Re: Weekly Shonen Jump [2011] - Discussion and TOC Talk - Part 2
St&rs and Sengoku do not make for very good proof that the TOC begins reflecting fan polls at chapter nine, rather than eight. That each dropped to the bottom five at nine chapters or later only proves that to small a sample size was used. There are many examples of manga that fell from a seemingly fixed position to the bottom five after eight or fewer chapters. Meister, from early 2009 is a good example, as is 2008's Chagecha. The former collapsed after eight chapters, and was canceled after ten. Chagecha was in the bottom five by chapter seven, and canceled an issue later after eight chapters. At the other extreme, Toriko was placed in the top five by the editors, and did not leave for a year.
Furthermore the data for St&rs and Sengoku do not agree, each falling to the bottom five at a different point in serialization. Sengoku as early as chapter nine (reflecting chapter 2), and St&rs at chapter 12 (reflecting chapter 5). With each dropping after a different length of time, does this prove that there is a single, unquestionable amount of time before the TOC reflects the polls? No, it does not. All that it shows is that it takes some series longer to fall than others, if a series falls at all. It is quite possible, even likely, for a new series to grab reader attention, and poll well for a few weeks, only for interest in subsequent chapters to wain. Using Sengoku as an example, chapter one may have garnered a lot of attention and polled fairly well. But by chapter 2 interest was gone, and polls plummeted. Thus chapter 8 was relatively high in the TOC, indistinguishable from editorial placement, while chapter 9 reflected the loss in interest. A series like St&rs was able to maintain interest a couple of chapters longer, only to suffer the same fate a little later on. Meister and Chagecha would then be examples of series that fans rejected from the beginning. It would be realistic to think that something new would garner a bit of interest, only for the novelty to wear off soon thereafter.
In the case of Nisekoi it is highly unlikely that the editors will place it at number four after eight issues, only to drop it significantly the next issue. After eight weeks the editors have enough of an idea of fan response not to place an unpopular new series in the top five. It certainly could plummet after a few weeks, but it is a guarantee that it will rank very high next week as well: likely in the top seven. This we do have proper data for. There are almost no examples of a title placed in the top five by the editors only to drop to the bottom five by the ninth issue.
The fact that it takes 8 chapters for the TOC to reflect poll results has been well known since at least 2006. The source was whomever posted the TOC to 2CH at the time. While occasionally questioned the meaning of "8 chapters ago" is fairly straight forward: TOC position of chapter 8 reflects the poll results for chapter 1. There is no chapter zero, so 8 - 8 = an invalid number. As chapter one is beginning of time for any manga it has to be counted when counting to chapter 8.
I suggest rereading the quote from OP before assuming that chapters 2 - 8 are not ranked. The quote actually contradicts itself, also stating that the TOC reflects "popularity of 8 chapter ago." If the TOC does not reflect fan polls until chapter 9, that would mean the TOC does not reflect "popularity of 8 chapter ago", but popularity of nine chapters ago. Furthermore, what does it mean that chapters 2 - 8 are not ranked, why is chapter one left off? Chapter 1 is the only chapter that is obviously, definitively, not ranked. It is always first, with the exception of new gag manga like Pakki. Given the discrepancy one can glean that errors were made when making the quoted post and it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.Ah. So in other words there's room for debate, and instead of erring on the side of caution, some people are choosing to err on the side of possibly premature celebration.
Seeing as we've got cases like Sengoku Armors where it was doing well in the mid range at chapter 8, and tanked at chapter 9, or ST&RS, where it got a color page at chapters 7 and 11, and proceeded to tank very hard at 12, I think I'll err on the side of caution and assume Nisekoi is not ranked yet.
St&rs and Sengoku do not make for very good proof that the TOC begins reflecting fan polls at chapter nine, rather than eight. That each dropped to the bottom five at nine chapters or later only proves that to small a sample size was used. There are many examples of manga that fell from a seemingly fixed position to the bottom five after eight or fewer chapters. Meister, from early 2009 is a good example, as is 2008's Chagecha. The former collapsed after eight chapters, and was canceled after ten. Chagecha was in the bottom five by chapter seven, and canceled an issue later after eight chapters. At the other extreme, Toriko was placed in the top five by the editors, and did not leave for a year.
Furthermore the data for St&rs and Sengoku do not agree, each falling to the bottom five at a different point in serialization. Sengoku as early as chapter nine (reflecting chapter 2), and St&rs at chapter 12 (reflecting chapter 5). With each dropping after a different length of time, does this prove that there is a single, unquestionable amount of time before the TOC reflects the polls? No, it does not. All that it shows is that it takes some series longer to fall than others, if a series falls at all. It is quite possible, even likely, for a new series to grab reader attention, and poll well for a few weeks, only for interest in subsequent chapters to wain. Using Sengoku as an example, chapter one may have garnered a lot of attention and polled fairly well. But by chapter 2 interest was gone, and polls plummeted. Thus chapter 8 was relatively high in the TOC, indistinguishable from editorial placement, while chapter 9 reflected the loss in interest. A series like St&rs was able to maintain interest a couple of chapters longer, only to suffer the same fate a little later on. Meister and Chagecha would then be examples of series that fans rejected from the beginning. It would be realistic to think that something new would garner a bit of interest, only for the novelty to wear off soon thereafter.
In the case of Nisekoi it is highly unlikely that the editors will place it at number four after eight issues, only to drop it significantly the next issue. After eight weeks the editors have enough of an idea of fan response not to place an unpopular new series in the top five. It certainly could plummet after a few weeks, but it is a guarantee that it will rank very high next week as well: likely in the top seven. This we do have proper data for. There are almost no examples of a title placed in the top five by the editors only to drop to the bottom five by the ninth issue.
The fact that it takes 8 chapters for the TOC to reflect poll results has been well known since at least 2006. The source was whomever posted the TOC to 2CH at the time. While occasionally questioned the meaning of "8 chapters ago" is fairly straight forward: TOC position of chapter 8 reflects the poll results for chapter 1. There is no chapter zero, so 8 - 8 = an invalid number. As chapter one is beginning of time for any manga it has to be counted when counting to chapter 8.