Got a call from my friend this morning about 2009 japanese Saimoe. Oh yeah I almost forgot that it has reach its final stage. Kinda surprising to me because the last time I take a look at the tournament chart (like 2 months ago), I swear two-third of the block finalists were Saki's, and yet none of them even reach the final, not even Nodotit? I smell conspiracy lulz. But nonetheless it's a Treble for Taiga, taking home all sort of this year's Moe tournament so congrats to her (tbh that surprised me). Despite overwhelming influence of Saki in this tournament, she stays strong untill the end.
Sorry, no introductory post. After almost half a year of qualification, preliminaries, groupstage and playoff matches, Japanese AnimeSaimoe 2008 has finally ended yesterday with the final match featuring the Hiiragi sisters from Lucky Star. Unique feat, but overall not that enthralling to many people. First, the result of the final match:
Final 1位 1037票 柊かがみ＠らき☆すた(Hiiragi Kagami@Lucky*Star) 2位 976票 柊つかさ＠らき☆すた(Hiiragi Tsukasa@Lucky*Star)
Kagami should take the final match easily, considering she has every possible trait to make her superior than Tsukasa (tsundere, loli, twintail, what else you could ask :3). But the graph tells otherwise, as Tsukasa gave a tough day for Kagami until the end hour of voting.
This year has been one of the boringestSaimoe in my book, particularly past the group stage. Mainly because of the total domination of KyoAni's faction in the playoff. 5 out of 8 (Tomoyo, Nagisa, Fuuko, Tsukasa and Kagami) qualified, and "just as planned", the Hiiragi sisters made it to the finals to settle things up. While I'm not dislike KyoAnicharacters, this somehow took away the spice of Saimoe. Just look at the total amount of votes (not only in the final match, but most of playoff matches in the link given), it's way below average count of 1000+ votes as seen in previous year Saimoe. Seems like many people don;t give a damn about the the latter stage of this year Saimoe after seeing some of the top dog were eliminated early, like the unlucky Maria, the last year finalist Nagi and Rika, (HnG) and even Fate (NanohaStrikerS), beaten by Fuko (Clannad) :3 As for me, I started to lose my interest in this year Saimoe since the loss of Horo against Tamaki in semi final group E match. Although, she compensate it by winning Korean Best Moe :D
For unknown reason Anime Saimoe is unlikely to happen for 2008, but in turn, we have a league format Saimoe taking place of the traditional Saimoe. Dubbed as International Saimoe League, this is where 64 popular characters who ranked the highest in previous Japanese and Korean Saimoe will battle each other in league format. The top 16 characters in the league will qualify for the playoff with double elimination format.
1位 1521票 古手梨花＠ひぐらしのなく頃に(Furude Rika@Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
2位 1499票 三千院ナギ＠ハヤテのごとく！(Sanzenin Nagi@Hayate the Combat Butler)
Seeing Nagi' loss, of course it's a zetsubou for me, but still, congrats to Rika for defying all the obstacle and become the Champion of Saimoe 2007. No one really think that Rika can become the champion at the start of the tournament, at the start of the group stage, and even at the start of quarter final. But she has done it, thanks to the gaijins and the not-so-interesting route to the final. The match went pretty much tail to tail, even though in the final half Rika have a slightly more votes than Nagi, while Nagi speed up in the final hours. The gaijins proves to be the differences again in this match. Character: Foreign/Japan/Total Nagi: 291/1208/1499 Rika: 435/1086/1521
Frankly speaking this year Saimoe lack festivity compared to last year. The heat that the tournament have especially in last year quarter final and final is dearly missed in this tournament. Mainly because many top guns (eg: Fate, Suiginto, Kagami, perhaps Hinagiku or Maria too) were eliminated too early because of group seeding, fake/hate votes etc. The final 4 isn't even something everyone dream of (even though my Nagi advance to final). The total vote for final just marginally reach 3000, still not something comparable to Rena-Kagami match. So we will meet again in Saimoe 2008. Rozen maiden is almost certain to miss (unless another series come out before mid-year), and new series will compete with the current star (HiguKai, Hayate no Gotoku, Nanoha StrikerS, Lucky Star etc). For totally new series, so far my current pick for 2008 saimoe would be Mayu&Reika (Goshusho Sama Ninomiya-kun), Aoi (Myself; Yourself), Fuko&Kotomi (Clannad)....now lets see what Winter Anime series offer for us.
