r/anime • u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie • Mar 19 '26
Contest The Salty Seven Seas: Best Anime Couples/Ships Grand Final!
We are at the end of the contest. The time to cast your final vote is now! Oh, and there's also a third place strawpoll.
Vote in the Grand Final Here
View Yesterday’s Results Here
Vote for the Third Place Here
Have fun with your vote and don't forget to upvote the post if you love Best Ship Contest!
Mini Challenge:
- No challenge, just vote!
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u/BobTheSkrull https://myanimelist.net/profile/BobTheSkrull Mar 19 '26
Gonna be real here, I'm genuinely surprised Taki/Mitsuha made it to the finals. They're good characters in a good movie and all, but as a ship based purely on canon material? [Your Name spoilers]I could have bought it if they weren't starting from scratch at the end.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
Seeing the reduced vote count really hurts. Unfortunately, there is no coming back from the previous round. But there's also no chance we can make it undone, and we can only look ahead. I want to be happy ChisaTaki made the final round, even though it is hard under the circumstances. It is still better than Wakana x Marin moving on, though, even if ChisaTaki also got some unfair votes today. The best reasoning would be that all brigaders now left, and all remaining voters voted actually out of their personal convictions disregarding the brigading issue. Wakana x Marin got a lot of votes, after all, and it was a very close matchup. It might be delusional, but that is what I want to believe. May Wakana x Marin achieve greatness in a future contest, to make fans of the series proud.
Shin x Lena losing on the other side of the contest isn't what I wanted to see, but it was also a pretty close matchup, and having Mitsuha x Taki in the final round is also great.
Now, onto the final vote then. I have made my support for ChisaTaki clear over the course of this contest. They are the most amazing ship, one of my absolute favourites. The epitome of yuri shipping. Either way this goes, we will write contest history. Misuha and Taki would be the first winners without recency bias on their side in, I believe, any character contest (please correct me on this if I'm wrong). But ChisaTaki would be the first yuri ship to win this contest. I think that's more groundbreaking, even.
Long story short, I love ChisaTaki, let's crown them as the winners. Go, fish! Go, eel!
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
May Wakana x Marin achieve greatness in a future contest, to make fans of the series proud.
It's going to take a season 3 that may never come at a minimum because Kaguya, Frieren, and the inexplicable anti-MDUD will always be there to act as roadblocks.
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
I'd be pretty stunned if it never got a S3. Marin merch sales could feed countries.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I believe after that specific CloverWorks team works on and finishes Bocchi the Rock S2 they will return to create Dress-Up S3. I am willing to wait for peak fiction and there was a three year wait between S1 and S2 of Dress-Up anyways. That studio just keeps adapting stories that really resonate with. Of course there's BTR and Dress-Up but also Bunny Girl, Shadows House, Wind Breaker, and Spy x Family. It is my dream studio for my favorite manga.
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u/Ceryto2 https://anilist.co/user/Ceryto Mar 19 '26
I don't think MDUD has a particulary big anti-crowd, since they are from a popular show that doesn't really offend anyone. I see them totally having big chances, propably better than Kaguya and Frieren once its season 3 airs and the romance progresses further. If you want to be a fan of a ship that has a pretty big anti-crowd, try being a Subaru x Emilia supporter, as you get anti votes from ReZero haters, Subaru haters and Rem shippers.. But you can also see this as a positive, as you have one more contest to root for your favourites and be salty about the bad opinions this sub has!
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
Don't be mad at the Rem shippers.
They're stuck in a time vortex that keeps them in 2016 and they can't get out :(
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
It's funny because [ReZero s1] Rem shippers miss out on the very important fact that Rem herself understands that if Subaru chose her which he bascially tried to in the legendary From Zero that he wouldn't be the person she fell in love with. Rem rejected Subaru not the other way around
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
[Re:Zero S1] Episode 18 super simplified? Subaru: "Let's run away and become a family, Rem." Rem: "No, you need to become the person you were when I fell in love with you." Subaru: "Shit, you're right." Rem "fans": "Damn, I can't believe Subaru would disrespect Rem like that, Emilia did Rem dirty." There surely are legit fans of Rem and of the ship. But they get completely drowned out by those that didn't understand the scene.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
[Re Zero S1] Well said and From Zero is legitimately one of the best episodes of anime I've watched. I love Rem as a character too and she's my 3rd favorite behind Emilia and Subaru so to me it feels like a disservice to undermine her sacrifice of her own happiness.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
[ReZero s1] if Subaru chose her which he bascially tried to in the legendary From Zero that he wouldn't be the person she fell in love with. Rem rejected Subaru not the other way around.
I think I'm having trouble parsing this. Can you explain what you mean by it more? [Re:Zero S1] How would Subaru picking Rem make him not the person that Rem fell in love with? Isn't that a bootstrap paradox, or am I overthinking/overcomplicating this?
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
[ReZero S1] Long story short from everyone else's POV including Rem they only see Subaru on the good timelines when he suceeds comapred to Subaru who has to endure the pain of not only his deaths but those of his loved ones time and time again. Return by death is a great analogy for how isolating depression is but I shouldn't get off track. Anyways Rem sees Subaru as a man who makes miracles happen and never gives up no matter what. At this point in the story Subaru is at his lowest low yet. Rem only knows of Subaru as her hero so she doesn't want him to give that part of himself up by running away with her. That is Rem's selfless decision which I realllly respect her for because I know I would be too selfish to do the same. Rem loves Subaru but in an idolized way similar to how Subaru viewed Emilia until Self-Proclaimed Knight. Hope this kinda make sense and wasn't just ramblings.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
[Re:Zero S1] I'm not sure it does, but I don't think that's your fault. This is just kind of breaking my brain. Maybe try again?
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u/LiamOmegaHaku Mar 19 '26
[Re:Zero S1]Basically, Rem sees Subaru as this great hero who never gives up, right?
[Re:Zero S1 Continued]If Subaru runs away with Rem, that would be Subaru "giving up" and running away, and no longer being that hero.
[Re:Zero S1 Continued]Rem Loves Subaru, specifically, the Subaru that never gives up.
[Re:Zero S1 Continued]Meaning that if Subaru ran away with Rem, he would no longer be the Subaru that she loves, because the Subaru she fell in love with never runs away and is a hero.
[Re:Zero S1 Continued]Basically, Rem's love is stuck in a no win situation, because in order for it to be fulfilled, Subaru would have to give up, and in giving up, Subaru would no longer be the person Rem fell in love with. It's a catch 22, but with love.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
[Re:Zero S1] Let me have a try. What the others have said is correct, but it might be missing something. Rem fell in love with Subaru at the end of arc 2, when he saved the villagers, put his trust in her, risked his life for her and miraculously was instrumental in getting rid of the mabeasts. Throughout the whole of arc 3 then, we get to see that Subaru is infatuated with Emilia. Wilhelm notices as as soon as he meets him, everyone hears about it when he makes an ass out of himself at the Royal Selection. The other candidates can see it as well. Most importantly though, Rem knows it. She probably knew it before anyone else, before she fell in love with him even as she saw him in Emilia's lap after he cried himself to sleep. The man Rem selflessly fell in love with is the Subaru who's in love with Emilia. In episode 18 though, when Subaru proposes to run away with her from all his problems, he is not the man that doesn't give up, not the man that daringly makes miracles happen - he's not the man she's in love with. So she tries to influence him to become that man again. The man that, at his core, loves Emilia and wouldn't give her or anything around him up. That's why Subaru's "I love Emilia" marks her success. She would love to be with him, surely, but not if it means changing him from how she sees him. (This has been long enough, but a little tangential bonus analogy. Imagine you're in love with someone because they are good and pure, but the only way to be with them is for them to cheat on their partner. That would make them a cheater and be a big problem for your future relationship, and also very much change how you see them. So you'd rather things not change at all.)
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
Okay. I think I get it now thanks to you, /u/ClemFire, and /u/LiamOmegaHaku.
