Not every change is going to be met with glowing enthusiasm, an important lesson that the social platformLetterboxdis learning after a recent update. The service’s new eligibility rules for official best-of lists, includingthe Top 250 Narrative Feature Films, are rubbinganimefans the wrong way.
On theLetterboxdsite or app, you can find the Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films List written by David Vis, followed by the criteria to maintain a spot in the rankings. The description of the list reads,“Letterboxd’s Top 250 movies, based on the average weighted rating of all Letterboxd users. I removed all stand-up specials, stage plays, concert films, documentaries, shorts, ‘collection listings’ and other ‘rarities’, so only feature length narrative movies are listed here. Films should have a minimum of 5,000 ratings to be eligible to enter the list.“One recent update is the main bone of contention because it has disqualified the anime filmNeon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelionfrom being on the list because it’s considered a continuation of a show.
“After careful consideration, we decided among several official list makers to removeNeon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelionfrom our official lists. It was already ineligible for the Top 100 Animation and together we decided that was the way we wanted to go for the other official lists as well. One of our joint conclusions is that we don’t want continuations of shows' narratives on our official lists, which is clearly the case here. Sadly for allEvangelionfans (I’m one of them) that means thatEnd of Evangelionwill no longer be eligible for the Official Top 250 (but the rebuild movies are)”
Anime Fans Are Not Happy With Letterboxd
The change was quickly noticed by cinephiles and anime fans, who shared their frustration with the decision onRedditand in various comment sections on Letterboxd. Reddit user RG1997 called the decision “silly” because, as they stated,“The End of Evangelionwas released in theaters as a film, and released on DVD as its own film. The fact that it is a continuation of a TV show is irrelevant.“Another user by the name of SHIIZAAAAAAAA was more pointed with their frustration, saying:
This is bull***t.End of Evangelionis a film with a narrative, not a documentary or a tv series or concert film or other piece of media. By definition, it’s one of the top-rated narrative films. The fact that it requires watching a TV series for context first is irrelevant to that fact.”
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Other users were also quick to suggest that this rule change should, in theory, prevent other popular films from making the cut due to being a continuation of a show. Reddit user Deserterdragon stated,“This presumably makesTwin Peaks: Fire Walk With me,Serenity, andStar Trek:The Wrath of Khanalso permanently ineligible for the list, as well as any MCU movies that require the context of a TV show likeThe MarvelsandCaptain America: New World Order, if they’re being consistent!“Several commenters in the subreddit shared these sentiments as well, suggesting things could get very murky with the change in rules.
Even Jane Schoenbrun, the filmmaker behindI Saw the TV Glow, weighed in on the change:
Seeing how much attention the rule change has gotten, David Vis addressed it in a comment featured below the list, saying he will"write up some more background into our reasoning here when I have some more time.“He goes on to say that these changes aren’t set in stone, so the rules for these rankings may evolve, especially if it leads to more backlash and confusion from movie fans.
“I see there’s quite some discussions going around (understandably!) on reddit and on some of my own comment sections. I’ll write up some more background into our reasoning here when I have some more time! Please know that we didn’t make this decision lightly and by no means it is set in stone. Letterboxd is still a social website for - but definitely also BY - film lovers, so we’re following the discussions with much interest and always stay open minded towards alternative approaches and/or reconsiderations.”
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Released in 1997,The End of Evangelionis a Japanese anime film written by Hideaki Anno and directed by Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki. According to most descriptions, it functions as an alternate ending to the TV seriesNeon Genesis Evangelion, and was developed after the final two episodes polarized fans with their abstract direction. The series aired from 1995 to 1996 andthe film went on to become a huge box-office success and has been regarded as one of the best animated films of all time.
