Anime Saimoe Tournament 2011 (Japan)
 

Yes, it's THAT time of the year again! Welcome to the official AnimeSuki thread for the tenth Anime Saimoe Tournament, one that has become somewhat of a favoured pastime for some people here. Nominations for the tenth begin on June 23rd, so I though it would be a good idea to make the thread now. More information on the tournament will be added to this post and the supplementary websites as it becomes available. Please enjoy your stay and let me know if you would like to contribute anything to the cause! Anything in strikeout should be ready soon, so don't worry.

http://ast2011.sitemix.jp/logo.png

For those who don't know, the Anime Saimoe Tournament, or just Saimoe for short, is a tournament held annually on the 2channel Japanese forums. People all around the world participate in the tournament to vote for the most moe anime character of the past year. The tournament page is currently here, in Japanese only. However, a plethora of information in English can also be found at this site which does live tracking of the tournament as well. For those IRC-savvy, you can try chatting with some of us here: #saimoe @ irc.rizon.net

COMING SOON
Look for new voting threads here.
If you've been nuke-banned from posting on 2ch, try voting here. Do not vote in both the regular thread and this auxiliary thread with the same computer or same voting code. You will fail.

A more in-depth explanation of how Saimoe works can be found at the Saimoe Wiki.

The Wikispaces to help English speakers participate in Saimoe 2011 is here. At the wikispaces will be a clock to keep track of the time in Japan, a URL to current voting threads, and links to translations of Saimoe participants' names.

The rules of how to properly participate in this thread:


To vote for characters, they must first be elected to participate in the tournament.

Character Nomination

Any female characters (including female characters without names, gyroids, and guys who become girls at least once in a series) who have appeared in any anime which has aired, is airing, or will air in Japan between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011; appearances on these dates also make a girl eligible. For OVAs, the release date must be between or on these dates. For films, the premiere date in Japan must fall between or on these dates.

Girls are nominated by the first kana letter of their family name, if it's a Japanese name (foreign names use the first letter of the first name, which will usually be the given name). The letters are grouped in the traditional Japanese way, by grouping letters by the starting letter of the letter row. All starting letters have あ sounds. If you're not familiar with this aspect of the Japanese language, go here or ask about it in this thread.

Nominations are ordered by the first Japanese letter of anime. This also applies to anime with non-Japanese titles. Different letters enter nominations on designated days. In order to nominate this year, you need a code.

Each date and time listed is in JST (Japan Standard Time). To find out how your computer's internal clock compares with JST, here's an international clock: http://www3.nict.go.jp/cgi-bin/JST_E.pl

Saimoe 2011 Schedule:
Nomination Stage
06/30: Series beginning with A, E, I, O, U or V
07/01: Series beginning with G, K or Q
07/02: Series beginning with J, S or Z
07/03: Series beginning with C, D, N or T
07/04: Series beginning with B, F, H, P or V
07/05: Series beginning with L, M, R, W or Y
07/06: Break
07/07-07/08: Any remaining nominations
07/09: Entry validity confirmation

Preliminary Stage
07/10: Draw for the first preliminaries
07/11-07/16: Break

07/17-07/24: First preliminaries Groups 1-8
07/25: Break
07/26-08/02: First preliminaries Groups 9-16
08/03: Draw for the second preliminaries
08/04-08/09: Second preliminaries

Main Tournament
08/10: Draw for the main tournament
08/11-08/15: Break for Comic Market 80
08/16-08/23: Round 1 Groups A-B
08/24: Break
08/25-09/01: Round 1 Groups C-D
09/02: Break
09/03-09/10: Round 1 Groups E-F
09/11: Break
09/12-09/19: Round 1 Groups G-H
09/20: Break
09/21-09/28: Round 2 Groups A-D
09/29: Break
09/30-10/07: Round 2 Groups E-H
10/08: Break
10/09-10/16: Round 3
10/17: Break
10/18-10/25: Group Finals
10/26: Draw for the quarter-finals
10/27: Break
10/28-10/31: Quarter-Finals
11/01: Break
11/02-11/03: Semi-Finals
11/04: Break
11/05: Grand Final

After nominations is preliminaries, where the voting begins!

Preliminary Round Information

First Preliminary
16 groups
Vote for up to 10 characters
Top 12 to main tournament (192 total)
13th-36th to Second Preliminary (384 total)

Second Preliminary
6 groups
Vote for up to 12 characters
Top 16 advance to main tournament (96 total)

288 characters total in the main tournament.