oh my goodness, 5 freakin votes separating the result, causing uproar to RM-faction for failing to make it 3 years in a row in the finals. Looking at the graph, it's surprising to see that Shinku never seem to be able to give much threat to Rika, since Rika leads steadily for the whole days, but Shinku was able to get some boost i vote in the final 2 hours, just 5 votes short to change the result. Shinku was unfortunate this time, she was bombed with massive fake votes from...? No idea. Anti-RM who don't want another doll in the final, or simply Higurashi fan (or Rena fan).
With this, we have a totally new series+character in the Saimoe final: Sanzenin Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku) vs Furude Rika (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), a yet-another loli battle. The final will takes place starting tonight =)
btw, lets see some statistic so far, the ranking of average votes a character get from the prelim till the day they were eliminated:
1位 1301票 三千院ナギ＠ハヤテのごとく！(Sanzenin Nagi@Hayate the Combat Butler)
2位 1209票 竜宮レナ＠ひぐらしのなく頃に(Ryuuguu Rena@Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
Nagi, with all her wealth bribe her way to victory :3 Finally Rena was unable to take Nagi home, possibly because Nagi already in a much better home lol. And it definitely a good news for me seeing Nagi reach the final, being my topmost favorite character. Many people seems grieving over Rena loss, but we must remember that foreign votes only substitute small proportion of total vote count, so if one got major supports from Japan, then it's hard for the gaijin to overturn the result. I'm surprised to see that the vote count is quite low for a semi final match (well at least some quarter final have even much higher vote count). Whether because many regard this match as insignificant or because many already left in despair after the loss of their favorite character in previous round. Overall the match went pretty close between the two of them, nothing really separate them until the final hour when Nagi clinched the victory. Character: Foreign/Japan/Total Rena: 356/853/1209 Nagi: 254/1047/1301
Nagi certainly got more supports from the locals.
With the loss of Rena, seems like Higurashi may experience RM fate in 2005. And yet again, another loli will be crowned Saimoe 2007 Champion (either Nagi, Rika or Shinku) :3
Next, the battle of another maiden with pride against shrine maiden. Rika vs Shinku in the 2nd semi final. I've had enough of dolls. The only doll I will consider voting is Suiginto, but she's already out, so it's Rika who got my vote. Plus, I want to see new character+new series in the final. Rika might be boosted by the fact that Rena has lost, but Shinku is also boosted by RM faction. The outcome of this match is unpredictable. Shinku may have the chance to win, because Rika' previous match is possibly overshadowed by RM-faction votes against Louise. After all neither of them are my favorite.
Voting days has returned for the semi final, Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku) vs Rena(Higurashi no Naku Koro ni).
Both Rena and Nagi are my only favorites left in the tournament, so I don't mind either of them win. But still, Nagi is my no.1 favorite character, so she got my vote. Sadly though, unlike Korean Saimoe, those who deserve to be in top 8 of the tournament already been knocked out early (Fate, Suiginto, Kagami, Maria, San etc).
omg omg omg epic battle!!!! only 2 freaking votes separating the final!!!! What a match...Looking at the time graph and the interval, both of them keep exchanging position (though Hinagiku do better in greater proportion of the 48-hour period). Even in the very final hour Shana leads by 22 votes, but was beaten in the end. Nothing harder to accept than losing by a mere 2 points, for someone who vote for Shana. While those who votes for Hinagiku will be joyous that their vote/s means everything for Hinagiku to win this match.
