I’ve been doing these top 5 lists for a little while now, and you know, they really don’t get enough credit. They are a lot harder to put together than people think. Just like any other type of post, you’ll get a wide range of quality out there, with some lists being barely a few words per item and whatever the first pic on Google images is. But a good, well thought out top 5 is just as difficult, in some ways more challenging (you have to come up with 5!) as any other article.
Armed with this fresh appreciation for the format, I’ve been reading a lot of them lately and it got me thinking…why do we choose a particular category over another? Can we gleam some hidden meaning behind our favorite blogger’s top 5 anime male nipples (full credit: Remy suggested that post as a joke and my life will not be complete until I’ve either read or written it).
So today, let’s take a look at what your top 5/10 list says about you. As usual I have no clue what I’m talking about, but this should go without saying by now.
5) you list hyper specific anime elements
I.e. Top 5 characters who can’t use chopsticks and are afraid of squirrels.
You’ve seen a lot of anime. A LOT! You may have seen almost all of the anime! You don’t always remember the shows you’ve sat through, after a while they all start to blend together, but just through sheer quantity, you’ve managed to build up an impressive library of random facts in your mind.
Because you’re an indiscriminate watcher, your top 5 lists feature a blend of anime styles and genres. Obscure titles are mentioned alongside the most popular mainstream series with little distinction. You are not one of those to judge a book by its cover and will give most shows a chance before writing them off. You would be a fantastic anime ambassador if you had the time….but you’ve got shows to watch!
Or you’re o.c.d. and have a weird fetish…
4) you list obscure moments in a specific anime
I.e. Top 5 times nayanko sensei turned down alcohol offered by a human before nightfall. (Never happened, will never happen)
You are a FAN. You have seen this show numerous times and plan on rewatching it again. You suspect it may have been created just for you! Sure you’ve seen other shows, you may have even enjoyed some of them, but this is your ride or die anime.
You have feelings for this show, strong ones! Not just for the characters but make no mistake, you love them as well. Every girl is best to bestest and the boys go from 11 to 36/10. The show is smart but not pretentious. Funny, touching, exciting, relaxing, beautiful, classic and fresh and possibly good for your health. Of course you want to share every inch of it with us…
Or you’re capitalizing on whatever the popular show of the week is.
3) you list characters by trait or appearances
I.e. Top 5 anime boys who rock pig tails (guess who just found her next Top 5 post!!!)
You understand and appreciate that anime is a visual medium and fully intend to celebrate that. You also know that a story is only as good as its hero (or villain), this is why you focus on those animated boys and girls who brought you the most…joy…
Even a lackluster show can occasionally offer up a fantastic character and you are there to make sure everyone knows about it. Or at least to generously share some eye candy with your beloved readers. You sir are a hero! I salute you and think we should be friends! Also you owe me a new keyboard. Apparently it can only take so much drool…
Or you want an excuse to post a bunch of clickbaity pics. Still a hero...
4) you list mundane anime features
I.e. top 5 anime foods, soft drinks, restaurants ect..
You are a dreamer, a true and pure visionary. You are attempting to blend your two worlds together by pulling the ordinary out of the extraordinary and focusing on what links us to universes unknown. You identify strongly with the shows you watch and enjoy seeing or doing things in real life that remind you of your favorite series. You call cosplay: “clothes”.
Maybe you’re a fan of Isekais or maybe you’re over them. What’s the point of watching them when you are living them! In any case ,you know how to see the magic that is all around you. And kindly share a bit of it with us!
Or you write your posts around lunch time.
1) you write essays in list form
I.e. Top 5 ethical dilemmas in anime
You have too many thoughts bursting through your head and you find that a rigid list structure helps to keep you organized and on track. By forcing your ideas into order you give a progression to your thesis that you wouldn’t be able to pull off otherwise.
You’ve also noticed that you can get away with more when switching the format. People tend to view lists more lightly. Controversial opinions are greeted with polite comments or playful rebuttals rather the spiteful outrage. After all, who’s going to get mad at a top 5 list? That’s just silly.
Or you’re me and most things escape you including the concept of lists.
This one was *meta*. (That’s what meta means, right?) I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while. It took me some time to actually figure out list categories and how to go about them. I think I at least got one right. I definitely write about food when it’s lunch time and I’m hungry. Did I miss a common top list? And what does that list say about the author?