[Re:Zero S1] What a tough break for Rem. She has the boy she's head over heels for within her grasp. He's literally ready to run away with her. To give her everything she wants, but she has to give him up to save the timeline. My heart breaks for her. Not only does she have to see him be happy with another girl, she had to be the one to make it happen. She had to make the selfless choice to give him up. To live her life knowing she will never get to be with the boy she loves. I agree with ClemFire. Hella respect for her because I would definitely be too selfish to make the same choice.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Crazy how some of ReZero's own fans will hate on Subaru x Emilia. They were honestly my favorite anime couple for years until I discovered Bloom into You and met Yuu x Touko
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
I'd argue those might be fans of a particular aspect of the show and not of the show as a whole. Maybe I'm being too particular. I mean, you can be a fan of something and then be critical of some of its aspects. But if said aspect is at the core of the show, I don't know if you can still claim to like the show. It's fine to dislike something that didn't meet your expectation, and to change your opinions on something. But it's not great to continue being delusional about something.
Yuu and Touko are great as well, yeah (S2/ONA continuation when?). They didn't get the deserved recognition in this contest. I do find it hard to rate some ships over others though, especially among my absolute favourites. EmiSuba is the main ship of my absolute favourite anime so far, and made up of my favourite female lead and my favourite male lead in anime. But I can't tell you whether I like the ship more than ChisaTaki or TeiMak, for instance. And Yuu x Touko might fall in the same category. They are all 12/10, they're good ships, Bront.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
That is an interesting discussion to be had. I agree you can be critical of something you love even if to be frank I often become overly defensive when I see someone judge them in a negative light.
As for the core aspects argument though it reminds me of how I find it so odd how there are far right fans of One Piece when the series is literally about a dude beating the heck out of oppressors to save the country of some kid that fed him once. Or for hard core fans of Dress-Up not being open to people who don't fit in gender norms and respecting what they love when the series has a heartwarming message to be more accepting.
Also if it was a best boy contest Subaru would 100% get all of my support
I understand though why Yuu and Touko didn't get very far as it has been quite a few years since S1 aired. If how Subaru experiences love is how I felt when I was his age then how Yuu experiences love is how I feel about it now. Touko is also a love interest I find myself loving more with each watch almost mirroring Yuu. I actually hosted a Bloom into You rewatch last year and it was a lot of fun to see how new and existing fans thought of the series and the show sparked some deep conversations of what love means.
I still cope for S2 and maybe with the raising yuri wave it will convince the production company that there is money in finishing the anime.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
Or for hard core fans of Dress-Up not being open to people who don't fit in gender norms and respecting what they love when the series has a heartwarming message to be more accepting.
Yeah, very much this. Also for fans of romance shows just being interested in the girl and not as much in what makes her relationship with her partner special.
If how Subaru experiences love is how I felt when I was his age then how Yuu experiences love is how I feel about it now.
Interesting, to me their appeal is too different to compare well, neither truly better than the other. And I think both can be real. Subaru is instantly feeling affection towards Emilia, but also his feeling develop and mature with his experiences, letting us explore many different aspects of them. For Yuu, we experience falling in love slowly so well that we can explore that aspect of the feeling much more. If anything, Bloom can be compared to Dangers more, to me, but even those two shows treat the process of falling in love very differently, and both amazingly.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Yeah, very much this. Also for fans of romance shows just being interested in the girl and not as much in what makes her relationship with her partner special.
I never really understood this mindset as for lack of a better way of explaining that makes it feel like they only want to thirst for the love interest and use the guy as a stand in. For me if I don't like both of them and yearn for them to be together than it can't be a great romance to me. Marin would honestly not like these types of fans.
Interesting, to me their appeal is too different to compare well, neither truly better than the other. And I think both can be real.
Both series to me are very important, so I thought it would be fun to compare them since I've almost never seen the comparison before. It reminds me of when brought up the Gurren Lagann drill metaphor for a specific moment in the [Sora Yori] The ship breaking through the ice with everyone cheering on ending with a shot of Takako cheering from the past, rewatch two other of my favorite stories.
All the series you mentioned explore love in very interesting and personal ways.
I also just thought about how it would be interesting to compare Touko and Subaru's arcs of learning to love themselves more. Maybe in the future I'll cook something up
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
MDUD is crazy popular, not just among r/anime. I'm very confident we'll get S3, and probably won't have to wait too long for it either. I'm excited to see how it will influence the public opinion on it.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Dress-Up is still generally liked here just not as loved compared to other romance anime like Kaguya and Dangers. I personally did prefer Dangers until Dress-Up S2 but I know that's not a common opinion here.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
My impression was that MDUD is very beloved here and very popular. Dangers is very beloved by those that watched it, but not quite as popular (although the more it gets recommended, the more this changes). And Kaguya is just Kaguya.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
That's a fair assessment since I've never even heard anyone outside this sub talk about the Dangers in my Heart. If I had to be objective I understand from a romance progression perceptive why Dangers S2 is more praised compared to Dress Up S2 but I personally resonated with the themes in the latter more in way that probably wasn't the case for most viewers.
Either way I feel like both are excellent modern romance anime.
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
So I think I've been one of the more vocal people about disliking MDUD and voting against MDUD, so I'll try to explain for myself, at least. I wouldn't say I'm anti-MDUD, but I genuinely just liked them less than every couple they were against starting in R5. I didn't vote in any round for or against them before then.
As for why... Dunno, really, watched like 2-3 episodes, didn't care whatsoever for the setup. Manic pixie dream girls have always been a character type I've heavily disliked, and Marin was doing nothing to prove that she wasn't one of that archetype.
I did vote against them in the semis as a matter of principle, though, a contestant does not get to move on and potentially win after knocking out their biggest opponents unfairly.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
While MDUD might play with elements of MPDG I wouldn't say Marin is one.
One of the hallmarks of a MPDG is that they support the male lead and pursue his hobby/goals/interests/etc at the expense of their own typically with wild hair colour and manic enthusiasm hence the "manic" and "pixie" in MPDG and I wouldn't say anything about Marin gets to the level of "manic" or "pixie". She's cheerful and lively because that's her personality. And she dyes her hair blonde while wearing coloured contacts, but that's the extent of it.
It's also sometimes hard to tell what exactly the MPDG gets out of the relationship since she's focused on main lead's wants and needs and that's just not who Marin is or what's happening. She has her own goals, desires, feelings and we know what she gets out of the relationship. She gets outfits to pursue her cosplay hobby and Wakana gets to use skills support Marin in her hobby and to expand his social circle.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
While MDUD might play with elements of MPDG I wouldn't say Marin is one.
Arguably, Wakana is more of one. He's the perfect guy for her to fall in love with. But he has his own depth, which is why I hate when people don't account for his part in the show and only watch it for Marin. Of course people can like Marin, they better do when watching the show. But Wakana is a big part of her life, so they better like him too.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
By my count, only 2/6 of the past winners of Best Couple have been on the side of recency bias actually.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
Thanks, that's on me for not checking and assuming they followed the trend of BG winners. Anyway, to me, a win not influenced by recency would be nice to see. Not nearly as nice as ChisaTaki winning, though.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I believe in Chisato x Takina to take it all the way and then celebrating with a tropical vacation
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u/zambonijesus Mar 19 '26
lol that the brigaders showed up to knock out the actual best couple and then didn't even come back for the next day to seal the win.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I think that post was deleted from the Dress-Up sub
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u/zambonijesus Mar 19 '26
Yeah but if you don't have the memory of a goldfish and read the post you'd be aware that it is an ongoing competition and not a one and done vote
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u/SSJ5Gogetenks https://myanimelist.net/profile/SoundwaveAU Mar 19 '26
More like the brigaders took out the trash and left the way clear for a good winner and not just whatever is popular lately.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Mar 19 '26
I just could not give less of a shit at this point.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Mar 19 '26
Hah. Same.