I could say that both of them win, because if someone (including me) grab 2, 3 votes from my friend computer then I can turn around the result. If only I did what I should do :3 Well at least I don't have much thing to be lament, since as I mention earlier, both are not my ultimate moe character. Still congrats Hinagiku for winning 2007 Korean Saimoe.
With this, Katsura Hinagiku of Hayate the Combat Butler is crowned the Champion of Korean Saimoe 2007. Both of them will return with greater force in Korean Saimoe 2008 =)
1. Hinagiku Katsura______Hayate the Combat Butler_____2015 (50%) 2. Shana_______________Shakugan No Shana_________2013 (50%)
1位 1697票 真紅＠ローゼンメイデン オーベルテューレ(Shinku@Rozen Maiden Ouverture)
2位 1639票 柊つかさ＠らき☆すた(Hiiragi Tsukasa@Lucky Star)
uh...the second Zetsubou for me =( Even more heartbreaking is the way the graph looks like:
What a turn around. While Tsukasa had a constant lead in the beginning, everything changed in the final 2-3 hours when Shinku got some insane burst-votes rush which drive her to get to the top. The data mining also shows that Shinku got more supports from the locals compared to Tsukasa (1400+ to 1200+). RM faction really is something this time, considering Shinku is their only remaining contestant. While the fake votes shows little difference for both of them, though it's still a turn around after the fake votes were deducted.
Shinku really is backed by the power of the true doll, Alice. Now she's back in the semi final, after her loss in 2005 semi final. So now another one of my favorite has lost. Though it's still a good performance from Tsukasa to advance this far, only to get beaten by last-hour rush votes. Now she follows the path of her sister, and will return in next year Saimoe which will be more fierce than ever, but without the force of RM (unless...you know what). Now my hopes only lies on Rena and Nagi, who met each other in the next match. Well at least I will still have one of my favorite in the final.
Saimoe takes a day break. Then the semi final match will begin:
sF1 (10/31)
竜宮レナ＠ひぐらしのなく頃に(Ryuuguu Rena@Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
三千院ナギ＠ハヤテのごとく！(Sanzenin Nagi@Hayate the Combat Butler)
sF2 (11/01)
古手梨花＠ひぐらしのなく頃に(Furude Rika@Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
真紅＠ローゼンメイデン オーベルテューレ(Shinku@Rozen Maiden Ouverture)
Seems like many people want an all-Higurashi final. But I'd prefer Nagi or Rena to beat Shinku at final :3
1位 1473票 古手梨花＠ひぐらしのなく頃に(Furude Rika@Higurashi no NakuKoroni)
2位 1191票 ルイズ・フランソワーズ・ル・ブラン・ド・ラ・ヴァリエール＠ゼロの使い魔((LouiseFrançoise Le Blancde La Vallière@Zero no Tsukaima)
eventually Louise was not able to keep herself away from the defeat/Oyashirosama curse after advancing this far. The power of Oyashiro-sama helps Rika to win this match, something that even Suiginto can't do :3 Whether the cause of her loss is because of revenge voters (most probably) or purely because of Rika' superior popularity, now we have 2 Higurashi girls in the semi final. Be it foreign or japan votes, Rika have more votes than Louise. In fact Louise never seems to be able to give much challenge to Rika in the first place. Let's see whether the luck will be on their side, or the repeat of 2005 semi final will repeat (2RM dolls in the semi, yet both failed to win the tournament). Nevertheless next year we'll have Hanyu to entertain us
Next Match: Balsamic Vinegar vs Reiner Rubin. Tsukasa vs Shinku.
Both Shinku and Tsukasa are the only remaining survivor from their respective series. Shinku may be backed by a lot of RM faction votes, while Tsukasa who have more disadvantages may be affected by those who want to avenge Suiseiseki' loss, and possibly anti KyoAni faction. But still, Tsukasa is one of my favorite moe, so after the loss of her sister I'd definitely pick her in this match. Not to mention I see Tsukasa more moe than Shinku :3 Let's see how much fake votes can Tsukasa stand this time around. SUiseiseki failed to beat her even with 1400+ fake votes (even more than NagatoYuki last year!), how about Shinku?
