We are approaching the halfway point for the Fall 2014 anime season and many people have already started to form their opinions on the season’s top and worst series so far. One of the ways to identify which series are worth watching is by looking at the ratings and rankings of the series on anime community websites, and the biggest one is MyAnimeList. Whilst it is not the best method of calculating the best series it is one of the most widely used scales where many people use and depend on it. But of course not everyone will agree on the rankings, especially with how the site is dominated by Western flags.

A recent post on the Japanese news blog Yaraon has compiled the top rated anime from this season and presented the list to their audience, who are Japanese anime fans. And the comments themselves were rather shocked at what Western anime fans rated the best (so far).

Here is the ratings and rankings of the top anime from Fall 2014 so far (as of October 26th):

1. Fate/stay night (2014) 8.84 2. Mushishi Zoku Shou 2nd Season 8.78 3. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu 8.30 4. Psycho-Pass 2 8.23 5. Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road 8.22 6. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 8.21 7. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis 7.85 8. Gundam Build Fighters Try 7.85 9. Amagi Brilliant Park 7.66 10. Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle 7.61 11. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji 7.57 12. Trinity Seven 7.56 13. Grisaia no Kajitsu 7.53 14. Madan no Ou to Vanadis 7.52 15. Gugure! Kokkuri-san 7.51 16. Selector Infected WIXOSS 7.47 17. Akatsuki no Yona 7.43 18. Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de 7.33 19. Shirobako 7.21 20. Garo: Honoo no Kokuin 7.20 21. Donten ni Warau 7.13 22. Denki-gai no Honya-san 7.06 23. Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru 7.05 24. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai 7.01 25. Sora no Method 6.97 26. Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu. 6.88 27. Terra Formars 6.71 28. Gundam: G no Reconguista 6.60 29. Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete 6.60 30. Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo 6.49 31. GirlFriend (Kari) 5.80

The blog commenters are not pleased with the ratings, especially with ufotable’s Fate/stay night (2014) taking 1st place, surprised that the second season of Mushishi Zoku Shou taking 2nd, and that Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam: G no Reconguista not getting well received at all.

Here is a small collection of their comments, with some translations by redditor DragonsOnOurMountain:

３位に寄生獣があるのはあいつらのジョークなのか

Parasyte is ranked third, is this a joke?

妥当なランキングだと思うがね

今期は寄生獣も漫画の存在を知らなければ面白いだろうし

I think it’s a reasonable ranking

It’ll be interesting to see this season if Parasyte will know of the existence of its manga

ＢＦ＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞Ｇレコｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ

Gundam Battle Figures >>>>>>>>> Gundam: G no Reconguista lol lol lol lol

Gレコは富野信者にしかうけてないという現実

Gundam: G no Reconguista is only well received by Tomino fans

エロゲが一位はないわ

Eroge should not be first place

Gレコもあれ富野ファン以外には受けない内容だし

G Reco’s content is not well received by any non-Tomino fan

なにげにBF2期が外人に受けてるのが意外

It’s surprising how Build Fighters season 2 is received by foreigners In response: アジア圏だとガンダム人気自体高いしガンプラ文化もあるからね。 ガンプラ王選手権は台湾と香港でもエントリー受け付けてる。

It’s because there’s also a big Gunpla culture to the popular Gundam itself in Asia.

Gunpla championships are being accepted entries in Taiwan and in Hong Kong.

蟲師は普通にクオリティ高いじゃねえかよ

むしろfateより下なのがおかしい

Mushishi is simply high quality, no?

It’s funny that it’s one below Fate

ガールフレンド(仮)がエロゲアニメ以下の最下位なのって

アニメの出来も悪いがそれ以上に

声優博物館だからそっちの需要がほぼ無いGAIJINにとっては無意味なのが大きいのかな

Girlfriend (Beta) is the lowest of all the eroge anime

The anime can be bad, but it’s more than that

I wonder if it’s because the large amount of voice actors has almost no demand to foreigners.

エロゲが一位はないわ

No way an eroge is first place

Gレコはつまんないからだろ、単純にｗ

Gundam: G no Reconguista is rated low since it’s boring lol

こっくりさんとか外人は理解できんだろ

Foreigners probably can’t understand Kokkuri-san

「SHIROBAKO」と「失われた未来を求めて」が低すぎる。

Shirobako and Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete are rate too low

蟲師存在忘れてたｗ

I forgot Mushishi existed lol

エロゲwww

Eroge [Fate/stay night] lol

俺、ツインテールはヒロイン可愛くてシコシコしたなぁ。貧乳大好きの俺にとっては最高や。

Ore, Twintails had a cute heroine fapfap. I love small boobs the most.

