When we publish anime corner’s rankings, the voting has already been through automated checks and a final manual review by our team. We examine repeated voting, look into suspicious patterns, and invalidate ballots identified during that review. The Summer 2026 results already announced went through this process as well.
For Summer 2026, we wanted to share more about that work: which polls had the highest invalidation rates, which options appeared on those ballots, and how the patterns differed. Week 10 had the highest recorded weekly ballot invalidation rate, while Week 11’s invalidated selections were much more concentrated around a particular anime.
No public voting system is perfect. We take spam seriously, and we want the community to have a clearer view of how we review voting before announcing results, including what we can and cannot establish from the available records.
The voting-integrity percentages below reflect the recorded invalidations, rather than every spam attempt made during the season.
What the percentages mean
A ballot is a record of participation in an individual poll. Depending on the poll, it can include selections for multiple anime, characters, songs, or other nominees. Someone participating in different polls leaves a separate ballot in each, so ballots should not be read as unique people across the season.
We use two different percentages in this article:
- Ballots invalidated: the share of ballots in the available review records that were invalidated. The comparison includes both invalidated ballots and those that remained accepted in the named poll or scope.
- Share of invalidated selections: an option’s share of all recorded selections on invalidated ballots in the named poll or scope, including selections for options not individually listed.
The title and nominee breakdowns describe selections on invalidated ballots. They do not identify who submitted those ballots or establish responsibility by fans or creators.
For example, Mushoku Tensei accounted for 81.18% of Week 11’s invalidated selections. That does not mean 81.18% of all votes for Mushoku Tensei were invalidated.
The anime and other nominees remained eligible. Ballots and their selections were invalidated, rather than the options being disqualified.
Percentages are rounded, so complete breakdowns may differ slightly from 100%.
How recordkeeping changed during the migration
During Summer 2026, we moved from our old polls platform to a revamped system with more features. We also strengthened the spam checks to take additional signals into account when reviewing suspicious activity.
Moving the voting data was a substantial part of that transition. Earlier in the season, we generally removed spam records and kept review notes manually. From Week 10, we began keeping detailed invalidation records within the revamped platform so we could track the activity and share a more complete review with the community.
The detailed ballot history for Weeks 1–7 is unavailable in the records used for this report, and the migration-period records do not provide a complete invalidation history for the earlier weeks. Those polls still had spam filters and pre-publication review; what changed was how we kept the information behind that work.
Re:ZERO, Mushoku Tensei, Though I Am an Inept Villainess, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime were also competing near the top of the earlier weekly rankings. That describes the competition in the results; it does not establish how much voting was invalidated or who submitted suspicious ballots.
The detailed weekly analysis below therefore covers Weeks 10–12. We cannot assign comparable invalidation percentages to earlier weeks from the records available, or use this report to measure a season-long increase or decrease in spam.
Going forward, we plan to keep this review information within the platform through at least the end of each season. That will help us follow the voting signals we review and share findings with the community more consistently.
The weekly polls showed different patterns
The available records for Weeks 10–12 show differences in both the proportion of ballots invalidated and how their selections were distributed across titles.
| Weekly poll | Ballots invalidated |
|---|---|
| Week 10 | 62.06% |
| Week 11 | 33.75% |
| Week 12 | 56.10% |
Week 10 had the highest recorded ballot invalidation rate in this comparison. Week 11 had a lower rate, but its invalidated selections were concentrated around fewer titles. Week 12’s selections were more widely spread.
| Weekly poll | Leading three options’ combined share of invalidated selections | Other options |
|---|---|---|
| Week 10 | 58.55% | 41.45% |
| Week 11 | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| Week 12 | 44.38% | 55.62% |
In Week 10, the most frequently recorded options were Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 at 40.77%, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 at 10.45%, and Though I Am an Inept Villainess at 7.33% of that week’s invalidated selections.
In Week 11, Mushoku Tensei represented 81.18%, Yoroi-Shinden Samurai Troopers Part 2 12.30%, and Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 6.52%. These options accounted for all recorded invalidated selections in that poll.
In Week 12, the leading options were Mushoku Tensei at 21.72%, Though I Am an Inept Villainess at 11.58%, and Re:ZERO at 11.08%. More than half of that week’s invalidated selections were spread across other titles.
These figures describe what appeared on invalidated ballots. They do not establish who submitted them, implicate the fans of those titles, or measure how much valid support each anime received. The differences between weeks also show why a ballot invalidation rate and a title’s share of invalidated selections need to be read separately.
The seasonal voting round had a broader distribution
The seasonal voting round, the final AOTS poll that contributes 55% to our weighted Anime of the Season ranking, had a ballot invalidation rate of 49.79%. Weekly results contribute the remaining 45%.