Korean Saimoe: finally, the final match has arrived tomorrow! Shana vs Hinagiku, , who will be crowned the new Korean Saimoe Queen! Looking at the picture, we can clearly see that Hinagiku did better than Shana in her previous matches (in term of vote number), while Shana have knocked out more big names than Hinagiku. To tell the truth it's a very hard option for me, both of them are definitely top choices (though they re not really my favorite. I vote for Shana (for obvious reason) I'm quite surprised to see that this match runs for 2 days, so expect a lot more votes than usual. pick your choice here
1位 1334票 三千院ナギ＠ハヤテのごとく！(Sanzenin Nagi@Hayate the Combat Butler)
2位 1272票 泉こなた＠らき☆すた(Izumi Konata@Lucky Star)
A good win =) Another one of my favorite moe pass through to the semi. Nagi is indeed better than Konata when it comes to hikki things, though Konata wins her if it comes to house chore :3 The match really never seems easy for both of them, but overall Nagi had a small votes difference for the major portion of the day (178 fakes for Nagi and 262 for Konata). The small number of fake votes also didn't really affect the result of the match, and the data mining shows that Nagi got more supports from the locals.
Next match is going to be interesting. Louise (Zero no Tsukaima) vs Rika (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). Expect Louise to get a lot of revenge voters especially from RM faction. As for this match, both of them aren't really my favorite, but Louise ranking in my list is higher than Rika, so I vote for her (no other reason, Kugimiya legion). Nevertheless Higurashi already have Rena in the semi, while Nagi already represent Kugimiya tsundere. Looking at their previous round matches, Rika never hit 1k votes, while Louise did by overcoming Eri and Suiginto. Who knows whether Louise surprising form will end here in this match, or will she mark another win (and perhaps ignite even more hate votes lol)
match posters again, courtesy of Aya Reiko and anon
Korean Saimoe: As expected, Hinagiku win comfortably against Tamaki and set an ideal final against Shana. A battle of swordwomen with their own capabilities. It's really hard to predict the outcome of this match, seeing how well both of them done in their respective previous matches (Shana overcome Suiseiseki, Hinagiku won against Kagami).
In the end Nanoha failed in her mission to befriend Rena. Everything that stands in Rena way will be taken home =) Not even Nanoha, who was the sole survivor from StrikerS can resist her. Only just over 30 votes separating both of them. And yet again, it's the fake votes who overturn the result (well they're not as extreme as in Tsukasa-Desu case though);
Next, we'll see a battle of Otaku! Konata takes on Nagi chalenge! I'm in for Kugimiya, definitely. Nagi is my #1 Kugimiya tsundere, so she definitely get my vote. Many people seems in favor of Konata though, so I hope at least the match will be close one. I don't really mind whoever win this match, since so far both of them doesn't really engaged in "epic match" which can possibly lure revenge votes.
Korean Saimoe: Shana has finally defy her fate and ovecome Suiseiseki, thus ending her reign in Saimoe 2007. Surprisingly she win with a comfortable margin. I guess Suiseiseki really can't afford to go against those who still in despair over the loss of Fate in the previous round. So Koraen Saimoe final would be Shana against either Hinagiku or Tamaki.
G1: Shana (Shakugan no Shana)
Next on Korean Saimoe: The battle betwen Hinagiku and Tamaki. Frankly speaking nobody would expect Tamaki to go this far, let alone win this match, but everything can happen in Saimoe and we might see the loss of Hinagiku. Plus ToHeart2 is surprisingly popular in Korea, so Tamaki may get a lot of supports from the locals. BTW, my vote goes to Tamaki. She simply brings new type of moe into the tournament, whilst Hinagiku doesn't really do well in the anime tbh. After all everybody dreams of an ideal final of Shana vs Hinagiku.
