Desu ex Machina

It’s finally over, and in the end, Taiga stands alone as the undisputed queen of moe. A feat that has been dubbed impossible since last achieved by Suiseiseki, Aisaka Taiga stands supreme and holds both Korea and Japan’s title of moe. It was close all match, with Hirasawa Yui getting off to a fast start but Taiga catching up and wearing her down as the match progressed. After 7 wins, it is all over now. The predictions, speculation, trolling, and crazed fanboy fanaticism are all at an end, for a champion has been declared. frustra will write about the main story (eventually) and you can read it here. For now, though, here are my 10 ten moments from Saimoe 2009.

10. Lucky Star Collapses

The status of Lucky Star in this year’s Saimoe can be summed up with defending champion Hiiragi Kagami’s first round exit to, of all people, Asahina Mikuru. Other characters fared little better, with Takara Miyuki going down in the second round after barely being able to finish off her weak starting group. Iwasaki Minami lost to cannon fodder and Patricia Martin accumulated only 92 votes in their first round matches. No Lucky Star character managed to get past the second round, and with no new anime material in sight, one may believe that this is it for the once dominant series.

9. Maria Finally Wins a Match

Absolute terrible luck has kept Hayate no Gotoku’s starlet Maria with an 0-2 career Saimoe record. In 2007 she lost for Hiiragi Kagami 1161-1356 in the first round, vote totals worthy of being a Saimoe finals. Bad luck struck again when she was paired with Ryuuguu Rena in 2008 and lost again. This year in her opening group was Ryuumonbuchi Touka, again an opponent from a powerful faction with the ability to go deep in the bracket. However, Maria overcame her curse and moved on to the second round for the first time in her career.

8. Hirasawa Yui def. Katsura Hinagiku 953-935

Katsura Hinagiku was on a mission in 2009. With the airing of an acclaimed sequel for Hayate no Gotoku, characters from the show received a much needed power boost for the tournament. After absolutely slaying all competition in the first two rounds, she matched up to Hirasawa Yui. Yui’s 951-935 win over Hina marked the first important win for the fledgling K-ON! series and the close, exciting match showed the world that Group E is serious business.

7. Two Ties in Group G

In an absolutely bizarre turn of events, two of the four round 2 matches in Group G ended in a tie. Haruhi Suzumiya and Eruru tied their match and two days later, Okazaki Ushio and Tainaka Ritsu finished all square. The tie allowed Eruru to navigate the vote split and move into the top 16 at the expense of Haruhi and Yuki, while Mihoko licked her chops and dispatched Ushio and Ritsu in a 3-way match made considerably easier for her. This kind of statistical oddity never happened before and may never happen again.

6. Haramura Nodoka

Haramura Nodoka stunned the world when she beat Sanzenin Nagi 890-874 to win Group H. The epic upset denied Nagi (the author’s favorite character to win) a chance to beat Saki and Nodoka back to back. Nodoka somehow managed to make it all the way to the top 4, after beating Louise.

5. Akiyama Mio’s First Round Exit

When the brackets were released, everyone expected K-ON!’s Akiyama Mio to eat Group B for breakfast. Yours truly even bet his Saimoe writing career on it. Mio’s loss to Minami Kana sent the entire K-ON! series into a tailspin, as Kotobuki Tsumugi and Hirasawa Ui proceeded to lose their first round matches as well. Nakano Azusa barely got by Index and Tainaka Ritsu had trouble with Kijima Saki. It was an upset no one could see coming, accumulated by backlash from Mio-fagging. Apparently, the people who bought 24 Mio figurines could not vote for her 24 times.

4. Group F

The Group F2 finals was a fiery match between Nakano Azusa and Furukawa Nagisa. Nagisa represented the best hope for Clannad this year and her valiant fight was not enought to get by Azunyan. In Group F1, however, Taiga and Ami were in a pinch. They both faced Asahina Mikuru in a round 2 three way match. The setting was nearly perfect for a devastating votesplit giving Mikuru the win. It didn’t happen. Ami and Taiga each amassed more than twice the number of votes as Mikuru as the Toradora girls devastated Mikuru 1413-297. Taiga came out on top by more than 100 votes and would keep running until the show was over.