The 49.79% figure describes the share of ballots invalidated within that seasonal voting round, not a share of the final weighted result.
The leading options by their share of invalidated selections in this round were:
| Option | Share of the seasonal voting round’s invalidated selections |
|---|---|
| Though I Am an Inept Villainess | 13.82% |
| Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia | 13.33% |
| Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 | 11.22% |
| Saga of Tanya the Evil II | 8.68% |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 | 7.41% |
| Other options | 45.54% |
The leading three titles together accounted for 38.37% of invalidated selections. Compared with Week 11, the seasonal round’s selections were spread much more widely across the nominees, despite its high ballot invalidation rate.
Which side categories had the highest invalidation rates
The side categories are separate polls. Their ballots do not form part of the main Anime of the Season scoring formula.
Best Supporting Female Character had the highest side-category ballot invalidation rate at 33.94%, narrowly ahead of Best Female Character at 33.92%. The highest recorded rates were:
| Side-category poll | Ballots invalidated |
|---|---|
| Best Supporting Female Character | 33.94% |
| Best Female Character | 33.92% |
| Best Female Seiyuu | 31.46% |
| Best Ending Theme Song | 30.86% |
| Best World Building | 30.20% |
| Best Fantasy | 29.63% |
Other categories had much lower recorded rates. Best Opening Theme Song was 0.87%, Best Ship or Couple 1.28%, Best Romance 1.64%, and Best Comedy 2.04%. Best Music and Best Original had no currently invalidated ballots in the available records; this does not establish their complete voting history.
Across all side-category polls combined, the ballot invalidation rate was 22.46%. This was calculated from the underlying ballot records across those polls, rather than by averaging their individual percentages.
Where side-category invalidated selections were concentrated
The highest ballot invalidation rates and the most concentrated selection patterns appeared in different categories.
Best Female Character’s invalidated selections were led by Kou Reirin at 48.75%, followed by Emilia at 30.79% and Shu Keigetsu at 11.52%. Best Supporting Female Character was led by Leelee at 42.29%, Shaula at 27.30%, and Ram at 27.11%. Each share refers to all invalidated selections in its own category.
Elsewhere, a single option represented a much larger share:
| Category | Leading option on invalidated ballots | Share of invalidated selections | Other options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Adventure | Mushoku Tensei Season 3 | 94.87% | 5.13% |
| Best Animation | Mushoku Tensei Season 3 | 91.48% | 8.52% |
| Best Ending Theme Song | “Houkiboshi” by Rokudenashi | 90.71% | 9.29% |
| Best Action | Re:ZERO Season 4 | 90.62% | 9.38% |
| Best Male Character | Subaru Natsuki | 87.07% | 12.93% |
| Best Supporting Male Character | Julius Juukulius | 80.60% | 19.40% |
Best Adventure is a useful example of the distinction. Its ballot invalidation rate was 19.05%, but Mushoku Tensei accounted for 94.87% of the invalidated selections within that poll. Best Animation showed a similarly concentrated distribution, despite its lower ballot invalidation rate of 17.88%.
A recurring pattern also appeared in categories where Re:ZERO and Mushoku Tensei were both nominees:
| Category | Re:ZERO Season 4 and Mushoku Tensei Season 3 combined share of invalidated selections | Other options |
|---|---|---|
| Best Voice Cast | 97.70% | 2.30% |
| Best Fantasy | 97.40% | 2.60% |
| Best Drama | 97.39% | 2.61% |
| Best World Building | 97.29% | 2.71% |
| Best Soundtrack | 96.53% | 3.47% |
| Best Character Design | 96.42% | 3.58% |
| Best Storytelling | 96.27% | 3.73% |
These categories shared a similar concentration around the same anime options. The aggregate figures do not establish whether the same individuals submitted ballots across them, or whether the activity was coordinated.
Best Male Seiyuu showed a different pattern again. Sugita Tomokazu, Yusuke Kobayashi, Takuya Eguchi, and Kengo Kawanishi had individual shares ranging from 23.57% to 24.86% of that poll’s invalidated selections. Together, they represented 96.34%, leaving 3.66% for other options. The concentration was spread relatively evenly across those leading nominees.
The broader seasonal picture
Across the seasonal voting round and all side categories, Re:ZERO Season 4 represented 18.82% of invalidated selections and Mushoku Tensei Season 3 represented 18.68%. Together, their share was 37.49%, calculated before rounding. Weekly polls are excluded from this comparison.
This aggregation follows the same anime option across the different polls where it appeared. It does not automatically combine an anime with its characters, songs, or voice actors, so it should not be read as a franchise total.
It also measures the distribution of invalidated selections, rather than the percentage of each anime’s own selections that were invalidated. A title can appear frequently in this comparison because it appears in several categories and has more opportunities to be selected.
