all things Trek.
"How old is this?"
Sadly, there are people that will refuse to like anything older than some arbitrarily set date in their minds. Some grow out of this, others don't. Some people only like the hip and trendy flavour of the week. Let's face it, if Naruto was made 20 years ago, it wouldn't have nearly as many fans right now, even if the animation was identicle. It would be old hat.
Then there are those that will only like old anime, and claim quality has gone down considerably since some magical "golden age" that really only ever existed in their own heads.
All this is why lists don't interest me. You could make a new thread on this forum called "list 5 anime titles completely at random!" and it would serve just as much a purpose as any "what's your top 5/what's the 5 worst" threads out there. This is also why I take every review I read with a heavy grain of salt, and won't accept any opinion unless the reviewer gives me a solid viewpoint so that I can relate to their angle. If I know what a reviewer's priorities are, then even if they consistantly write reviews that I disagree with, I can get an idea from them on whether or not I will like something they reviewed.
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