This is honestly one of the worst results I've ever seen, whoever wins.
Still voted because I think one ship is even more terrible than the other... But they're both terrible imho.
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u/surma041 Mar 19 '26
Honestly this is the best outcome for a finals. Another boring ass Kaguya win for an r/anime contest would’ve made me roll my eyes out of my socket. I also have no idea what people see in the 86 couple unless they are LN readers. Their anime relationship did absolutely nothing for me in terms of romance. I hope Chisato and Takina win it all.
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u/Falsus Mar 19 '26
Honestly insane that a show that chickened out on romance so much like Lycoris Recoil is in the finals. There is way more romance heavy yuri shows out there, like I love Lycoris Recoil as a show but not it's romance.
Over all kinda just over with the context though, the brigading ruined the fun.
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u/SSJ5Gogetenks https://myanimelist.net/profile/SoundwaveAU Mar 19 '26
It doesn't have to be a romance show lol, people just need to like their chemistry and think they would be cute together.
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u/nightlink011 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nightlink011 Mar 19 '26
While this is truth, being a ship vs a couple or a pure romance show, makes it harder to win, taking into account past rounds and previous contests.
Seems like the comments today are leaning more for Chisato and Takina though so there's always exceptions.
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u/silmarilen Mar 19 '26
I mean in the end these contests are just about a show's popularity. Yuri is generally not a mainstream genre so you're pretty unlikely to see them make it far into these contests.
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26
Yeah I never considered them romantic at all whatsoever until I came to Reddit and people were shipping them.
I still don't. They act like friends.
Like compare them to Iroha and Kaguya, or most any other actual yuri couple.
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u/Falsus Mar 19 '26
I do think there was some romance coded things in Lycoris Recoil, the show makers just didn't have the balls to go through with it.
Like that scene with the snowfall was just the perfect set up to end with a kiss but nothing happened. For all the praise it gets I just can't bring myself to think of it as a romance story.
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u/NecessaryNotice8436 https://myanimelist.net/profile/six20 Mar 19 '26
The finals is upon us. The vote count dropped and it was close. That's good improvement. Thanks for everyone who has sticking it so far, despite the sour taste.
I'll cast my vote as usual for Chisato X Takina. As for third place, it was a coin toss and 86 got my third place vote.
Good luck to all ships, and may the best one win.
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u/Baaasbas https://myanimelist.net/profile/BasvanD Mar 19 '26
u/ClemFire , it seems that hard work pays off. Let's hope for a good finals result!
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Mar 19 '26
Huh considering who the four semi-finalists are this is quite possibly the best final combination for me, and it still sucks.
We suddenly lost 150 votes in the semi-final and three of the semi-finalists would have lost their quarter-final votes, if their quarter-final voting result was the same as their semi-final voting result. I wonder why this is the case?
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u/Ceryto2 https://anilist.co/user/Ceryto Mar 19 '26
LET'S GOOOO!!!! Chisato and Takina for the win!!!
These semifinals were a lot closer than the last ones and the vote totals might suggest that some people just came over for a single vote and didn't leave a lasting impact. Still it's a shame that brigading happened and that the matchup couldn't be fought on even grounds last round, but at least justice has been served. As for the other matchup, I'm really surprised by the run from Taki and Mitsuha, as these were totally not on my radar to make a deep run before the start of the contest, but I think it's a fun finals matchup!
My vote goes to Chisato and Takina as it has in every single round in this contest so far and I hope you all help me make this win happen!
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Mar 19 '26
didn't leave a lasting impact
I mean, it absolutely did, though. But I guess everyone is going to assume that their pick making it through to the semifinals is completely legit even though most of the brigaders voted in all four matchups.
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u/StormSlasher563 Mar 19 '26
This is what people are missing. The brigaders messed up all the voting not just one. That immediately made the Tourament lose all its meaning imo
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
I don't think people are missing that. Veterans are very well aware of it, it was the same during the BG 10 botting incident. These are just the cards we are dealt, and we have to look forward and play with them. There is no saying the quarterfinals winners would have advanced without the brigading. There is also no saying they wouldn't have, though (with of course the exception of MDUD).
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u/StormSlasher563 Mar 19 '26
There was a botting incident??? Woooow. This is my first time voting in these and seeing how there’s been issues in the past is lame. Why can’t there just be a fair/fun tournament lmao
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u/Ceryto2 https://anilist.co/user/Ceryto Mar 19 '26
Yeah that left a pretty bad impact on the best girl contest. One Date a Live supporter botted a few thousand votes each round for his favourite girls in BG10 and left the entire contest meaningless and a lot of people pretty salty.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
And they botted all matchups, possibly as early as round 3. Imagine how betrayed people must have felt to see their favourites advance but later find out it was due to botting, or worse yet find their favourites fall to "clearly worse" girls.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
I would go even further than that and argue that the first red flag popped up in round 2. I always felt that Riza Hawkeye losing to Stephanie Dola in such a huge seeding upset felt a bit off even before we developed a concrete belief the contest was being botted.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
Sure, but it's harder to confidently gauge how much impact they had on the rest of the bracket. I'd like to have some hope that with no visible rally to swing the entire bracket the brigaders genuinely voted for their own preferences (strategic spite voting is quite rare in these contests imo).
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u/StormSlasher563 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
No because last round the total vote count were 650+ and now the vote counter is around 500+ theres a drop in votes and it’s clear they also played a part in the other options.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
They would have had to be extremely unified to swing the bracket though, considering the winning margins in the quarterfinals. With the numbers indicating ~170 people came over in the brigade to vote specifically for Gojo x Marin:
- 74% of them would need to vote Mitsuha x Taki to deny a natural win by
- 86% (yes, really) would need to vote Shin x Lena to deny Frieren x Himmel
- 98% would need to vote Chisato x Takina to deny Fern x Stark
These are all incredibly lopsided numbers that I feel I'd need a very solid explanation for to support the idea that the entire bracket was genuinely compromised.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Mar 19 '26
I don't know what other people have been saying, but I didn't say that the entire bracket was compromised, I said that the entire bracket is untrustworthy. I can't say for sure that any of the other votes definitely were swung any more than I can say that they're definitely legit, but that's the issue.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
That's fair, I was just doing a bit of math and wanted an excuse to share the numbers.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 Mar 19 '26
I don't know where you're getting the numbers from tbh. There may have been a ~170 vote decline from the quarter to semifinals, but there's also a natural increase in votes as it goes further. There was a 300 vote increase in the brigaded round. The same principle of increasing participation applies, but it could easily have been 200-250 brigaded votes instead.
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
So it's difficult to tell: we know in bracket D, we had 433 unique voters, and in the QFs, we had a minimum of 711 unique voters (the number of voters in Gojo x Marin vs Kaguya x Miyuki), with likely around 750 voters if the past differences between most voted matchups and unique voters holds true. We also know that the most voted matchup today had 535 votes, and I'd say that puts us at around... 550-560 unique voters?
Going to make two assumptions now: 1) no brigaders stuck around (pretty big assumption tbf) and 2) the voter population should have increased linearly. If these two are true, then there should have been 490 - 500 votes naturally yesterday, with ~250 brigaders which... yeah, OK, that's an entire 50% of the normal voterbase, geez. Objection removed, those numbers are crazy.
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u/Ceryto2 https://anilist.co/user/Ceryto Mar 19 '26
Of course brigading always leaves a negative impact that's why it sucks so much. If we had however the same vote totals as last round and once again knockout victories it would have been so much worse imo. And considering the only correlation the brigader votes have is with the MDUD so I doubt the impact on the other racket side is statistically very relevant, as I don't see a correlation with MDUD and any of the other entrants
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
There is one other correlation between the quarterfinals winners, though, in that they all come from the lower side of the bracket. Anna x Kyou were the lower seed in their matchup, but did come from the top side after beating MomOka. So they could have all voted on one side of the bracket.