None of these distributions identifies who submitted the invalidated ballots. The presence of an anime, character, song, or performer on those ballots is not evidence of wrongdoing by its fans or creators.
An option can appear on invalidated ballots and still win
An option appearing frequently on invalidated ballots can also have substantial valid support. That is why an invalidated-selection table should never be treated as a reason to dismiss a nominee’s result.
The Summer 2026 side categories provide examples:
| Category | Pattern among invalidated selections | Winner in our announced results |
|---|---|---|
| Best Adventure | Mushoku Tensei Season 3 represented 94.87% | Mushoku Tensei Season 3 |
| Best Male Character | Subaru Natsuki represented 87.07% | Subaru Natsuki |
| Best Supporting Male Character | Julius Juukulius represented 80.60% | Julius Juukulius |
| Best Supporting Female Character | Leelee led with 42.29% | Shaula |
| Best Female Seiyuu | Aoi Yuki led with 32.83% | Rie Murakawa |
| Best Ending Theme Song | “Houkiboshi” represented 90.71% | “Rasen” by 9Lana |
| Best Action | Re:ZERO Season 4 represented 90.62% | Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity |
| Best Animation | Mushoku Tensei Season 3 represented 91.48% | Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity |
Mushoku Tensei accounted for 94.87% of Best Adventure’s invalidated selections and was also the announced winner after the review. Its presence on invalidated ballots did not mean its valid support should be dismissed.
In Best Supporting Female Character, Leelee was the most frequently selected option on invalidated ballots, while Shaula won the category. In Best Female Seiyuu, Aoi Yuki led the invalidated selections, while Rie Murakawa won.
The song categories offer another example. “Houkiboshi” accounted for 90.71% of Best Ending Theme Song’s invalidated selections, while “Rasen” was the announced winner. Similarly, Re:ZERO led Best Action’s invalidated selections and Mushoku Tensei led Best Animation’s, while Bleach won both categories.
Those differences do not establish that invalidation changed a winner. The table compares selections on invalidated ballots with our announced results; it is not a before-and-after ranking.
There is no basis here for blaming a fandom or treating a winner as undeserving. Our review concerns voting activity, and selections removed during that process do not invalidate the genuine support an option received.
What the recorded country information showed
A separate demographic review showed differences in the country fields recorded on invalidated ballots. In the weekly review covering Weeks 10–12, Germany was the most common known country label. Across the seasonal voting round and side categories together, Iraq was the most common known label, followed by Germany.
The country profiles also looked similar in several side categories, including Best Fantasy, Best Drama, and Best World Building, where Iraq and Germany were the most frequently recorded known labels. Some ballots had no recognized country value, so the known-country entries do not describe the whole distribution.
These are recorded location labels, not verified information about the people behind the ballots. Tor or proxy connections may affect the location recorded. The labels cannot establish someone’s residence or nationality, link the activity to a fandom, or show how likely voting from a particular country was to be invalidated.
How voting is reviewed before publication
We want voting in anime corner’s polls to be easy to join. Keeping public polls open without requiring registration also means we need to keep a close eye on attempts to vote repeatedly or automate participation. That review is part of preparing the results for publication.
Our polls use automated limits, blocking, and duplicate checks, supported by community monitoring and our team’s manual analysis. Some attempts are blocked before a ballot is recorded. Others are identified during review and invalidated, so they do not contribute to the published results. The percentages in this article describe those recorded invalidations, rather than every attempt our safeguards addressed.
For Summer 2026, we took a stricter approach to the campaign patterns we identified. We reviewed repeated voting from the same IP address and recurring patterns across changing addresses, including selections for the same option arriving at consistent intervals. When our team identified a campaign signature, we invalidated the ballots linked to that pattern.
Our team also observed that much of the suspected bot activity appeared to involve the Tor network. That observation comes from our review, not from the aggregate percentages in this article. Tor use alone does not establish abuse, and an IP address does not identify who submitted a ballot; the recurring voting behaviour was what warranted examination.
Before results are published, our team performs a final manual review. The top 10 receives particular scrutiny, and that analysis regularly extends to other positions as well. The Summer 2026 results went through these checks before publication.
Why we are sharing this review
The invalidated activity described here was excluded from the results. Sharing it lets readers see more of the work that happens before a ranking is announced: identifying suspicious patterns, reviewing them, and removing the ballots linked to them.
No public voting system can promise perfect detection. We will keep making repeated and automated voting harder, reviewing the patterns we find, and improving our checks as those patterns change. Our commitment is to keep doing that work before publication and to share what the records can reliably tell us.
To everyone who votes each week, follows the rankings, or flags something that deserves a closer look: thank you. These polls are a way for the community to share what it loves. We want the care we put into reviewing them to be as clear as the results themselves.
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