3. Saki’s Top 16 Record

Saki smashed the record previously set by Rozen Maiden in 2005 and later tied by Clannad in 2008 of 4 girls in the top 16. Saki sent an incredible six girls into the sweet sixteen as the mahjong crew dominated their groups. The powerful faction advanced four girls into the quarterfinals and eventually two more into the semifinals.

2. K-ON!’s Recovery

After Mio’s collapse, K-ON! slowly but steadily got back on its feet. Azusa managed to get into the top 16, but it was the lead characters, the ever-lovable Hirasawa Yui that drove deep into the bracket. Taking down Hinagiku and Minori, she dispatched Amae Koromo and Fukuji Mihoko, two Saki characters in a row (the only girl to ever do so), to reach the finals. After the first round, many thought K-ON! would be the biggest collapse in Saimoe history. In the end, thanks to Yui’s gritty and gutsy run, the series made a great showing the the contest. K-ON! is back next year, so who knows what will happen then.

1. Aisaka Taiga Makes Saimoe History

To claim her title, Taiga had to overcome a vote split from her own series, then beat Maria, then beat Azusa from a resurrected K-ON! faction, then Isumi from the powerful Hayate no Gotoku, then the completely unpredictable Haramura Nodoka. Finally, on October 17th she defeated K-ON! ace Hirasawa Yui to claim her second major saimoe title of the year.

For those who can't read: Red line is Taiga, blue line is Yui

Kugimiya Rie finally wins her first Saimoe title, as does J.C. Staff. Taiga is the first girl to hold both Korea Best Moe and Saimoe Japan since 2006, when Korea Best Moe was first founded. Suiseiseki’s “Saimoe Slam” might be more feasible as KBM was not considered a huge deal in its inaugural year. Now, Korea Best Moe is undoubtedly a major saimoe title, and for Taiga to carry such prestige into Japan and still win is unprecedented.

That concludes Desu Ex Machina’s coverage of the 2009 Anime Saimoe Tournament. Thanks everybody for reading! I’ll see you all next year.

(fanart courtesy fictional sister and nanakiro)

Today I just feel like posting something so here are random thoughts about stuff.

kevo at work

Finished Sora no Manimani last night, and I liked it. Koharubi final released the last episode after a few years of waiting. I wanted to review it but I didn’t really feel that I had any opinions on the show that others didn’t already state. If you want to read a review on it, I recommend checking out Kholdstare’s review of the show. It’s well written and basically tells you everything you need to know. Definitely not for everyone, but a good anime none the less.

Somehow I have not been forced to watch Needless when it aired and I blame all of you for it. I started like last night and got up to 4 episodes and I loved it. The first two or three episodes were kinda slow but the show for me is getting good quick. From what I see it’s a great sublime blend of parody with good pacing. I’ll try my best to catch up with the show before it finishes airing.

I’m slow in picking up shows this season, but I might take a look at Yumeiro no Patissiere if I have time because it has cooking and the synopsis of the show contains “spirit of the sweets”. Taiga vs. Yui in Saimoe Japan finals; exactly what I wanted. I’ll be posting again once the winner is decided. But if you don’t want to wait, check out Lunatic Antics or Micchi’s blog for some more info about the match itself.

I’ve started watching Hajime no Ippo again recently. It’s great stuff, well paced despite being like ten million episodes. It’s fun to watch, but it’s such a marathon. I want to get to the 50th episode soon, however. Watched the first episode of GA Art Design Class the other day and it reminds me of Lucky Star x Sketchbook ~full color’S~. I’ll keep watching, but it had better excite me soon.