Quarter final 1 for Saimoe starts today, with Takamachi Nanoha (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS) takes on Ryuugu Rena(Higurashi no Naku Koro ni).
It's a do or die for Nanoha legion, since Nanoha is the only survivor of the series after her comrades fallen one by one. Theoretically Nanoha has more advantages in this match, because as the sole survivor, she may receive more supports from Nanoha legion, while Rena may receive revenge voters especially from those who still in despair over Kagamin loss in her hand in the group phase. As for me, my support goes to Rena, even though I'm still kinda sad that Kagami was beaten with a lot of fake votes (well it seems has nothing to do with Rena), primarily because I'm not a mahou shoujo fan to begin with, so Nanoha characters are already out of my moe category to begin with.
It's a Befriend or Being Taken Home. match posters, courtesy from Aya Reiko and anon
....................................
at the same time, the semi-final round has also begin on Korean Saimoe, with Shana takes on Suiseiseki challenge. Shana seems having very difficult times on Saimoe this year, escaping with very little percent of advantages while Suiseiseki shows her prowess by beating one of the biggest thread, Fate. However, it's still not easy to predict the outcome for tomorrow match. My votes goes to Shana. A plus for Kugimiya :3
Some data mining for Shana-Desu previous record meeting:
2006 Korean Best Moe, semifinals: Suiseiseki (598) def. Shana (411)
2007 Korean Best Moe, semifinals: Suiseiseki vs. Shana
Shana already lost twice to Desu in last year tournament, so let's see if she can change her fate to win this match. Shana is backed by her reappearance in Shakugan no Shana II, while Desu is...well, she is already that popular in Korea, she even beat Fate in the previous round, something that Suiginto failed to do in Korean Saimoe.
Saimoe 2007 has finally reach the quarter final stage tomorrow, after a much shocked, surprising and unexpected results occurs in the semi final and final phase group stage. Among them are the fall of 2 Rozen Maiden greatest soldier, Suiseiseki (last year champion) in the hand of Tsukasa (Lucky Star); and the absolutely unexpected win of Louise (Zero no Tsukaima) against Suiginto who many expected to have an easy path to the final after beating Fate (Nanoha StrikerS). Tsukasa victory is something to remember, because she was raided with 1.3 k fake votes compared to 600+ for Desu, yet Tsukasa still able to emerge victorious. Some speculation states about Tsukasa being backed up by KyoAni faction (especially after the fall of Kagamin to Rena), while others want to see new champions. As for Gin' loss, both Gin and Louise have close number of votes from Japan, but the foreigner votes overturn the result. Now expect Louise to receive a lot of revenge votes (perhaps) in the final 8 match.
To summarise the previous match; http://fc.jpn.org/saimoe/ Graphs of final matches of group phase, from A-H A: Sanzenin Nagi vs Shana B: Konoe Konoka vs Konata Izumi C: Takamachi Nanoha vs Vita D: Ryuugu Rena vs Yunocchi E: Nishizawa Ayumu vs Shinku F: Tsukasa Hiiragi vs Suiseiseki G: Furude Rika vs Sayuri H: Louise Valierevs Suigintou
And immediately after that the drawing has been made, and the quarter finals line up:
(Izumi Konata@Lucky Star) (Sanzenin Nagi@Hayate the Combat Butler)
QF3 (10/28)
(Furude Rika@Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) (Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere@Zero no Tsukaima)
QF4 (10/29)
(Shinku@Rozen Maiden Ouverture) (Hiiragi Tsukasa@Lucky Star)
It's pretty interesting to see that actually the draw turn out to be Winner of group A vs B, C vs D, E vs F and G vs H. So it's 2 Higurashi, a doll, 2 Kugimiya tsundere, 1 Nanoha and 2 Lucky Star. lol a load of lolis :3 We're expecting some great match in the quarter-finals. The AMV of final 8 contestants
Meanwhile, Korean Saimoe has reach the semi-final stage, with only Suiseiseki (last year champion), Shana (Shakugan no Shana), Tamaki (ToHeart2) and Hinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku) remain. A very hard-fought match in the previous round seems Suiseiseki overcome Fate, yet again; and Kagami lost to Hinagiku.