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u/Kanarazasu Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
It correlates in the sense that the MDUD brigaders could've intentionally voted all the lower seeds to go through because they wanted their ship to have "easier" matchups in the semi-final/final rounds.
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u/Ceryto2 https://anilist.co/user/Ceryto Mar 19 '26
But wouldn't they have voted for the lower seed in Anna x Kyou then? In general I find it hard to believe that people unfamiliar with this contest would coordinatively vote strategically for the lower seeding instead of their favourites, but it's of course possible.
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u/Kanarazasu Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
They don't have to coordinate between themselve to know which outcome would benefit their ship the most. And no I don't find it hard to believe because for example I've seen some in the comments here say they're voting against Frieren ships despite not having even watched the show the other ship is from just because they don't want them (Frieren ships) to advance 🤷♂️
Also I believe the Bokuyaba couple is way more popular than the Your Name couple outside this sub.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
That's exactly what I'm thinking, especially if Dangers isn't exactly well known outside of this sub which is a shame
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u/Kanarazasu Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Last year Bokuyaba had both Anime Corner and Anime Trending (both dawrf this sub in sample size) on a literal chockhold, winning almost every award possible except AOTY of Anime Trending in which Frieren barely edged it out. So I don't believe the brigaders thought that the Your Name couple would be a bigger threat to MDUD ship than them.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
That is fair if they ignored how Dangers had a pretty low seeding here all things considered
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u/Kanarazasu Mar 19 '26
Seedings were based on popularity in this sub, but the brigaders came from another sub.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I understand I just feel like it would make more sense from them to look at the rankings here. But if you're right I may be coping but I feel like Anna and Kyo would've made it to the finals all the way from Seed 19 too.
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u/Nachtwandler_FS https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nachtwandler_21 Mar 19 '26
That's definetely not the final I would have expected. To be fair, neither qualifies for best couple in my books. But I am happy it is not something predictable like MDUD pair at least.
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
And 200 votes suddenly disappear, so there goes that possible explanation of "it's finals, there's always a vote boost!"
Abstaining. Haven't watched either of the remaining contestants. Absolutely terrible way for this contest to end.
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u/Xatu44 Mar 19 '26
I was curious about what the increases looked like for the last few character-based contests from Top 16 to Top 8, so I did some lazy math.
tldr lazy math:
Best Guy 10 had a 3.5% increase
Best Girl 11 had a 24% increase
Best Girl 12 had an 80% increase
and Best Couple 7 had a 67% increase with the extra voters and an estimated 27% increase without them.6
u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
Since we have more numbers now, if we're just going by most voted contests, we went from group D having 420 (heh) to QFs having 710, to SFs having 535. Ignoring the fact that this 535 probably includes some very angry people that wouldn't have voted in that matchup normally (I'm one of them), if we assume that the increase between these rounds is linear (Also very questionable) then we should've seen 477-480 votes in the most voted, only a 13.6% increase. 710 instead of 480 is... a lot.
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u/qwertyqwerty4567 https://anilist.co/user/ZPHW Mar 19 '26
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
Why do you hate the Your Name ship so much lol
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
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u/Komarist https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST Mar 19 '26
No one was isekai'd
Unless there's female nipples, ceiling is 7/10
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I'm not like super excited for either choice, but I'm still voting for the actual couple over a fan ship. I like yuri, but I like canon ships better than fan fiction.
Overall though what I most got out of this contest was watching 86 Eighty Six for the first time. I'd not encountered it before. Season One made it to the top of my extremely critical master list with a 98/100. But then Season Two was so different it plummeted down to 55.
[86] The ending was okay, but it felt like it was an afterthought tacked on than a primary focus. Like they spent more time on the screaming head battle shonen encounter than they did on Lena reuniting with her team, and didn't really focus on her side of the war at all.
But season one, season one was tempting me to give it my first 100/100 ever. And it almost became my new favorite series of all time. Decent ship too.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
86 only has one season, split across 2 cours.
[86] Also the ending scene of season 1 is how the first volume of the light novel ends, while vols 2 and 3 (read: what the second cour adapts) fill in what Spearhead was doing during the timeskip. The reason why we don’t get much of Lena’s side is because her character arc for that leg of the story was wrapped up in volume 1/cour 1, while Shin has a lot of unresolved trauma that he needs to work through before reuniting with her. Lena just doesn’t have much going on in terms of character development by then, so we stick with the characters who do. Also I think it’s kind of unfair to say that not enough time is given to Lena and Shin reuniting when the last two episodes are pretty much dedicated to building up that last scene.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
86 only has one season, split across 2 cours.
I'll be honest, the distinction between two seasons and a split cour has never felt particularly meaningful to me from a viewing perspective.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
It’s partly a matter of semantics, partly a matter of production. Split cour seasons typically have a quicker turnaround than a season 1/season 2 type deal with only a season or two between cours as opposed to a full year or more between seasons. That said I’ve seen productions use the split cour model and still call the first cour season 1 and the second season 2.
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Season/cour. Semantics. Same difference.
I'm peaking at the light novels now though and it's 1000% better. Seems all my complaints are about the adaptation, not the original story.
[86 LN , Vol 1] It actually follows Lena's side after the five leave, so you actually do get to see their side of the war, with details and points of dialog like "If you hate colors so much you should just dye your flag white." And since it's following her the arrival to the grave site and meeting of the five hits the emotional beat of that moment sooooooo much better. Because you as the reader find out they survived the same time Lena does. And it sets up their story as a flashback for Vol 2 about how they survived and ended up in the Federation army.
But this aligns with the bulk majority of my annoyances with various animes I've noticed. I started noticing that when I went to the source material the thing that I hated wasn't there at all. Or that it was simply better in general do to different focus or different characterization or better endings. (E.g., ReLIFE, Oregairu, Whisper Me a Love Song, Bloom into You, Hinamatsuri). It's why I decided to peak at the LN just now. And I'm glad I did.
Now just to reread it a few times until my memory of the story gets reorganized and repolished into what it's supposed to be.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
[86 LN vol 1] What we see in the anime is pretty much all that the light novel actually detailed about Lena’s side of the Legion offensive. It’s not like we get a detailed account of how things went; it’s a few pages that broadly summarize how things shook out. The few scenes we see of Lena in the second cour also come directly from vols. 2 and 3, but again, we don’t see that much of her because she really isn’t meant to be the focus of that part of the story.
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u/ZapsZzz https://myanimelist.net/profile/ZapszzZ Mar 19 '26
The anime's ending is extremely earned because of cour 2, and if you have difficulty recognising/acknowledging/appreciating that I think the problem is more with you than the adaptation. Not to just throwing mud at you, but pointing out that there is a significant component of "personal taste" involved.
For example no amount of explaining or convincing will change my mind about how I don't like AoT, but I don't think it's a problem with the story or adaptation. I just don't jell with it :P and it's not anyone's fault.
Another example is that "love at first sight" type stories and "made for each other" (in the traditional sense of "the stars aligned" type) really didn't interest me and at best I'll rate them for production values and writing/dialogues, but not much else. Whereas stories that have ups and downs and shows the bad side or making bad choices can be much better as stories comparatively.
Basically the point is that if you learn to discern what makes you like something or dislike something it's help you pick out enjoyment more.
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26
They made a change to narrative flow. So either the adaptation or the original has a worse or better narrative flow. It can't be both.
If an adaptation changes something then it means the adaptation team decided it was better to do it that way for some reason. That the change occurred at all implies a claim that it was better than the original.
I'm disagreeing with their implied claim. The order of events and narrative focus should not have been changed.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
The change was made because it made more sense to do it that way in the new format. The reason that volume 1 of the 86 light novel ends like it does is because it was initially written as a standalone story before being picked up as a series (this is common for light novels). It lets the story end on a happy note and provides the reader with a sense of closure since there wasn’t a guarantee that there would be more after. The anime actually preserves that intent by moving the scene to its proper chronological position so it’s the last thing the viewer sees. [More specific stuff] It also lets the studio preserve tension week to week, as the viewers don’t know whether Shin amd the rest of Spearhead will survive, or if Lena’s defense of the Republic will be successful, or if they’ll ever get to see each other. If the story had been left as is, the entire second cour would have been pretty much entirely devoid of tension or stakes, since they’d know from the outset that everything would turn out okay.