Mine would be “Top 5 Reasons Why I Never Do Top 5 Lists!” 😛
excellent – sounds like a great read!
Hmmm…I just looked back on my blog, but I don’t think I have ever done a proper list at all. I mean I made some posts about my favorite 80’s movies and one about the 90’s but not really a list that went with a countdown. Ooopss…so…that means maybe I invented a new category? The no list type???😱😱😱 Really fun post this one! 😀😀
Also: Congrutalations again! (again? Well erm yes, I already congratulated you on Twitter, but I don’t think it came through or something😢😢(Or maybe because I took on the Black Robes, you ignored it?? 😭😭😭😅😅😅)). But, really: I am so happy for you that you reached the 1000 followers mark. That really is an amazing achievement, and I know you will follower count will only go through the roof even more over the coming weeks, monhts, years! 🎉🎉🎉 Hopefully you will go on blogging for many, many more years! 😊😊
Thank you Raistlin! Did I miss you on twitter. I was running around a lot yesterday but I would never willingly ignore you. You’re probably too nice for ists. You wouldn’t want anyone to feel left out…
Remember that insecurity stuff I told you about: yup sometimes it surfaces again, sorry. Yeah I tweeted you on twitter yesterday (and so did a gazillion other people lol) I’m very happy for you that you managed to break that magic 1000 number:Awesomeness!
Well…honestly? I might do a list somewhere in September. I have never properly finished anime theme month, and as I have some plans in my head for that, (including of course that colab) I might do a list too. But..that’s me thinking out loud here 😂😂😊😊
awww OK so for future reference – I luvs the Rastlin and I’ll let you know when that changes (spoiler – it won’t)
Seriously had fun reading this post, and thought of about a dozen top 5 topics that I’d love to write in the future while reading (though I seriously want someone to write about characters who can’t use chopsticks and are afraid of squirrels because that would be an awesome post if they could find five of them).
Right!?! It’s been haunting me ever since I thought of it…
I really like doing top 5s but I just never know what to choose as my topic
Top 5 top 5 lists you wanna write?
Haha, I might have to steal that idea
Feel free! Call it *inspiration*
Is that last illustration from the Top 5 Animes Where Bishoujo Attack Their Boyfriends With Box Cutter Knives?
It saddens me that I could actually make such a list.
How can you chose only 5
I’m definitely #3… 😅😅 Yay, we’re friends~
Big YAY!!!
As s person that wrote a top five post about scaring the day lights out of kids, accurate.
Well some lists are just practical info you knoe
True!
I completely agree with you on those! My top 5 anime are:
1. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings
2. Psycho-Pass
3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
4. Baccano!
5. Cowboy Bebop
What does this list say about me?
You like to think!?!
Well, I tend to think about a lot of things in general, so there’s that. 🙂
Cosplay IS clothing, so I’m a strong #4! As for a top ten anime male titties post, good luck with that since MALE TITS DON’T EXIST IN ANIME. Unless you’re a good boy like Yuri!!! On ICE.
And yes, I do believe you could call this post “meta.” Thanks for the morning laugh!
I’m mixed when it comes to writing lists. I feel like I’m copping out a little when I write them. Because it means I don’t need to think too much about what I’m writing, which I know isn’t the case at all.
I’ve started seeing the format in something of a negative light, mainly thanks to the ton of poorly written, click bait nonsense that gets pushed onto me through social media.
Then I’m reminded of how little people seem to care for thought out and structured thought pieces when three of my five most viewed pages are all lists. T_T
Maybe I should write more lists…
Some of my most thought out pieces are in list form. The one time I tackled the subject of feminism in anime I used the format to help keep me on track. It’s one of the longer posts I’ve written and one of the most heavily edited and retouched.
Of course I often use listed items the same way people use headers…
*sees number 5*
I’m so mad at your top 5 list! I’m so outraged and spiteful!
Stupid random numbers…
Lists are a mixed bag. It’s not as hard as essays, because your thoughts are segmented neatly in fun-sized thoughts, but a bad list is really lazy and just plain boring to read. I gave up on a few list ideas I had thanks to this, because it ended up being variations of “Describing a thing then I like/hate it”.