after a long days of voting, the competition has finally reach the semi finals of the block phase.
past matches summary (graphic version):
So many things have happened starting from the first block matches, the table turner, unexpected win, the despairs of voters....among notable one:
-For the first time, there's a draw in Saimoe matches, and it happened in the very first matches of block A, between Eva (Negima) and Shana (Shakugan no Shana). Both advanced, though later it turned out that Eva has more fake votes than Shana. Eva somehow lost in the re-match in round 2 (sadly; she's one of my favorite moe though)
-The most intense match in first round: Kagamin (Lucky Star) vs Maria (Hayate no Gotoku). Too close to be described that both party has a lot of fake votes, but in the end Kagamin is able to defeat Maria (sadly though, I supported both of them...). In the end when voting count ranks for round 1 is counted, Maria, who lost to Kagamin has 2nd highest vote overall (but still lose to Kagami). That's how close the match was.
-A very close contest between one of the tournament favorite, Nanoha (Nanoha Strikers) and KobayakawaYutaka (Lucky Star). Everybody expect that Nanoha would win this match at ease, but they're wrong, in the end there are only 4 votes separating them. Showing how strong Lucky Star character is, even for a 2nd tier character (well for me she is, though she's still moe)
-Another very unexpected turn over: Queen Henrietta (Zero no Tsukaima) fight from the bottom of the rank, battling in the final 2 hours to beat Setsuna (Negima) and Signum (NanohaStrikerS) in match E-8. This graph tells everything:
-The shocking lost of the "black horse" of the tournament, KatsuraHinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku), against Runa (Set no Hanayome). She's by far is almost everyone favorite to win the tournament, or at least become the finalist against possible opponent Nanoha (Nanoha Strikers). But in the 2nd round something very unexpected occur, when she was leading for most of the day, but suddenly in the last minute the vote count for Runa sky rocketing, overtaking Hinagiku lead thus knocking out one of the best contestant in the match. Many says it's a conspiracy, and I kinda agree with it; but after all, Hinagiku does not have much screen time in the anime to support her in this Saimoe. She excel pretty well in the manga, but not that much in the anime, which may become one of the factor that leads to her losing. With her losing (as well as Maria), Hayate no Gotoku faction could only rely on their 3 last survivor: Nagi, Isumi and NomNom-tan.
-Suiseiseki (Rozen maiden), last year Queen of Saimoe still going strong. But how long will she able to persist?
-Following Mai Kawasumi last minute lost to Louise (Zero no Tsukaima), Kanon who have as much as 10 contestants at the start of block phase round, now only 1 remains to bring the chalenge in semi finals of group match: Sayuri. Other contestant fall one by one...
-And finally, one of the most anticipated of round 2, block H2-1 match: A 3-way contest betweenSuigintou (Rozen maiden Ouverture) vs Fate (NanohaStrikerS) vs Satoko (Higurashi). In actual, it's an Apocalyptic Duel between Suigintou and Fate, leaving Satoko trapped in between their fierce battle. Both of them is considered one of the topmost contestant in this tournament, so whoever win this match has pretty much potential to win this year Saimoe. The epic match was very intense, making a record of more than 3000+ accumulated votes count. Suiginto win in the end, fair and square (both have almost same amoun of fake votes). This match left those who support Fate to be in despair. As for me, I'm glad that Suiginto win, since I'm in anti-nanoha faction :3
Saimoe takes 2 days break, further update can be found here
Korean Saimoe: The matches have entered the final 32 characters, with match group 11 and 12 currently takes place. And it's one of the biggest match ever, Kagamin vs Konata. A cruel fate for Lucky Star legion, 2 of their top aces are destined to meet each other.