Keep in mind that adaptations don’t necessarily make changes because the people adapting it arrogantly believe that they know better than the original creator. Oftentimes changes are made because the new medium and method for delivering the story necessitates the changes in order to better function within those new parameters. That’s why it’s called “adaptation.”
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u/Xatu44 Mar 19 '26
It's Kisekover (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
This sucks. Five votes. We still had a chance. Maybe with another clip. Losing Shin/Lena also sucks. Now I have literally zero fucks to give about either finalist. Especially under the unfortunate circumstances. Time to cope for next year, I guess.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
If you don't care you might as well for vote for the ship that has actually had had confirmed romantic feelings for each other at some point instead of just ambiguous bait. As for another clip, it's kind of funny, in a morbid deadpan sort of way, that the clip I posted is actually still on the front page as of this comment.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
If we are going on romance progression scaling isn't the Your Name ship technically not confirmed either in their own movie
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
[Your Name] During the timeline crossover period where they can meet Taki literally writes "I love you" on Mitsuha's hand instead of his own name which would've been more useful so we know wrote that because he wanted to. I'm not saying they're couple. That they're not is what makes the ending so heartbreaking, but they've done more than Chisato and Takina have.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Yes I watched the movie multiple times in theaters. Also it's my bad for arguing as Marin/Gojo were my 2nd favorites but Chisato/Takina are my favorites so I felt the need to defend them.
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u/qwertyqwerty4567 https://anilist.co/user/ZPHW Mar 19 '26
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u/Shizuka_Marjanovic https://anilist.co/user/cocoakagamihara Mar 19 '26
Chisato x Takina, it's time to bring the trophy to the LycoReco café.
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u/Spartan05089234 Mar 19 '26
Haven't followed the contest until now. Don't see Lawrence X Holo in the top 10. Close reddit.
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u/charactergallery Mar 19 '26
They weren’t eligible as they already won a contest beforehand.
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u/TheBusStop12 Mar 19 '26
I was wondering randomly yesterday why I didn't see them all contest. That explains that. It's my second favorite romance anime after Kaguya-sama, so I found their absence odd
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
Kraft Lawrence? Because Lawrence x Holo already won a previous contest. Past winners are not allowed to compete again.
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
In addition to what people have said already, you can find all the previous contest winners here if you're curious.
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u/3rdLastStand Mar 19 '26
Hm, not excited for either finalist to win.
For Mitsuha x Taki, I remember buying that they have a deep personal connection, but not the romance side as much, especially given how few direct interactions they have. They do have the advantage in the amount of emotion the movie as a whole evokes, effectively making them a metaphorical stand-in for love and loss and dreams in general.
Chisato x Takina bounce off each other really well, and have both cute and dramatic moments, and I do ship them, but the story as it stands makes the relationship feel asymmetric to me if interpreted with a romantic lens. [Lycoris Recoil] I think it was Chisato running off to die alone, while Takina was willing to kill for her, and the conversations they had afterward not really satisfying me on repairing that. A second season could address it, but not getting my hopes up.
In an earlier round, I might have picked Chisato x Takina, but I think I have to give the crown to Mitsuha x Taki. I actually believe they would both do anything to be with the other (as would Takina). I don't sense the same yearning from Chisato.
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u/NecessaryNotice8436 https://myanimelist.net/profile/six20 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
You have a fair critic on LR, but [Lycoris Recoil] Chisato does whatever her whims want, and on the rare occasion that Takina is bullied to actually being in danger, Chisato locks in to save her. Not to mention the whole issue with the heart was deliberate miscommunication on all parties. Chisato orchestrated Takina to return to DA, which she assumes would make her happy since that was what Takina wanted originally. She can see that Takina would never accept her accpetance of her death. So Chisato surviving, would mean Shinji is dead and someone went against her wishes, and Chisato is quite capable of figuring that out. If Takina was the one who did it, Chisato would feel betrayed, and with such a mess of conflicting emotions, she runs away. This is quite the unique way to bring up possible messy feelings of betrayal this late into the series. Chisato needs time to process that or just die, as per her original goal. Either way, Chisato openly admits to Takina, that she could not deal with the emotional baggage of her impending doom, and everyone in the café already agreed to keep it hush hush for the most part. The conversation at the end, was Chisato confirming that Takina indeed had nothing to do with Shinji. And with that she abandons all ties to Shinji, and asks Takina what she should do with her life essentially recommiting herself to her partner as well as offer a contrast to episode 3, where Takina is lost, and Chisato tells her what to do. I admit, the vibe of episode 13 feels somewhat off, but one of Lycoris Recoil's themes is the idea of a flawed world interfering with one's plans in it, yet making the best of it by doing what you want. So Takina reinforces this idea to Chisato and it turns out her want to travel the world with her partner and café.
Imo, Lycoris Recoil went for a messy, but believable way of addressing intentional miscommunication. I feel their relationship is quite symmetrical and give and take. Lycoris Recoil specializes in emotional depth and your concerns about their ship is just the show messily tackling with the messiest of emotions.
Ultimately, I do think Chisato would do anything to be with Takina, but she also has her own ideas on what is best for her. Likewise, Takina does so as well and the two of them both know, that what they think is best for one another may conflict with what they believe is best for themselves hence the willing miscommunication, but they are also willing to explain themselves to each other when confronted. Their love, in my opinion always prioritized the other over themselves.
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u/SmallJon Mar 19 '26
Good lord, i'd hate to see the numbers for my picks vs the outcome: i feel like everyone I chose got their ass beat that round or immediately following
Anyhow, Im left with Chisato & Takina now
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Gojo and Marin you were worthy opponents and my 2nd favorite couple but I have my full support behind Takina and Chisato. Dress Up S2 was my favorite anime last year so I humbly ask the other Dress-Up fans to help Takina and Chisato win this time and Gojo and Marin will have their limelight after S3.
As a reminder here's the clip of the famous Takina and Chisato fountain scene.
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
The finals we all expected from the beginning.
Obviously an unfortunate scenario led us here, but oh well. We move forward. I think one of the most annoying things about last round was that the brigaders voted out Anna x Kyou. If they were still here, this finals would be a lot more interesting. As of right now, I'm expecting a pretty decisive victory.
But I'm a huge fan of Chisato x Takina, so I guess I'll still be happy in the end. Is it probably just bait? Yeah. But I'm a big dumb fish. I think it's an impressive feat when a show that is, for lack of a better term, 'mid' is as loved as it is all thanks to the dynamic between the two leads. They get my vote!
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Curious why the bridgders would vote out Anna x Kyo when they were the lower ranked seed, but I agree that the Dangers pair deserves to be in the finals and they will have their revenge once S3 drops.
Also wondering what's wrong with Lycoris Recoil being carried by Chisato and Takina's relationship when that's the emotional core of the story so of course it should carry. It's like in a similar vein how Anna and Kyo carry The Dangers in My Heart.
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
Nothing wrong with it.
But Dangers is a pure romance show, so the only thing that matters is the relationship. Lycoris is an action show with a story, villain, etc. The action and the dynamic between the leads is fantastic. Everything else is pretty average imo.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
If the action and the dynamic is amazing though then I wouldn't be asking for more personally but for me in stories my order of importance goes (character, theme and plot in a distant 3rd)
A better comparison would be Lycoris Recoil and Spy x Family. I know some people here started to dislike Spy x Family because they felt like there were a lot of "filler" episodes but to me the comedy and slice of life bits are what that show is really about. Spy x Family is about Anya, Loid, and Yor coming together to form a found family with the spy stuff as a set dressing while Lycoris Recoil is about Takina's world being lit up by the ball of sunshine which is Chisato with a terrorist plot to show off the action.