俺ツイは、一部がさわいでるだけか

Only some are clamoring about Ore Twintails In response: 俺ツイなんて円盤売り上げ3桁だろう

Ore Twintails will have 3-digit sales

ツインテールも低いｗｗｗ

Twintails is also low lol

saoの売上下がりそう

fateに食われてるし

The sales of SAO decrease and

they are eaten up by Fate

海外にも声豚っているのかな

I wonder if there are also seiyuu pigs [hardcore voice actor fans] overseas

続編無しだと寄生獣、四月、バハムートか

妥当だな

Leaving out sequels we’ve got Parasyte, Your lie in April, and Bahamut,

huh That’s reasonable

クロアン低すぎやないかｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ

Cross Ange too low or not lol In response: つまんねーじゃん

水樹に主題歌を歌わせるためだけのアニメだし

It’s in a pinch

It’s an anime for Mizuki only so she could sing the theme song In response: 。・゜・(/Д`)・゜・。うわぁぁぁぁん

*crying*

Fateはハリウッドを越えた！！！

Fate exceeds Hollywood!!!

なぜかわからいけどガンダムは海外で人気ないんだっけ

I’m somehow not sure Gundam is not popular overseas

このランキング自体は少数除いてクオリティ順に並んでる感じでそんな変な所はないでしょ

I feel the ranking is not so strange except the order of quality for a few

そらメソの評価は大体こっちと同じ

The Sora no Method ranking is roughly the same as here

七つの大罪？とログホラ２期はまさかランキングにも入らなかった？

Seven Deadly Sins and Log Horizon season 2 did not even enter the ranking?

評価というか人気と置き換えたら納得出来るんじゃないか？

Wouldn’t you understand it more if rating was replaced by popularity?

まあ妥当なランキングじゃね

It’s a reasonable ranking

海外の方も円盤買ってくださいよ

Please also buy the discs foreigners

蟲師はもっと日本で話題になってもいいと思うんだけど

It wouldn’t hurt for Mushishi to be more talked about in Japan

蟲師とか四月が上位にきてるのが意外

このアニメの良さがあいつらに分るのか

逆にテラフォが低いな。アメリカ映画っぽくて外人受けしそうなのに

It’s surprising that Mushishi and Shigatsu are at the top

Those guys know the goodness of these anime

On the other hand, Terraformars is low. Even though it is likely to be received well to foreigners since it looks very American

SHIROBAKOの面白さがわからないのが外人の限界。

文化がちがーう ってことやね

Foreigners are limited and don’t know the joys of Shirobako

It might be a culture issue

SHIROBAKOは内輪ネタ多いからよく分かってない外人が多そう

Foreigners don’t understand Shirobako since it’s likely they don’t understand all the small inside jokes

And here is Japan’s ranking for the top 20 anime of the season, which is sorted by the popularity of the series:

1. Nanatsu no Taizai 23.8% 2. Gundam: G no Reconguista 22.6% 3. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 20.5% 4. Magic Kaito 1412 19.3% 5. Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road 18.7% 6. Terra Formars 18.4% 7. Sword Art Online II 17.8% 8. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte -the maxim-) 17.2% 9. Sailor Moon Crystal 16.6% 10. Girlfriend (Kari) 16.3% 11. Psycho-pass Season 2 16.3% 12. Denki-gai no Honya-san 15.1% 13. Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 14.8% 14. Akame ga Kill! 14.5% 15. Mushishi Zoku Shou Season 2 13.3% 16. World Trigger 13.0% 17. Grisaia no Kajitsu 12.7% 18. Gugure! Kokkuri-san 12.3% 19. Amagi Brilliant Park 12.0% 20. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai 12.0%

And of course the Japanese rankings aren’t without negative comments as well:

むしろ日本のランキングがおかしい

Japan’s ranking is rather funny

日本のランキングの方がよっぽどゴミだな

Japan’s rankings are definitely garbage in comparison

So what did you think about the rankings and the comments?

Source – Yaraon, Reddit