The polls are closed, the votes are in, and we have a winner for the 2021 AniMarch Madness tournament!

But before I announce it, let me just thank everyone who participated in the tourney. There were some worries this year that it may not get nearly as much play as in the past since Facebook—the primary source of our votes in past years—no longer allows polling through their pages platform. But you all came on strong through our special FB group and other platforms, leading to a few surprises but also pointing toward many of the favorites that Beneath the Tangles readers hold dear no matter which social media outlet you use to engage with us, like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, who reached the finals for the fifth time at an all-time undefeated record of 24-0. They faced off against another series that usually performs well, but was particularly strong this year as it aired its final season—Attack on Titan.

And the winner in the championship match was…

Attack on Titan!

Eren and company were able to take down the Elrics, handing them their first defeat ever. The final vote tally was 214-174, with Attack on Titan grabbing a little more than 55% of the vote. It was a fairly close match, if not down to the wire, though AoT held nearer to a 60/40 split for most of the day on Monday, with FMAB crawling closer overnight. But alas, it wasn’t enough, and we finally have a series that beats the state alchemists (though the series also didn’t win last year, when FMAB was temporarily retired).

Thank you all for joining us during this special event. I can speak for MDMRN and myself when I say we had a lot of fun organizing it, and I hope you had fun participating.

We’ll see you again next year!