MyAnimeList Top Anime Clash: Frieren vs. Classic Canon
Frieren tops MyAnimeList, but veterans defend Akira and Berserk in a debate over generational voting bias.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Frieren leads anime rankings, but old guard rejects it
A list of the top 32 anime by MyAnimeList average score places Sousou no Frieren at the summit, ahead of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Steins Gate. The issue isn't the podium; it's what's missing. Veteran readers notice the absence of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Fist of the North Star, Berserk, or Mazinger Z. The debate centers not on which anime is best, but who has authority to decide: a platform dominated by voters under thirty, or collective memory formed by VHS tapes and afternoon TV slots.
The chosen metric—platform average rating—creates obvious bias. Recent works dominate due to thousands of votes from an active young community, while 80s and 90s classics compete with an electorate that no longer votes. The list includes three distinct rankings: top 32 rated, top 16 popular, and top 16 favorited. An attempt to correct bias that still excludes gems fitting none of these filters.
Season fragmentation: Gintama appears 17 times
MyAnimeList mechanics split series by seasons and arcs. Gintama antiestéticatures up to 17 separate entries; Attack on Titan and Naruto are also fragmented. This distorts overall classifications: long-running works can enter the top multiple times while equally good single-season shows get relegated. Proposals to rate each series as a whole—Dragon Ball Z including its popular arc, Naruto with both parts—clash with the platform structure, which rewards granularity.
Some call the list "millennial nonsense," others assert "Evangelion is simply the best." Between these extremes, common titles emerge: Cowboy Bebop, Monster, Evangelion, and especially Akira. The 1988 film serves as a generational boundary. For those who saw it then, it marked the transition from children's cartoons to serious, violent, visually overwhelming animation. For younger viewers, it remains a respected but distant classic.
Which anime is missing from MyAnimeList?
Berserk, Hellsing, Ranma, Saint Seiya, Heidi, Marco, Mazinger Z, Astro Boy, Yu Yu Hakusho, Initial D, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Black Lagoon, Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The list of omissions nearly matches the original ranking. Some absences are debatable; others inexplicable. The most repeated complaint points to temporal bias: recent content outweighs classics, popularity outweighs quality.
Animated films take a backseat. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Robot Carnival, Memories, and Angel's Egg appear in conversation as a parallel canon systematically ignored by series lists. Angel's Egg, with barely two lines of dialogue throughout, is championed as a visual and sonic artwork demanding multiple viewings.
The unchallenged generational bias
The gap isn't just about taste; it's about access. Those who grew up with 80s and 90s Japanese animation consumed it via open TV, local cinemas, or rented tapes. Today's MyAnimeList voters consume it through streaming, infinite catalogs, and quarterly season releases. Vote volume structurally favors the present. It's not conspiracy; it's arithmetic.
The result is a list acting as a thermometer for the current community, not a historical canon. For some readers, this is precisely the problem. The lingering question isn't which is the best anime ever, but whether answering it via survey makes any sense.
A list of the top 32 anime by MyAnimeList average score places Sousou no Frieren at the summit, ahead of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Steins Gate. The issue isn't the podium; it's what's missing. Veteran readers notice the absence of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Fist of the North Star, Berserk, or Mazinger Z. The debate centers not on which anime is best, but who has authority to decide: a platform dominated by voters under thirty, or collective memory formed by VHS tapes and afternoon TV slots.
The chosen metric—platform average rating—creates obvious bias. Recent works dominate due to thousands of votes from an active young community, while 80s and 90s classics compete with an electorate that no longer votes. The list includes three distinct rankings: top 32 rated, top 16 popular, and top 16 favorited. An attempt to correct bias that still excludes gems fitting none of these filters.
Season fragmentation: Gintama appears 17 times
MyAnimeList mechanics split series by seasons and arcs. Gintama antiestéticatures up to 17 separate entries; Attack on Titan and Naruto are also fragmented. This distorts overall classifications: long-running works can enter the top multiple times while equally good single-season shows get relegated. Proposals to rate each series as a whole—Dragon Ball Z including its popular arc, Naruto with both parts—clash with the platform structure, which rewards granularity.
Some call the list "millennial nonsense," others assert "Evangelion is simply the best." Between these extremes, common titles emerge: Cowboy Bebop, Monster, Evangelion, and especially Akira. The 1988 film serves as a generational boundary. For those who saw it then, it marked the transition from children's cartoons to serious, violent, visually overwhelming animation. For younger viewers, it remains a respected but distant classic.
Which anime is missing from MyAnimeList?
Berserk, Hellsing, Ranma, Saint Seiya, Heidi, Marco, Mazinger Z, Astro Boy, Yu Yu Hakusho, Initial D, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Black Lagoon, Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The list of omissions nearly matches the original ranking. Some absences are debatable; others inexplicable. The most repeated complaint points to temporal bias: recent content outweighs classics, popularity outweighs quality.
Animated films take a backseat. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Robot Carnival, Memories, and Angel's Egg appear in conversation as a parallel canon systematically ignored by series lists. Angel's Egg, with barely two lines of dialogue throughout, is championed as a visual and sonic artwork demanding multiple viewings.
The unchallenged generational bias
The gap isn't just about taste; it's about access. Those who grew up with 80s and 90s Japanese animation consumed it via open TV, local cinemas, or rented tapes. Today's MyAnimeList voters consume it through streaming, infinite catalogs, and quarterly season releases. Vote volume structurally favors the present. It's not conspiracy; it's arithmetic.
The result is a list acting as a thermometer for the current community, not a historical canon. For some readers, this is precisely the problem. The lingering question isn't which is the best anime ever, but whether answering it via survey makes any sense.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (136 replies).
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