kanji tier list (1-300)

this would make more sense if i'd actually kept up on kklc and had a more recent milestone to celebrate but OH WELL

Content warning: 1,000% making shit up. The better the bait the funnier this post will be in three years

I have elected to use my newfound powers for evil.

The theory of kanji tiers is several-fold:

• Does it express itself with excellence?
• Is its composition balanced?
• Is its meaning worthy?
• Does it intrigue or delight?

This is vaguely what I'm considering when I make the snap judgment. After rating everything, I took a pass through to try to even the tiers just a bit. (There was originally going to be an F-tier, but upon review no kanji so inspired my rancor as to merit a position in F-tier.)

Without further ado, go, my tierlist!

D-tier

We begin at the bottom, for dramatic effect.

Here in D-tier, I may find these kanji finicky or inelegent. Of the simpler kanji, they may seem uninspired or tepid. These kanji may seem inessential or superfluous.

Selected kanji in D-tier:

• 「九 」、「丸」 I find this shape overused, with these the least impressive of the lot.
• 「刀」 I was frankly disappointed when I learned this was the kanji for SWORD.
• 「首」 The top two strokes of this kanji irritate me a bit.

C-tier

In C-tier, these kanji suffice. They may capture the essence of their meaning without best expressing it, or they may seem "fitted" to their meanings without any great inspiration. More complex kanji in this tier may interest in their composition at times, but usually with some slight awkwardness.

Selected kanji in C-tier:

• 「一」、「二」、「三」 Despite being iconic, I find these kanji slightly rote.
• 「書」、「事」 I find these kanji stumble over themselves.
• 「北」 While as a Mahjong player I am partial to all the compass rose directions, I find this kanji's typical digital rendering to be a bit unpleasant to the eye.
• 「刃」 Much as with 刀 I found this kanji a tad disappointing, but the extra stroke does lend some zest.

B-tier

In B-tier, these kanji often inspire or demonstrate excellence in composition. They may carry visual interest or a certain spark that draws the eye or the mind. Their combinations of radicals or graphemes may please or seem to convey their meanings well. They may stand in the shadow of a marginally superior kanji.

B-tier is the largest tier by a fair margin.

Selected kanji in B-tier:

• 「日」 I find this kanji noteworthy for not placing higher. It lacks a certain something to attain A-tier.
• 「工」 A very solid kanji with good fundamentals, but similarly doesn't have the drive to make A-tier.
• 「話」 Despite 舌 being D-tier, this kanji is able to make B-tier for its composition and intuitive meaning based on its graphemes.

A-tier

In A-tier, these kanji are consistently pleasant to write, read, and interpret. If their meanings do not especially follow, then they are buoyed by a particularly satisfying set of strokes. Many of these kanji are iconic, but may not have the sheer force of personality to make S-tier.

Selected kanji in A-tier:

• 「八」 The highest-rated number kanji. I've always found it striking.
• 「上」、「止」、「正」 Despite their similarities, these kanji are all individually iconic and as a set form an interesting progression.
• 「水」、「形」 On the verge of S-tier, but ever-so-slightly too quotidian.

S-tier

In S-tier, these kanji are second to none. They each delight in turn, capturing their meanings with poise, evoking strong mental images, and demonstrating the heights of the art woven through the kanji.

Selected kanji in S-tier:

• 「血」 As noted in a previous "Kanji of the Day" segment, while I love 皿, the additional stroke and attendant change in imagery puts this one over the top for me.
• 「今」 I did have some debate between this kanji and 令 for S-tier, but I eventually concluded that this kanji's iconic meaning, combined with the awkward multiple renderings of 令 meant this kanji won out.
• 「未」、「末」 Despite raising an eyebrow at these kanji initially, I've come to love them both for their simplicity combined with their abstract meanings and the surprising ease with which they can be distinguished. I think these kanji are a testament to the humanism of the forms that isn't obvious when you're still very early in your learning. (I'm only *early*, not *very early*, tyvm.)

The kanji of the day is 最

• Its Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course keyword is MOST.
• Its readings are もっと, つま, サイ, and シャ.

Coming in at B-tier, this kanji is fun but falls short of its iconic potential for me. (When you are a weeaboo you hear the word 最高 ("best") a lot.) Conning's mnemonic about "the most superlative act is to grab the sun" is similarly good, but only good. Also when you put too many horizontal lines on top of each other I get confused. I suppose 最 is thereby not the 最 of anything, alas.

Appendix

Complete tierlist