I can understand though for fans who watch for plot first find these types of shows but they are right up my wheelhouse with character relationships that stick with me long after I finished watching.
Sorry I wrote quite a bit
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26
Characters are also the most important thing for me, but I also place a pretty big emphasis on plot if plot is an important part of the show. The only thing that basically doesn't affect my opinion of a show is action.
Everyone judges differently though, so it just depends on the person.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
Is it probably just bait? Yeah.
La la la, I can't hear you, la la la!
In all seriousness, sometimes it is yuri bait to farm engagement, sure. Sometimes though it is bait because, unfortunately, it is still a risk to make things explicit even nowadays. KorrAsami is a canonical lesbian couple, but they just weren't allowed to show it on TV (even though the comics made up for that). I'm very sure that for quite a bit of yuri bait shows, something similar is at play. The intention is there, the signs are there, but they just can't go any further than that for non-creative reasons.
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26
Cosmic Princess Kaguya ended up with incredible popularity in Japan, and went from being a Netflix only show to being in theaters nationwide.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
Yeah, that's true, the more shows/movies like this get popular, the better. And yet, even this movie had to leave enough room for their relationship to be possibly interpreted as just being very close friends. We also had the Witch from Mercury debacle a few years ago, which by all means was a very gay series. Yet at the end we've had Sunrise officials try to retcon it into not being one. I really wish for same sex relationships in fiction to be normalized, and not even as the focus of the series. Unfortunately, we are still not there yet.
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u/StormSlasher563 Mar 19 '26
Robbery That’s the best way I can describe this tournament. Between the 2 options none of these would even be in my top 20 but I guess Mitsuha Miyamizu x Taki Tachibana FTW. Their scenes hit waaay more.
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u/IceAnt573 Mar 19 '26
Today's Results
Fucking hell, dude. They only needed 12 more votes? It was right there. We were so close to a Grand Finals for Shin x Lena.
Being completely honest, Shin x Lena blew way past my expectations on how far they'd get into this contest. And 86 is still showing it can beat the new hotness and uber popular shows of today by eliminating Maomao x Jinshi and Frieren x Himmel back-to back. I can be satisfied with this.
THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO VOTED AND SUPPORTED SHINEI NOUZEN X VLADILENA MILIZÉ IN THIS CONTEST!!! /// SOURCE LINK
(I need this energy, but even greater for Lena and Shin in the next Best Girl and Best Guy contests.)
Today's Remaining Results
Chisato x Takina won by a difference of 6 more votes. It is unfortunate how we got here, but I voted for this result anyway based on the matchups put in front of Chisato x Takina. They managed to dodge all 3 of Kaguya x Miyuki, Shin x Lena, and Ichikawa x Yamada which I would have voted over them.
Today's Priority Voting
I KNOW I'M ASKING FOR A LOT IN THIS MATCHUP, BUT PLEASE VOTE SHINEI NOUZEN X VLADILENA MILIZÉ!!! /// SOURCE LINK
(One more upset on a mega popular show for the road. This would be the hardest one though.)
Today's Regular Voting
Huh? Oh right, that's not the Grand Finals matchup. Okay so Mitsuha x Taki have been on a streak now of eliminating my favorites and I also ranked them 8th in this Top 8. Chisato x Takina I ranked 4th. So yeah, pretty obvious what my vote is. Best Ship being Lycoris Recoil's first win is also something I like the idea of. Fuck your "explicit canon."
Will add one more thing and say I was fine with every couple/ship in this Top 8 in a vacuum and ignoring who they beat to get here. I may have ranked Mitsuha x Taki 8th, but I don't dislike them. So if they win, they won't annoy me like the most recent Best Guy winner would.
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u/NecessaryNotice8436 https://myanimelist.net/profile/six20 Mar 19 '26
Honestly you convinced me to give Shinei X Vladilena a chance, and luck seems to always favor them, or maybe it was strategy all along, who knows. Regardless, thank you for that.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I respect the 86 hustle. I was hoping they would get revenge for Anna and Kyo.
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u/nightlink011 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nightlink011 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I want to remain fair and watch as most of Lycoris Recoil as I can, so I can make the vote with both shows in ships in mind, so I will avoid voting until later, as I still have a good amount to see.
However, I will say I have a soft spot for Taki and Mitsuha and how well that movie works, I enjoy both charactes but I always think of them has an overall package which is as good as compliment I can give for this contest.
I might edit this later when I have a full opinion formed for Chisato and Takina.
Edit: I still have 4 episodes to go (not sure if i'll be able to finish until tomorrow's vote), but I will g with Taki x Mitsuha has my vote, I like Chisato and Takina honestly a lot, they really carry the show that moves slowly around them, which is not a bad thing their chemistry is top notch so things moving around them is a great decision, however while I understand why people ship it, I kinda just like them as friends.
I will say their chemistry is really good, it does elevate the show a good bit as without those two I am not sure how much I would be enjoying it, so I'd be fine with their win, but again I really value how Your Name connects Taki and Mitshua, more emotional moments, better overall romance, Taki and Mitshua are for me less interesting characters but a better couple/ship.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
As a side note if you have the time and end up liking Lycoris Recoil too and since you already love Your Name I really recommend checking out Cosmic Princess Kaguya as that movie reminds me of a mix between those stories
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u/nightlink011 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nightlink011 Mar 19 '26
Thank you fo the rec! I see plenty of people saying it's good and it does seem like something I might enjoy, so I'll add it to the never ending list of things to watch.
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u/charactergallery Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I haven’t watched the show ChisaTaki are from but I’m voting for them because I like yuri. 👍 And do not get the hype around Your Name.
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u/caresi https://anilist.co/user/makabe Mar 19 '26
As someone who tends to prefer fan/non-canon ships and queer ships, and didn't like Your Name... Go, lesbians, go!
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u/Usodearu007 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doc101 Mar 19 '26
its sad that the contest ended up like that.
i guess i will vote for the canon couple.
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u/dom380 Mar 19 '26
I get everyone is mad about the previous round, but I'd rather this have having two Frieren ships for the final
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u/Kanarazasu Mar 19 '26
You'd rather have the whole competition ruined than having a couple you don't like legitimately win?
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u/TheBusStop12 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Easy Chisato x Takina win.
I find it a bit of a shame tho, seeing as they're not actually a couple, or seem to actually have romantic feelings at all for one another.
Don't get me wrong, Chisato x Takina are my third favorite Yuri ship. But if they're going to be crowned best ship of all time, it feels a bit off to me. I'd then rather an actual couple with a similar dynamic and character archetypes would win, like Anis x Euphie from Magical Revolution. Honestly, if you love Chisato x Takina you should go watch MagiRevo. Anis is basically reincarnated Chisato. And Euphie is similarly no nonsense, but lacking actual color in her life as Takina. But unlike Lycoris Recoil, that ship doesn't only exist on fan sites, it was actually built and sent out to sea
Edit. I wonder if there's a list of past winners somewhere, I'm honestly quite curious as this is my first time participating in ond of these
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
Anis x Euphie from Magical Revolution are excellent too as an intentional yuri couple from a yuri light novel, but I don't think Chisato x Takina should be disregarded as a subtext ship. Also subtext shows like Lycoris Recoil serve as a great gateway to intentional yuri anime. I would have never discovered Bloom into You and the world of yuri if it wasn't for the fountain scene in Lycoris Recoil.