Anime Saimoe Tournament is a festival of anime characters competing their MOE in 2ch. Basically the characters eligible for this tournaments are female characters (including androids, etc.) appeared in the anime which is aired more than 5 episodes or more than half of all episodes, in the OVA which is newly out, in the movie which is shown for the first time, during specific time of year in Japan.
I only started to follow the SaiMoe update seriously halfway through the tournament in 2006, where Suiseiseki (Rozen Maiden Traumend) won, beating Fate Testarossa (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's); a repeat of the previous year final (2005) of Rozen Maiden vs Nanoha (Souseiseki vs Takamichi Nanoha).
Now, Saimoe Tournament 2007 has begun a few weeks ago, starting with Preliminary Round and 2nd Preliminary Round, and proceed to the main tournament. The main tournament is divided into 8 group (A-H) where characters whom qualify will battle (meaning, be voted). The table is summarised here We've seen the appearance of some potential threat from some new series, especially from Lucky Star and Hayate no Gotoku. As of current, Group A matches, first round has already ended yesterday. First Round of Group B will begin today.
My comment on each group: Group A: In the end, I can expect a great battle between Shana (Shakugan no Shana) and Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku), lolis voiced by the same seiyuu (Rie Kugimiya), I can't even guess which one of them will advance (chances are, nobody beside's these 2 will be the finalist of group A)
Group B: Eventually, no matter how hard the other candidate tried, I'm quite positive that Konata (Lucky Star) will make it through...Too bad for Nerine and Siesta, having to face Konata in the very first match....
Group C: This is one of the most anticipated group ever. Hinagiku, (Hayate no Gotoku) who's currently having a pretty large fanbase will face 4 very strong Nanoha StrikerS characters (Nanoha, Vita, Vivio, and Subaru). A tough group for Hinagiku...Not to mention the TRAP Jun Watarase is there ^^ Group D: Well well, 3 big names are there: Kagamin (Lucky Star), Rena Ryugu (Higurashi) and Maria (Hayate no Gotoku). A very tempting match, especially for D-11, since Maria and Kagamin will face each other! Too bad actually, I really hope both of them can advance further before meeting each other.... side note: in prelim round, Kagamin got the highest vote (993 votes), beating her closest rival Suiginto (913 votes)
Group E: Hm...Shinku (Rozen Maiden Ouverture), Hamster and Saki (Hayate no Gotoku), Nodoka (Negima), Alyssa and Signum (Nanoha StrikerS), Henrietta (Zero no Tsukaima) and Akira (Lucky Star); all these have potential to advance the first round match, though in the end Shinku might be the eventual winner. Group F: Things not looking good for Rozen Maiden duo, Suiseiseki and Souseiseki as both of them are in the same group. Not to mention, the biggest threat comes from Tsukasa (Lucky Star) and possibly Seto San (Seto no Hayanome). Others to take note: Miyuki (Lucky Star), Shion (Higurashi), Asuna (Negima).
Group G: No particular favorite here, except for some of my choice: Ayu (Kanon), Hime (Kaibutsu Oujo), Reinforce Zwei (Nanoha StrikeS), Rika and Mion (Higurashi), and Yakumo (School Rumble 2)
Group H: Oh my, just like group C and D, I expect another fierce battle, especially between the 2nd most prelim getter Suiginto (Rozen Maiden Ouverture) and Fate (Nanoha StrikerS). Challenges also may come from Satoko (Higurashi), Louise (Zero no Tsukaima), and Eri (School Rumble 2). What makes thing more interesting is, Suiginto, Satoko, Fate, are all in the same side of group (H1), meaning that only 1 of them can reach finals of Group A, facing possible opponent Louise (or maybe Eri).
*note that there are also another SaiMoe held around the world (Korean, Chinese and Germany). The one I primarily follows are Japanese Saimoe, and Korean Saimoe.
Tales of Grace F
Warrior Orochi 3
FFXIII-2