Bakemonogatari continues to make bank with DVD sales which it deserves. I can’t wait for the series to continue and I’m looking forward to the stream later this month. The show has done nothing but impress me, especially after a near perfect episode 12. God it sucks writing on writers block. These aren’t paragraphs! I better stop now before my blog post hurts someone. In conclusion here is another picture of Sumomo.

by kevo

for Saimoe Illustrated

SEOUL, Korea — the crowd was deafening and excitement could be felt in every molecule of air on midnight Sunday as Aisaka Taiga triumphed with a razor-thin three vote margin. As Taiga raised the trophy in victory, the roars from the crowd echoed into the Korean night. This was Korea Best Moe, where close matches are the norm, the action is intense, and the votes flow from all corners of the globe. Aisaka Taiga, the tsundere loli from last Fall’s wildly successful Toradora!, has left her mark in saimoe history, but the question is: can she achieve saimoe immorality?

There is little argument that Korea Best Moe is a major saimoe title, with a parade of worthy winners and thousands of voters, KBM is the pride of past champions such as Horo and Hinagiku Katsura. However there is even less argument that Korea Best Moe is second only the very tournament that is synonymous with the word saimoe itself. The tournament that started the saimoe movement. Of course, I am talking about the Anime Saimoe Tournament of Japan, or Saimoe Japan, organized in 2002 held on 2ch every year. Ever since Saimoe Japan started blocking foreign ISPs, Korea Best moe has become a popular alternative. Regardless, Saimoe Japan remains the undisputed king of saimoe contests.

The last and only girl to win both Korea Best Moe and Saimoe Japan in the same year was Suiseiseki in 2006 (no one has won in different years). Many have stated that such a feat would be impossible in the future, given the Saimoe community’s disdain for repeat winners. In fact, Saimoe and KBM champions have seldom come remotely close in Saimoe Japan the past few years –with Horo, last year’s KBM winner, excused in the second round and the defending champion Kagami Hiiragi failing to win her first match. The newly crowned Aisaka Taiga, however, is through to the top four after solidly handling Hayate no Gotoku’s Saginomiya Isumi 812-736 in the round of eight. Does Taiga’s clout carry over from Korea onto moe’s biggest stage? Is enough left in the tank for just two more wins? We shall see in the upcoming week.

Taiga will most likely encounter a lot of Saki for the remainder of her Saimoe campaign. Though Kushieda Minori has done well, I don’t put much weight on Toradora’s faction. I consider her riding solo from her series and taking down factions by herself, Shana style. If wins over Maria and Isumi say anything, I’d say she’s doing pretty well. Despite her success, she has not faced a character from Saki as of yet.  Taiga’s Saki-filled road to the title is a double edged sword. On one hand, Saki is strong as hell, with title hunters like Amae Koromo and Kataoka Yuuki in the field, not to mention a surprisingly strong Haramura Nodoka in the immanent match. But on the other hand is history and huburis. Though the franchise stunned the saimoe world and sent a record six girls into this year’s top 16, this has historically not been a formula for success. The previous holders of this record, Clannad in 2008 and Rozen Maiden in 2005 with 4 of the 16, have both failed to win the title. Many have already noted the potential crippling effect Yuuki and Mihoko’s match could have on Amae’s match against K-ON!’s Hirasawa Yui. Amae winning would mean three of the top four being from Saki. Surely the voters would not want that. Every fanbase in the world would be countervoting Saki. I never thought Kyoto Animation would ever benefit from vote hate, but here it is potentially going to happen.

I believe Taiga’s chances at Saimoe are very good. Haramura Nodoka is probably Saki’s weakest character right now, so Taiga must absolutely take care of business on the 14th, and I predict that she will. If she faces another Saki character in the finals, she must feed off the Saki counter votes combined with her own support. If it turns out to be Yui, which is very likely, than all bets are off and we will have an all-out Saimoe brawl. Regardless, Taiga must nullify or minimize the counter-effect of her Korea title. I predict that if somehow she can make her Korea title work for her instead of against her, Saimoe Japan will be hers for the taking. Much is at stake here. Taiga represents the best chance voice actor Kugimiya Rie has for her first Saimoe title. If she can use everything that is going for her, with a little bit of luck and a lot of support, Aisaka Taiga will become stuff of saimoe legends.