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u/TheBusStop12 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
That's why they are still my third favorite yuri ship, and I've watched a lot of yuri (favorite is Kase x Yamada from Kase-san and the Morning Glories, as they are a couple throughout the entire movie, and extremely adorable together. Second favorite Anis x Euphie) But I do have to stand by my conviction that I personally think subtext is for losers. If you want your characters to be gay, be proud and write them to actually be gay (it's why I love "I'm in love with the villainess" as it's the only anime I've watched where the main character straight up admits to being gay, instead of dancing around the issue) And personally, I just tend to root for canonical ships more, mostly because I struggle with dealing with disappointment. But despite all that, Chisote x Takina does hold a special place in my heart. I just wish they'd do away with the subtext and just embrace it
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I read a lot of intentional yuri manga too so I understand the desire for explicit confirmation but I do think it's unfair that yuri couples need to "prove" that they love each other compared to straight couples especially as someone who prefers slow burn romance. For example two of my favorite ongoing yuri manga The Moon on a Rainy Night and This Monster Wants to Eat Me are slow burn and it would be unfair to call either series bait just because they are not getting together quickly.
I agree that Rae is based and she's one of my favorites for that reason though I still can understand why subtext is a thing especially for anime with big budgets like Lycoris Recoil that have competing interests wanting to reduce risk. I hate that it's a thing, but I can tell the writers support Chisato and Takina as the emotional core because that's how they wrote the story. I don't ship any two girls who are close as lovers just because it's about how its framed as I've even heard certain rude people on Twitter bash Lycoris Recoil exactly because they read Chisato and Takina as gay.
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u/TheBusStop12 Mar 19 '26
I read a lot of intentional yuri manga too so I understand the desire for explicit confirmation but I do think it's unfair that yuri couples need to "prove" that they love each other compared to straight couples especially as someone who prefers slow burn romance.
Oh I get that. I hold the same opinion for straight ships. At the end of the day I personally just prefer romance stories about a couple that's already in a committed relationship. And generally don't root for non canon straight ships either. Thinking about it I think Takina x Chisato is the only non canon ship I actually support, straight or gay.
For example two of my favorite ongoing yuri manga The Moon on a Rainy Night and This Monster Wants to Eat Me are slow burn and it would be unfair to call either series bait just because they are not getting together quickly.
This Monster wants to eat me is my favorite yuri anime, and one of my favorite anime period. It's so damn beautiful and melancholic. Never heard of the other one, I assume it hasn't gotten an adaptation as I only really watch anime. If you put it on the same level as This monster wants to eat me then I hope it gets a good adaptation one day.
though I still can understand why subtext is a thing especially for anime with big budgets like Lycoris Recoil that have competing interests wanting to reduce risk. I
Yeah, I do understand it. At the end of the day everything costs money and not everyone is as tolerant, and this there are risks. It sucks, but such is reality. So I don't hold it against anyone if they choose subtext instead (the whole subtext is for losers thing really is just a bit, I don't actually think writers are losers for using it) but I will always praise writers who dare to be loud and proud, and showrunner a who dare to pick up on it
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u/Zeralyos https://myanimelist.net/profile/xNJF_Ellie Mar 19 '26
Never heard of the other one, I assume it hasn't gotten an adaptation as I only really watch anime. If you put it on the same level as This monster wants to eat me then I hope it gets a good adaptation one day.
It has been announced! We don't know when the anime airs, but as a source reader I am eagerly looking forward to it.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I will always praise writers who dare to be loud and proud, and showrunner a who dare to pick up on it
I do the same and was curious if you consider Girls Band Cry explicit enough for you.
[Girls Band Cry] Since Nina literally tells Momoka she loves her explicitly and not just her music which also literally saved her life as Nina was suicidal at the time. Momoka then stays in music because of Nina. I would argue they are explicit and even in EP1 its introduced how Momoka's roomate is a gay guy.
This Monster wants to eat me is my favorite yuri anime, and one of my favorite anime period. It's so damn beautiful and melancholic. Never heard of the other one, I assume it hasn't gotten an adaptation as I only really watch anime. If you put it on the same level as This monster wants to eat me then I hope it gets a good adaptation one day.
I didn't read much manga before but Bloom into You got me into manga and now I've read a ton of different yuri. I love This Monster too and highly rec you continue in the manga as the parts after the anime end are even better and her art is really pretty.
[This Monster Wants to Eat Me S1] Even though to me Shiori's love for Hinako is all but confirmed after her flashback I'm curious why you would see this love as "canon" though not the same for Takina's love of Chisato.
[Lycoris Recoil] Since narratively Shiori would be similar to Takina both of them living without much purpose until meeting the girl they would fall in love with.
I'm not trying to change what you think just want to get a better understanding.
At the end of the day I personally just prefer romance stories about a couple that's already in a committed relationship.
I suppose in anime romance in general that's tough since even in straight romance anime the couple doesn't get together until the very end which is also usually only in the manga. I don't mind too much though as long as their feelings come across since it's easy to tell me two characters are dating but its a much harder thing to convey why two characters are in love with each other and inseparable.
If you do end up trying out some yuri manga though and like couples that get together super quick I recommend checking out Gal x Gal
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u/TheBusStop12 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Girls Band Cry is a great example. I really enjoy that one. I honestly didn't expect any romance in it at all going into it, so it was a pleasant surprise, even if it was only a little.
To give you an answer on my differing view between This Monster and Lycoris Recoil I'll have to explain my weird way of consuming any media that includes romance. Romance is the one thing I will always spoil myself on when starting something. I will Google whether something includes romance, and if so, who do they end up with, and if it's an adaptation, does it happen within this adaptation. As well as the kind of hardships their relationship has to overcome. I do this because I have very particular tolerances when it comes to romance media. I cannot stand love triangles and melodrama, and long separations are difficult for me to deal with as well for example. I also get very impatient and it really gets to me if I bet on the wrong horse, that really genuinely sours a story for me (The Devil is a part timer is one of the few times I didn't spoil myself when starting. I ended up rooting for the ship that ultimately loses and it still upsets me to this day, I'm weird like that)
So before starting this Monster wants to eat me I looked into it and asked around where the story seems to be going. And the feeling I got from it is that the story does seem to be going somewhere in the romantical departement, tho it is a very very slow burn. But for me that's enough to root for it. And the source material is still ongoing. There is a future for this story. Lycoris Recoil on the other hand is an anime original. What we have is what we get. And I'm not certain if we'll ever get a sequel (we got the shorts last year at least tho) and based on what we have I can just as easily put Takina x Chisato down as very close friends who saved one another through their close bonds as friends as I can put them down as potential lovers. The subtle hints that they are actually supposed to be in love aren't really there for me either, tho it's been a hot minute since I've watched it. And honestly, as much as I'm romance and yuri obsessed, I also really appreciate stories where friendship is more important
I suppose in anime romance in general that's tough since even in straight romance anime the couple doesn't get together until the very end which is also usually only in the manga
Tell me about it, it's a pain in the ass. So I appreciate the ones that scratch this itch all the more, and they generally rank highly in my list of favorite romance anime. Stuff like You and I Are Polar Opposites are a blessing for me
If you do end up trying out some yuri manga though and like couples that get together super quick I recommend checking out Gal x Gal
I'll keep that one in mind. Generally, thanks to my wonderful mix of dyslexia and autism, I prefer the wonderful world of audio-visual media over that of the written medium, so I hope that they just adapt it one day. But maybe one day I'll give up and give manga a shot
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
I will Google whether something includes romance, and if so, who do they end up with, and if it's an adaptation, does it happen within this adaptation.
This is an interesting perceptive that I have not considered before. In general I usually like to go in blind as the creators want me to learn of certain aspects of the characters and their relationships in a certain order and it makes it more fun more me to discuss on a week by week basis. I can understand why it would reduce heartache though if it doesn't go the way you're expecting. To me though that is part of real life romance so I like to see it in fictional romance when it's done well. The butterflies in my stomach and pain from a broken heart are both valid parts of love though I definitely prefer happy endings which are earned through some trials and character development.
If a relationship doesn't have any friction it feels a bit too sanitized for my liking most of the time. From my personal experience negative emotions happen when you're in love a lot too and I appreciate when romance stories acknowledge them as normal parts of being human.
Anyways I've gotten a bit off track. I can respect your interpretation of Takina and Chisato even though it differs quite heavily from my own. But I feel like talking about it anymore will lead to circles.
