Massively voting for a minor character in an official popularity poll is a tradition the anime community knows well. Doing it by buying 900 issues of Weekly Shonen Jump and then posting it online is where it gets complicated. A YouTuber specializing in One Piece content did exactly that: publicly revealed they bought 900 copies of the magazine to accumulate 9,000 votes for Namur, a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, in the second WT100, the manga’s global character popularity poll.

The mechanics, the intention, and why the execution caused the problem

The WT100 allows voting in two ways: via web, where each vote counts as one point, and via postcards included in magazines or collected volumes, where each counts as ten points. Physically buying hundreds of magazines to maximize postcard votes is technically within the rules. The problem wasn’t what the YouTuber did, but that they published it.

Many observers noted that documenting and publicly sharing the purchase of 900 magazines shifted the focus from the character to the voter themselves. The most repeated criticism was that the gesture, presented as a way to give visibility to an obscure character, ended up being more about the YouTuber’s visibility. Some compared it to a previous popularity poll for Nisekoi, where an anonymous voter from Chiba Prefecture, known as “Y-san”, supposedly cast a massive number of votes for a character without publicizing anything or seeking recognition. That case is often cited as an example of pure fan dedication, and the comparison wasn’t favorable for the YouTuber.

The reactions were largely negative. Most comments expressed discomfort with what they perceived as manipulating the poll for personal attention rather than genuine love for the character. Some also pointed out that such high-profile actions could affect how future official polls are perceived or designed.

The WT100 (World Top 100) is the second global character popularity poll for One Piece organized by Shueisha. The first, held in 2021 for the manga’s 100th volume, was notable for massive international fan participation, which unexpectedly pushed characters like Nami and Nico Robin to high positions. The new edition allows combining web and postcard votes, opening the door to strategies like the one executed by this YouTuber. Namur is a member of the Whitebeard Pirates’ squad with little presence in the manga, making his inclusion in such campaigns somewhat logical within the fan tradition of giving visibility to characters sidelined by the main narrative.

Do you think mass-voting for a minor character is an act of love for the manga, or does it only make sense if done quietly, like Y-san?