Note: Official art used (as edited) as images except the one of Yui. That one is by 茨乃, whose pixiv account can be found here.

I usually write about Saimoe here, but I thought I’d change it up and throw a quick post up about one of my favorite past-times. The fierce battles, arguments, trolling, complaining on the internet is once again at a fiery maximum as the leaves turn orange. All around the web, the three major saimoe competitions are winding down to their finale. For those of you who don’t follow the most important elections on the internet that closely, or if you just want a quick comprehensive snapshot, here is a rundown of the three biggest contests of moe.

Korea Best Moe: Female Division

Korea’s national moe tournament currently the most progressed of the Big Three. From 1152 characters in the prelims, Korea Best Moe is already down to the top eight, and a packed top eight it is.

Katsura Hinagiku vs. Aisaka Taiga leads off what should be an great year in the always exciting KBM tournament. KBM results are usually extremely close, and I don’t expect this match to be much of an exception. The 2007 champion has to be in top form if she wants to defeat a monster like Taiga. Vote: Hina, Prediction: Hina.

Day two will have Nakano Azusa vs. Hirasawa Ui, a good intra-series matchup. K-ON! has not struggled as dramatically in Korea as it has in Japan, with a pair of girls in the top eight. Intra-series matchups are always hard to predict, as are K-sai matches, so I’ll refrain from a prediction. I’m voting for Azusa, however.

Okazaki Ushio and Horo square off on day three, and you just can’t help but feel for the little Clannad starlet. Defending champions face dramatically less stigma than compared to Saimoe Japan, and as evidenced last year, Horo can bring it. However, this is saimoe, and anything can happen. Prediction: Horo, Vote: Ushio.

Finally, Hiiragi Kagami and Nagato Yuki conclude the round of eight. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya does noticeably better in KBM than the AST, even with the advent of Endless Eight. However, Kagami, the defending Saimoe Japan champion, is saimoe pedigree and has had a great run in the Korean tournament to make up for her early exit in Japan this year. I don’t expect her to go home here. Prediction: Kagami, Vote: Kagami.

International Saimoe League Playoffs

The second annual International Saimoe League has had another productive and fruitful regular season. After a few weeks of rest, the playoffs begin tomorrow. First seed Shana will open against Horo in what should be an easy win for the proven saimoe vet. The 8th vs. 9th seed matchup is Kagami vs. Rin and you might as well flip a coin on this one. Suigintou, seeded 5th and fueled by a powerful Rozen Maiden base, should make quick work out of 12th seeded Asahina Mikuru. Fujibayashi Kyou and Suiseiseki, for the same reason, will be a great matchup. I expect Kyou to take care of business despite the power and explosiveness of desu. Third-seeded Sakagami Tomoyo faces a tough and unpredictable Takamachi Nanoha, and I expect this to be close. Though the tournament is double elimination, it is much more favorable to win your first match. Getting bounced into the losers bracket in the first round is like being told to climb Mount Everest from a ditch. Saimoe Korea contenders Nagato Yuki and Aisaka Taiga should keep that in mind if they want any chance at being a sleeper pick. Finally, I’m calling Shinku over Haruhi in an epic 15th seed, 2nd seed upset. I don’t have a visual bracket for you because minty is the most incompetent person ever and his bracket is full of retarded gayness. It’s some kind of a miracle that ISML is still running with someone like him “in charge”. I’ll make one later and edit it into the post.

Double elimination is a long process with various changing factors. In hindsight, many “picks” for who will win the tournament will seem absolutely ridiculous later on. ISML especially has a different dynamic than the other Saimoe tournaments. Regardless, I believe Tomoyo, Shana, Shinku, and Suigintou have good chances at the ISML crown this year. Don’t overlook those sleeper picks like Kagami and Kyou.