That’s why I love weird and obscure lists, because it’s new knowledge in an easy to read format.
See I find essays so much easier but then again I stidued in sciences so rambling papers is something I have experience with.
Lists, really any kind of “pick 5”, are certainly easier than essays… But they’re not (IMO) always easy. Just getting stuff down to bite-sized pieces is (done properly) an art form in itself. I have no problem with reading (or writing) “Describing a thing then I like/hate it” if they’re cogently and engagingly written. Where most lists go bad isn’t that they’re just a variation, it’s because the writer put no effort into to it.
Top 5 talking cats:
5. Nyanta – Log Horizon (Swashbuckling humanoid feline voiced by Jouji Nakata, need I say more?)
4. Bimii sensei – Mikaruga Gakuen Kumikyou (How can a flying, talking cat teacher be the straightman to just about anyone around him? That’s just the sort of show it is – Excellent voicework by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, too)
3. Chiro – Majimoji Rurumo san (A second-rate cat familiar to a second rate witch; they make an adorable team, Adorably cheeky performance by Misato Fukuen)
2. Sakamoto – Nichijou (Great at attempted dignity in a nutcase environment by Minoru Shiraishi)
1. Nyamsus – Nyan Koi (Kitty partriach and living with a guy allergic to cat; punishes him by shedding. Atsuko Tanak hits it out of the park)
There you go. So what does this say about me?
***
Screenshot guessing game:
Yuru Yuri – Hyouka – Kamisama no Memouchou – Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki kun – there are so many burger meals in anime I can’t tell (Hataraku Maou Sama?) – Looks awefully familar, but I’m not sure I’ve seen it (Junjo Romantica – the line art looks softer from what I have in mind, but I’m not sure as I’ve not actually seen it and might be mixing up anime and manga art) – Bakemonogatari (? – it’s definitey Somethingmonogatari, and I [i]think[/i] it’s season 1, but who knows)
Edgy Anime Teen here to confirm that the last picture is indeed Bakemonogatari, the first season of Monogatari. (from the Suruga Monkey story arc)
I know which cathegory you are
Definitely not a fan of the best show ever…
Yay! I thought that would be it.
Images – You got them all (yes for Junjo and Bakemonogatori) and I also don’t know where the burgers are from…
For the talking cats list
No Nyanko Sensei so I’m not sure what to even say at this point…
I… feel ashamed. I might say that he transcends mere top 5 lists. Yes, I’ll go with this. (That’s only half a joke, actually. Sometimes characters drop out of their category, because they’re just so much themselves. Might have happened here.)
I’ll let you off this time since that’s actually a great and fitting excuse
Also, I looked up Hataraku Maou Sama and that’s not it. Mc Ronald’s has a totally different logo.
Seems you never got my email reply….I’m changing the subject radically but I replied and now days later I got a failed delivery notice. The internet gods are mad at me
Or at me. I’ve been gettind dating-site spam. The names of the dating sites are always different, but apparently lots of people love me. *Sigh* It may be better not to trust e-mails from me for a while (unless they come through the form, or I announced them). Oh, the internet life.
oh wait…I guess you did get my email…
Cats and anime are cute to me.
You should do a Five Favorite Cats post.
Irina, I think if your posts were in visual form, it would be like watching a fight scene from Gurren Lagann with all the energy I sense radiating off of it. Thank you.
no Thank YOU!
Not sure this compliment is earned but I will take it
The article WordPress recommended I read after this was “Top 10 Porn Stars of All Time”.
I think the issue with top-whatever lists is that places like Buzzfeed and their numerous imitators have somewhat sullied the format with, as you describe, a list of tenuously linked images that some intern found on Google Images that lunchtime. But they can be a good way of exploring a particular theme, or methodically working your way through a complex argument. Or just having an excuse to highlight some things you want to talk about for whatever reason!
Also, “who’s going to get mad at a top 5 list?” You obviously haven’t seen the comments sections in YouTube videos of retro gamers… OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU RANKED CASTLEVANIA ABOVE HELLO KITTY ROLLER RESCUE, U SUCK, UNSUBSCRIBE
well I mean… dude ranked CASTLEVANIA ABOVE HELLO KITTY ROLLER RESCUE. We’re only human, Pete… there’s only so much we can take…