Top Posts at New Savanna 19 Mar 23 [& Notes About Why]

Every once in a while I make a post about what’s going on here at New Savanna, though I tend to include action at my Academia page under that tag as well. Back in August of 2019 I took a look at top posts. Back in August of 2013 I took a look at the all-time most popular posts, as of that time. I gave counts for the top 35 posts.

It's time for another look, though I’m not going to survey the top 35. I have something different in mind.

This shows the action from the beginning, in April 2010, to the present:

Notice that big spike there around 2017. I have no idea what’s going on there. Here’s a short post about it.

This is Blogger’s list of the top ten all-time posts:

The counts are off, moreover, when you take a closer look, those really aren’t the top ten. I’ll look at the in a minute.

But let’s take a look at the list as it stands. The top post is about Ninja Scroll. That’s one of the earliest posts I ever did and it has been the top post as long as I’ve been checking. Five more of the top posts are about animation, either Disney or Miyazaki. While I’ve done many posts featuring photos of irises, that particular post has only one photo. It’s a nice photo, but I do not know why it has proven so popular. I assume the popularity of Joe Rogan post is a function of Rogan’s popularity plus Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris (it’s about a well-known fight scene). The Hilary Hahn post is nice, and I believe benefited from being listed over at Marginal Revolution. Finally, we have that old post about what’s popular here. Why’s it so popular?

This table gives more accurate counts for those posts, along with direct links to them. Thus, whereas the Bogger states had Ninja scroll at 138K, the true figure seems to be 142K. Going to the bottom, we have 3.08K for Hilary Hahn vs. 3.59K. But look at the disparity for Pigs in Spirited Away, 3.67K vs. 14.2K. Something’s messed up. I have no idea what, but I decided to do some looking around.

Top Ten Posts at New Savanna

Listed in order according to Blogger’s order and not by “true” count

March 19, 2023

Sex, Power, and Purity in Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll [Rape]

142,091

Secrets of Pink Elephants Revealed

94,000

Horikoshi’s Wife: Affective Binding and Grief in The Wind Rises

54,877

Irises

10,082

Two Rings in Fantasia: Nutcracker and Apprentice

9,435

Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz call “Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris”

6,338

Disney’s Fantasia as Masterpiece

8,236

What’s Popular and Why (April 2011)

5,961

Pigs in Spirited Away

14,212

Hilary Hahn on daydreaming as a mode of practicing music, of priming yourself to go with the flow in performance

3,590

Since animation is by far the post popular topic, I looked at animation posts. I’ve created tables for Miyazaki posts, Disney posts, and other animation.

Most Popular Miyazaki Posts

March 19, 2023

Horikoshi’s Wife: Affective Binding and Grief in The Wind Rises

54,877

Pigs in Spirited Away

14,212

Follow the Acorns: Revealing Totoro

9,326

Miyazaki Notes 2: Castle in the Sky

6,193

Real Dreams: From Seeds to Trees in Totoro

6,876

Miyazaki Notes 2: Castle in the Sky

6,193

Porco Rosso 3: In the Minds of Women

5,626

Most Popular Disney Posts

March 19, 2023

Secrets of Pink Elephants Revealed

94,000

Two Rings in Fantasia: Nutcracker and Apprentice

9,435

Disney’s Fantasia as Masterpiece

8,236

Domestic Tranquility, NOT: Disney’s Pastoral

6,682

American Mythology in Disney’s Dumbo

5,040

Roustabouts, Trains, Elephants, and Crows

4,373

Other Popular Animation Posts

March 19, 2023

Sex, Power, and Purity in Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll [Rape]

142,091

Sakaki Rides a Dolphin

7,256

Samurai Champloo: Graffiti and Baseball in Old Japan

4,745

Porky in Wackyland

4,140

Intimate Enemies: What’s Opera, Doc?

3,739

The Hottest Man in Siam

2,304

I’m particularly pleased the The Hottest Man in Siam has done so well. It’s about a Walter Lantz cartoon, “The Greatest Man in Siam,” which features an amazing dance sequence, two people doing the Lindy to a really hot trumpet solo. The post is mostly screen shots of that dance sequence. It’s hard to find online. The last time I looked I couldn’t find it. But maybe someone’s put it up again.