Anime Saimoe Tournament (Saimoe Japan)

The biggest stage, of course, I would save for last. As I type, the final two matches of the third round are being decided. After nailing my first six picks of round three, I proceed to miss every single pick except two. Just when I thought predicting Saimoe matches was straightforward. Setting the stage were two bizarre ties in round two, K-ON!’s Hirasawa Yui and Nakano Azusa getting the franchise back into gear, upsetting Katsura Hinagiku and the ever lovable Furukawa Nagisa. Highlighting round 3 so far is Kataoka Yuuki’s 878-384 domination of Hoshina Utau, Aisaka Taiga convincing win over Maria, and Eruru navigating the split advancing over Suzumiya Haruhi and Nagato Yuki. When Haramura Nodoka burned ef’s Miyamura Miyako 741-308, Saki officially made Saimoe history. It is the first show to send five girls into the top 16 in a single Saimoe Japan tournament. The previous two shows to send 4 girls to the dance were Clannad in 2008 and Rozen Maiden in 2005. Fukuji Mihoko has a chance to make it six if she takes care of business over Ritsu and Ushio, and Saki herself has a chance to make it a ridiculous seven if she can get past a tough Sanzenin Nagi.

This year is a great chance for Kugimiya Rie to win her first Saimoe title, as Yuuki looks primed to go deep into the bracket. I expect Nagi to beat Saki and go very far into the races (dare I say win it?). Aisaka Taiga, given a good draw, also has an outside chance into the top four. Now that K-ON! has seemingly recovered from its slumber, Yui and Azu-nyan are dangerous contenders, as is Ritsu if she wins her match. Amae Koromo has shown her ability to overpower Hayate no Gotoku characters with sparkling wins over Izumi and Sakuya in earlier rounds. I expect many Saki matchups in the top eight, and what should be a very interesting tournament this year.

(no pictures this time because kevo is feeling extremely lazy and the final episode of Saki is out)

Hello, everyone. Thank you for tuning into ESPN Classic for the world premier of kevo’s new groundbreaking series Profiles in Moe. Here we will look back through the years at the careers of the greatest legends and biggest stars of Saimoe fame. Today, in 2009, the ninth iteration of the prestigious Anime Saimoe Tournament of Japan is underway. It hardly seems so long ago when Kinomoto Sakura because the first character crowned with anime’s most prestigious title of moe. So much has changed since then, as the tournament’s popularity has spiraled into epic proportions. Regardless of the changes, Saimoe is and shall always remain the most serious business. Join me this week as we look back at Furude Rika’s career in Saimoe Japan from her debut in 2006 to present day.

Part One: Baptism by Fire

On August 16th, 2006 Furude Rika made her Saimoe debut. In their first year of competition, the Higurashi girls were in high hopes and had expectations to meet. At this point, the first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni was still airing and entering its late stages.  Sonozaki Mion and Ryuuguu Rena was already through after winning their first matches, and now here in group C Rika’s turn came. Soundly defeating her opponents Mishima Touko and Skuld, she moved on to a date against Minamoto Chiharu in the next round.

“It was in no way an easy draw, even for the girl that was supposed to be “the powerhouse” of the Higurashi franchise. Chiharu was a favorite to take the whole tournament, no one really thought it was going to even be close. She sure surprised all of us, but in the end, it Oyashiro-sama was just a few votes short.” -Bob Ley, ESPN.

Minamoto Chiharu would end up going deep into the tournament, winning group C. Losing just 684-645, it was a crushing disappointment for Higurashi’s brand new fanbase. But a new day will dawn for Rika, and soon she will be the one with the last laugh.

