Controversy over Spon Award rulings
CONTROVERSIAL: Anime series Free! pipped contender Attack on Titan for the Anime of the Year award at yesterday’s 7th Spon Awards.
Alston, CA, Dec 22 – Controversy has erupted in the MicroWiki community following the judging of the Seventh Spon Awards, with many voicing their disagreement with the decisions made.
The biggest uproar has come with the victory of anime series Free! (see right) over fellow contender Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan, SNK).
The ruling was slammed by opposition leader Nicholas Woode-Smith, who called the decision “fan service” and said that the series was not worthy of the award when compared to SNK.
He also called the series a “shallow animated swimwear magazine” and an opportunity for the creator to “make money from horny teenage girls”, and said SNK‘s ability to provoke deep emotion should have given it the title.
The Daikoku Federation called on Sirocco to label whoever made the decision to be labelled a Communist and purged from the country.
Premier Daniel Anderson, who was one of the judging panel, said to media this morning that Minister of Culture Elizabeth Pountney had made the call on the Anime of the Year award, as she had done for several years, and added that since the uproar began, it had shaken her somewhat.
“I trust Elizabeth’s decision completely. She is far more of an expert in anime than I am, so I am in no position to overrule her decision. She has decided the award for several years now without issue, and I am not going to lambast her for this decision which has proved unpopular with some.”
Pountney issued a brief statement, which said that it had been a “very hard decision” and that she had not meant to upset anyone with the ruling.
This was not enough for Woode-Smith, who said the Anime of the Year award should be decided by a group of people instead.
Further anger was directed at Manhattan Spiritual‘s victory in the Song of the Year category yesterday.
Tianan leader Joseph Puglisi said that “your music is bad and you should feel bad”, while another person asked why Daft Punk’s hit Get Lucky was not the victor.
Anderson said that Manhattan Spiritual had had far more of an effect on Sirocco this year, being played more often than Get Lucky.
The Sirocco Times 
To me, anime looks like a Japanese plot to destroy western society and to impose the will of the Emperor and his cronies. One moment you’re watching anime, the next you’re building a bridge over the river Kwai. But then that’s just me, I think.