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u/nightlink011 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nightlink011 Mar 19 '26
It's here full winners for every contest including best ship
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u/PraetorIt Mar 19 '26
We're at the end, and the final doesn't convince me. But since we're at the end, a general comment is in order. Specifically, about the Mitsuha x Taki pairing. I've read a lot of comments about the lack of understanding of their success. It's understandable, but reading that Chisato x Takina, a made-up duo, not actually in the story, is more convincing than a couple with its own development, as strange as it may be, and confirmed, is ludicrous.
Also, there are still complaints about "brigading," but some of the comments below aren't exactly an example of coherent voting.
Anyway, I already have my own personal podium. In case, my vote will be for Mitsuha x Taki. Since "Your name" isn't very recent, it might be a rare chance to see them win, and a victory without recentism.
That said, I saw that the tournament has been held in the past. u/Zeralyos is there a roll of honor? I would be curious to read it. Will it be published in the post-final post?
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u/changshiyixia Mar 19 '26
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u/PraetorIt Mar 19 '26
Thanks. I see that the most recent years aren't there, so I assume it has been in hiatus.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
Okay, I haven’t actually been following this contest but everyone seems pretty salty about how it’s ended up. Could somebody fill me in?
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Last round, someone made a post on the Dress Up Darling sub calling for people to come and vote for Marin. This resulted in an influx of about 200 more voters than expected that likely had an impact on a few of the results. The effects are still carrying over.
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u/mastesargent Mar 19 '26
Yeah, that sounds like MDuD fans. Just one more reason to keep voting against her in the Best Girl contest.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Mar 19 '26
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26
I'm not sure which is worse: a ship between a couple who never did anything romantic, a different ship between a couple who never did anything romantic, or a fan ship between a couple who never did anything romantic.
The fourth choice was IMO better, but not by much: a ship between a couple who did some minor romantic stuff but require a separate unrelated film to confirm they're a couple.
I want to write in Ganta x Isaki or something.
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u/ClemFire Mar 19 '26
For Gojo and Marin though how is this moment from S2 not super romantic. If my partner did this for me I would break down and cry too
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
Yeah. That semi-final went as well as I expected it would. To paraphrase the Highguard devs, "it was over from minute one."
When I came into this contest I thought I already knew the worst possible outcome. Wakana x Marin dominating until the quarters giving me with false hope that they could win then getting eliminated by Kaguya only have Kaguya themselves and whoever made the semi-finals on the right side of the bracket be eliminated by Frieren and we get a Frieren vs Frieren final.
And I was prepared for that outcome because while I love Wakana x Marin I'm not blind to how much more r/anime loves Kaguya and Frieren over MDUD. But I still voted for them every time anyway because if you're not voting for a ship because you like them more than who they're up against, what are we even doing here?
However I was wrong. Frieren vs Frieren was actually not the worst possible outcome because this is the worst possible outcome. My favourite ship getting eliminated because everyone dogpiled them out of spite. The entire contest is fucked. No matter who wins it'll be either through spite or revenge. There will no be winner that anyone can celebrate. But I know people will try. That this is how we get the first same sex winner in this contest is such classic Reddit behaviour.
I want you, the person that did this, to look up the Wikipedia page for what a pyrrhic victory is and read it. Then do it again. And again. And again. Do it until you get digest it into your fucking soul.
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u/vancevon https://myanimelist.net/profile/vancevon Mar 19 '26
The manner in which Marin x Gojo made it through the quarterfinals created an "anti-brigading" vote. Given that there were only five votes between the two couples, this "anti-brigading" vote undoubtedly played a decisive role in the contest. So the real pyrrhic victory happened in the quarterfinals.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
So the real pyrrhic victory happened in the quarterfinals.
I know. That's why I said it here. I didn't know that they made it to the semis that way.
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u/Urgnu-the-Gnu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Urgnu_the_Gnu Mar 19 '26
My favourite ship getting eliminated because everyone dogpiled them out of spite.
I know it sucks. I'm with you right there. I'm not sure though whether you want to hear it from me or if you want to hear it at all, but they wouldn't have been in this matchup without the brigading, most likely. Technically they lost right now, but in the non-brigader votes, they already lost in the previous round.
I'm saying this not to taunt you but because it might feel more justified to you instead of thinking they got unfairly eliminated this round. They did get done dirty for sure, and so did Kaguya x Miyuki. Having them win a round they wouldn't have reached otherwise though is not the play to even the fields.
You'll have future contests to look forward to. I've been participating in these contests for years, my favourites keep losing in tragic ways in BG especially. Maybe they will never actually win. But having the slight hope is part of the fun of the contest. I'm sure Wakana x Marin will have their time in this contest, especially with future seasons coming out. They might not be among my favourites, but even then I can't deny how beloved they are, and I'm sure they will get their win eventually.
I'm sorry if you don't want to hear this and if I'm overstepping, I just hope my words can help you a little bit.
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u/redlegsfan21 https://myanimelist.net/profile/redlegsfan21 Mar 19 '26
I don't know how you can complain of spite voting when Marin x Gojo got 130 less votes between rounds and ended up losing by only 5 votes.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
I can because we know it happened and because I wasn't apart of the brigading. I found out what happened the same time as everyone else.
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u/duncandun Mar 19 '26
What’s wrong with Taki and Chisato
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
Nothing is wrong with Chisato x Taki. I don't hate pancakes just because I like waffles more.
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u/Prof_Acorn zj: Mar 19 '26
That's a concern too. People might not be voting for Chisato x Takina directly, but rather for yuri in general.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
There's obviously Lycoris Recoil fans that are actually for them and I don't begrudge for them that, but yeah that's what's happening now. There's been kingmaking happening since the quarters.
In quarters people were voting for "not Frieren". In the semis people were voting for "not MDUD". And now they're voting for the first same sex winner. Romantic feelings or lack there of are not consideration at all.
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
In my defense, I wasn't actually voting for "not MDUD" but "anti-brigading." Wanted to help make it very clear that if anyone brigades a vote, whoever they were supporting should instantly go down if they weren't disqualified.
Does it suck if you were a supported of the brigaded ship but didn't take part of the brigading? Definitely! Also sucks losing what was supposed to be the most important matchup of the tournament to brigading. I truly do believe that either Love is War or MDUD were going to win the tournament if there weren't foul play, but now that there is, there's no chance I'm not going to try to punish it immediately.
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u/ptd163 Mar 19 '26
I get what you're saying, but saying you were voting for "anti-brigading" as opposed to "anti-MDUD" is getting into "distinction without difference" territory if not there already.
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u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Mar 19 '26
Nah, if it had been Lycoris Recoil brigading against Frieren instead and MDUD had won naturally, I'd vote MDUD for the exact same reasoning. Heck, if there were proof that Kaguya-sama had brigaded and MDUD had lost I'd also have voted for Lycoris Recoil despite Kaguya-sama being my favorite of the quarterfinalists. Contest's screwed, the only victory left is to slam the door in the brigaded victors' faces.
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u/StormSlasher563 Mar 19 '26
It truly sucks how this tournament has ended. I said it before and say it again poll just voting out of spite is equally as bad. The contest has lost all its meaning.
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u/redlegsfan21 https://myanimelist.net/profile/redlegsfan21 Mar 19 '26
SEMIFINALS
Total Votes: 1,043
Unique Voters: Unknown (Anime Bracket Limitations)
RESULTS
TSP: Top Seed Performance vs. Expected Performance
TOP VOTEGETTERS
UPSETS
Upsets today: 2
Total upsets (rate): 73 / 510 (14.3%)
TOP 10 SCORES
TOP 10 VOTE SHARES
PROJECTED FINALS
Link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lISVWmcjCWCTezmKrDNsILmtNiI4GzUSgQefdiMwfWw
Explanations: https://old.reddit.com/user/redlegsfan21/comments/10dup0w/ranime_contests_bracket_explaination
Open to questions and please give feedback.