Part Two: All the World’s a Stage

“The pieces were there. The Higurashi franchise matured beautifully since the 2006 contest, with a memorable conclusion and another season already airing when the contest started. Higurashi became the anime that everyone was talking about, that everyone knew, even if you didn’t watch it you at least knew about the characters. That’s what makes Saimoe dynasties.” -Keith Olbermann, NBC Sports

“We didn’t really know what to expect after seeing Rika’s first round draw. Nia was fresh from the hottest show of the season, and Hiiragi Miki was a Lucky Star girl. Yeah Rika was the favorite but she had to prove herself, she had to prove that she was a contender.” -Chiharu, Saimoe Illustrated

Furude Rika started her 2007 campaign by winning her first match running away, amassing 786 votes over Nia, who was more than 300 votes shy. She got over 700 votes again in the second round, with none of her opponents within 400 votes of her. Finally Rika has proven that she has the form and the power to win on moe’s biggest stage. The first 1v1 opponent of her career was none other than Higurashi co-star Sonozaki Mion, the most successful Higurashi girl from last year, showing up all her compatriots by breaking through to the top 16. The intimidation factor was there, but Rika did not waver. That was then, this is now. 932-571. Rika would then meet Kanon starlet Kurata Sayuri in the Group G Finals, winning handily 939-789, vaulting her into the top eight.

“Louise was pure Kugumiya Rie tsundere loli moeblob, bred from the same proud genealogy as Shana. Sanzenin Nagi was also tearing through the tournament with ease, and a Kugumiya Rie voice actor showdown was on everyone’s minds. Until now, Rika has put up flashy wins, but not against characters like Louise’s pedigree. We were expecting a third round KO, But I didn’t expect it to be in Rika’s favor.” -Juice, International Saimoe League

“If you said Rika by 200 people woulda thought you was crazy. By the end of that night, there were a lot confused normal folks and a few crazy rich mofuckers” -Evander Holyfield, Former World Heavyweight Champion

Rika was not merely defeating opponents, she was dominating them. But she would show her ability in the clutch with a close 1372-1367 win over Shinku, setting up the stage for the most anticipated Saimoe match of the year. Sanzenin Nagi slaughtered Rika’s fellow Higurashi girl Ryuuguu Rena in the semifinals, and now she was looking for title of Higurashi killer. Furude Rika has already proven her ability to counter the power of Kugyuu tsunderes. One more win was all Rika needed to wipe away the bitter memories of the second round loss a year ago. One more win was all Rika needed to make Yukari Tamura the only voice actor with two Saimoe titles. One more win was all Rika needed to achieve moe immortality.

Part Three: Twenty Two

“It was the dream match. On par with Ali vs. Frazier, Arnie vs. Jack, Federer vs. Nadal, USA vs. Russia. Every little bit of mystique, every little difference and similarity added to the excitement of the match. It was more than Rika vs. Nagi, it was Hayate vs. Higurashi, Kugiyima Rie vs. Tamura Yukari, blonde hair vs. blue hair. It was a pure showdown.” -Kholdstare88, Saimoe Illustrated

On the night of November 3rd, 2007, Sanzenin Nagi and Furude Rika battled for the Anime Saimoe Tournament title. 2ch was livid, with traffic coming in from all around the globe. At 5AM Japan Time, Rika held a slim 20 vote advantage over Nagi, who would close the game in the next two hours.

“I wasn’t too worried at that point. There are 24 hours in a day, not 5. I had it all planned out, it was going to be close down to the wire, and one character will explode in the last two hours.” -Seishi, Nagi supporter

They would duel for next ten hours, as a light rain fell over the Kansai region. At around 3:30 PM local time, Rika began to pull away from Nagi, resulting in a 46 vote margin just under two hours later.

“46 votes is not a big deal at all with so much time left, but we knew it was going into the late stages. We were banding together and trying to get the AnimeSuki community to start a push for Nagi. Nagi didn’t let Rika out of her sights all night long, it was pressure and keeping up with the pace.” -frustra, Nagi supporter

As the two contestants entered the final hour, down 60 votes, Nagi mounted a charge that brought her as close to 10 votes of Rika. With tons of momentum and newly found hope, Nagi has turned the match into a whole new contest. Nagi fans around the world were looking forward to a storybook comeback victory. But Rika didn’t see it that way, picking up the pace and reestablishing control as Nagi stagnated for a split second. As Nagi chased Rika to the finish, the world looked on as neither girl relented.

