This is a new popularity poll that ran in Jan-Feb of 2024. Compare this to the results from the previous manga popularity poll that ran more than a year ago (forget the exact timeframe). From the article:
- Himmel (1,239,533 votes)
- Aura of the Guillotine (1,045,369 votes)
- Fern (864,863 votes)
- Ubel (847,205 votes)
- Frieren (816,279 votes)
- Linie (675,744 votes)
- Stark (587,392 votes)
- Macht of the Golden Land (353,780 votes)
- Solitär (352,524 votes)
- Mimic (341,347 votes)
I tried to track down a more complete list of results, but they are posting just like 2-3 rankings at a time via twitter, and the UI of that site hurts me so much that I can’t be bothered.
Big movers that I can see compared to the previous poll are obviously Aura and Mimic trading spots. I suspect that a large factor in this is that the Aura arc would have ended in the anime not too long before this poll started. The character has inspired a ton of memes/fanart and the conclusion of that arc was done so wonderfully in the anime that it really made an impact.
Linie also jumped way up the rankings, from 34th to 6th. I guess there is just something about a cute girl wielding a giant axe trying to kill you (helps explain the Ubel jump as well I think). Again here, I think that the way the show’s animation really elevated the Linie and Lugner fight helped these characters garner a lot of attention.
A surprise for me was seeing some as of yet manga-only characters still make the list, namely Macht and Solitar. For you anime-onlies, expect these two to show up in a future season 2.
So her popularity surge is basically because the poll results are delayed? That makes a hell of a lot more sense.
I imagine that a newer poll is probably making its rounds right now then, hopefully we’ll get to see the results of it in the coming months. I can’t imagine Aura still being around, at least this high in the rankings. This would’ve been before the headpats and air kiss for Frieren too.