“After Nagi’s charge at the start of the final hour I was able to push my lead back to around 30 and control it for about fifty minutes. This was no blowout, and I don’t think either of us expected a blowout. I knew the entire contest will come down to the last moment, and if I could keep my ground, I was going to win.” -Furude Rika

In the dying minutes of the match, Nagi supporters and Saimoe fans around the world rejoiced as Nagi mounted an inspirational final banzai charge, unbelievably taking the lead with mere minutes remaining. But with the ace up her own sleeve, Rika countered with her own charge, exploding across the 1500 vote barrier and sprinting across the finish to cap off an unbelievable 1521-1499 victory. It was finally over, and on her second attempt, Rika captures the Anime Saimoe Tournament of Japan.

“1521-1499. I tell you, anyone who follows Saimoe to an extent can recite that result. It was the ultimate match to the greatest Saimoe iteration of all time. The 2007 tournament will be remembered in the annals of history, and by no means will Nagi be a mere footnote.” -Chris Mortensen, ESPN

Nagi outvoted Rika 1208-1086 among Japanese voters, but Rika beat Nagi 435-291 among overseas voters. The decisive role of foreign votes, much at the cause of Anime Suki, was a factor inciting tournament administrators to restrict access from overseas IPs in future tournaments. But for now, it was finally Rika’s day in the sun, as the 2007 Anime Saimoe Tournament of Japan Champion.

And there was much rejoicing

Part Four: Later Years

Rika began her title defending campaign in the 2008 contest with a solid win over a relentless Minami Touma. However, in the second round she would fall by a single vote to Touma’s sister Minami Haruka. It is one of the few matches in Saimoe history to ever be decided by one vote. The seemingly invincible Rika was mortal in fact.

The Higurashi no Naku Kori Ni franchise is a rare franchise that allows its characters to participate in four Saimoe tournaments. With the conclusion of the OVA, and the airing of Umineko, it is unlikely the Higurashi girls will ever see the tournament again. Her “spiritual successor” Bernkastel, however, is qualified for Saimoe 2010 due to Umineko. Regardless of the future and her impending 2nd round match in this year’s tournament, Rika’s career stats are still something to behold. With a sparkling 10-2 win-loss record as of today, she is in elite company as one of the few characters to amass ten wins in the Saimoe tournament. Her saimoe career outside Saimoe Japan has been successful as well, placing 8th in Korea Best Moe in 2008. In the 2008 and 2009 regular seasons of the International Saimoe League, Rika has never finished outside the top 20, with her performance this year earning her a ticket to the 2010 season. This little girl from Hinamizawa with a big destiny has both lived the dream and felt the losses. Her solid, successful career in and out of Japan so much defines the modern saimoe scene of the day. Regardless of her performance in the future and beyond, one this is for certain: Rika will always be remembered for her legendary performance in 2007 and her long career of both success and failure.

References:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1236335&postcount=11804

http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1236315&postcount=11785

http://synchroom.wikispaces.com/SaiMoe2007

http://www.internationalsaimoe.com/contestants/biography.php?name=furude_rika

I don’t really do Saimoe analysis on Desu ex Machina, since I write for two different blogs to cover the Anime Saimoe Tournament this year. Regardless, most people who pay attention to Saimoe know by now that K-ON’s lovable starlet Akiyama Mio was wrecked with the upset of the century when she lost her first match to heavily outpowered Minami Kana. People immediately pointed to a heavy case of counter voting, to culprits from /a/ to 2ch. Even Ron Paul has been blamed to this surprising result. The fact that Akiyama Mio, a favorite to win this year’s tournament, was out after one vote was simply unbelievable.

I, however, point to a completely different reason. Sports fans are very knowledgeable of something called the “Sports Illustrated curse”, which is a jinx that affects athletes who appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Right after appearing on the cover, many athletes’ performance drop significantly. Well…

Click for full size

Bored + Photoshop + 3AM = Danger

Today, I am going to just talk about the first five anime-related topics that come to my mind.

Storytime: It’s the prelims round of Saimoe Japan (the Anime Saimoe Tournament). I want to participate and I put a ballot together with my friend uis, who in return for six of the ten names on my ballot, provided the voting key. So after like 10 minutes of double checking to make sure my ballot is formatted right and I’m posting in the correct thread (everything is in Japanese because they hate foreign participation) I get slammed basically with a message that my American ISP is banned. Ok, I thought, so I proxied a random server and that’s banned. Then I proxied a Japanese ISP, and 2ch’s mechanism picked up the proxy. Apparently I have to have starred in the movie Swordfish to be able to vote for which 2D animated girl I think is the more attractive.

Fuck reality and Zion, we did all this because we just wanna vote in your anime character popularity contest.

The Reich-fuhrer xenophobic hodgepodge demographic that is the otaku internet of Japan has decreed that I cannot vote in the 2009 Anime Saimoe Tournament. I have found the xenophobic tendencies in Japan (another instance is many eroge visual novels being DRM’ed outside of Japan) a rather disturbing trend. Over at International Saimoe League, we don’t really mind Taiwan spamming Rozen Maiden characters and China spamming Haruhi that much. I mean it’s annoying but it’s fair. I guess that’s because we have “International” in our name.

In other news, Yuki utters a grand total of five syllables over the course of the entire second episode the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It must have been a quick day at the office for Chihara Minori. I know she’s busy, so at this rate she can just leave her lines on Kyoto Animation’s voicemail.

Everyone who watches anime has a different “favorite Miyazaki film” or Studio Ghibli film. It’s like the same people who discuss what the best Disney movie or Beatles and Michael Jackson song is (The Lion King, Let it Be, and Bad if you disagree you are WRONG). For Miyazaki films, people usually answer with the standard fare of Spirited Away (typical response), Princess Mononoke, or Howl’s Moving Castle. Occasionally, we get My Neighbor Totoro or Castle in the Sky (i.e. old people). Know what I never hear? I have never heard anyone say that their favorite Miyazaki film is Kiki’s Delivery Service. This is probably because this movie is too kickass. I might dedicate a full essay to this later after I finish watching every one of Miyazaki’s works. I like it because even among Miyazaki’s unique style of direction and plots, Kiki’s Delivery Service is unique and different. It seems so much smaller, less ambitious, and compact. The touch and magic of Miyazaki’s directing is there, but the epic granduer and overarching messages are much more subdued and sutble. It’s just such a great, simple feel good story with great amounts of depth if you peer a little harder. So yeah I’m a rebel now.

I have noticed that while my conversational Mandrin Chinese is perfect, my reading has withered into shit. It’s because I never read anything in Chinese. I discovered this because I tried to watch Chinese fansubs of Bakemonogatari. Because English fansubbers are slow and … slow. I know a few groups are going to pick this up and I will wait patiently. I don’t really blame them too much, as the first episode has over 9000 lines of typesetting. Fansubbers have nightmares about two things at night: Akiyuki Shinbo’s directing style and jokes about the .ass format. (”Hey babe, are you fansubbed? Because I want that .ass) This will probably mean that releases of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 3 are going to be slow and unreliable as fuck. Maybe if a.f.k. does it they will have the good sense not to make 170MB hardsubbed unchaptered .avi’s but I will honestly take anything. If Shinbo keeps directing I am sure that pretty soon people will be fucking for fansubs. Would you do Aeris from Eclipse for some Full Metal Alchemist? It’s pretty tempting…

Finally, time to go off and watch CANAAN. About time…