The ones running Saimoe are pretty strict about voting, presumably to eliminate dud votes and multiples, etc. To avoid confusion:

1) A guide on how to post, from Saimoe Japan 2009
2) The correct way to format a nomination/vote:

-Those five digits after the bracketed code must be included in the code that you use to vote. Otherwise your code will be void and useless.
-We need to use {{ and }} brackets (braces)
-The character's name must be in Japanese, unless it's one of the final rounds and Roman letter nicknames are allowed.
-The code can be above or below the character's name.
-You can only use a single code once in a given voting thread, but can use it as many times as needed in all collective voting threads. You must get a new code each day, old codes are null and void.
-With Japanese names, the family name must come first for the vote to be counted. With foreign names, the given name will usually come first.
-Refer to anime by their Japanese name. e.g. けいおん！(Keion!), not K-ON!.
-You can write little proclamations of love, called "moe-bun", in your vote, like "My waifu!" in the example. Anything not within brackets will not be counted towards voting for a character. Moe-bun is required this year. A vote without moe-bun will not be counted.
-If the name or anime title has shapes or non-letters in it (like the star in Lucky Star), they can be omitted. The vote will still be counted.
-You can deck your vote out with ASCII art of your waifu(s). We at Animesuki have rushes just about every voting day, in which you can copy/paste an Animesuki template and add ASCII art; if you'd like to participate in those, read this.
-Any ASCII art should be done in Japanese letters; in other words, it shouldn't be ASCII per se, it should be Shift_JIS art. Otherwise, chances are the picture won't show up correctly and will end up a warbled mess of letters.
-The MS UI Gothic font is recommended for reposting your votes and rush results to AnimeSuki, since that way any art will show up correctly.
-No, that code does not work.

Go here to get a code. You have to wait for ~an hour, then refresh after the hour's up to get a code. If you can access the code page with a mobile phone, you will be issued a code immediately and won't have to wait (the site has to support your phone model). You may navigate away from the page and come back later, but if you shut down your computer or your IP changes (like, if you're on WiFi and your connection breaks, then reconnects to a different wave), then you have to start over. If the page says anything about a proxy, then your IP has been pre-banned in the name of "foreigners are always doing those damn cheat votes" and tough luck for you, sorry.

first!

HA HA TIME FOR SAIMOE.jpg

also, here's an overview of the past nine years of Saimoe. can't believe this is the tenth time they're doing this already.

welcome back saimoe... i misss you sooo muchh...

third! \o/


So this time Shana will win amirite?

Nah Shana will never win... in any saimoe...

This is Shana's year.

How Shana win this year if she don't exist this year XD...

Shana is eligible this year due to the last episode of Shakugan no Shana S coming out in September of 2010.

If I'm reading the rules correctly, anime only shown at events are excluded so no Touhou this year.

For preliminaries I think it will work like this:
First Preliminary
16 groups
Vote for up to 10 characters
Top 12 to main tournament (192 total)
13th-36th to Second Preliminary (384 total)

Second Preliminary
6 groups
Vote for up to 12 characters
Top 16 advance to main tournament (96 total)

288 characters total in the main tournament.

Thank you. I have added your information to the original post since it's the best we have right now.

As for Shana, I can imagine her influence being weakened by the lack of a television anime in recent times; however, it remains to be seen how many voters might be influenced by the anticipation of season 3 this fall.

I wonder if I will be allowed to vote this year. My IP has been blocked the last two years, but I have a new provider this year...so we will see.

Reporting here. This is already part of my year.

Eisdrache incoming.

Somebody should Start a August Madness bracket out of Saimoe.

I'll check back when the preliminaries start.

Oh well i make some sig for saimoe... so far only Milky Holmes and Kaminomi...





Oh well they are simple sig... use it if u all want...

so who are the top girls this year?

i know the Madoka girls will make a splash and ninchijo will have the kyoto fraction.

Didn't you say that last year? My top five: Ika Musume, Kanade Tachibana, Mio, Azu-nyan, Yuki Nagato, Victorique. I don't think there was any Haruhi last year, so no Yuki Nagato to root for :( No Nanoha this year. No Saki. Well we still have Negima and Shana for old school lovers.

Just a friendly advice, but spamming vote totals every hour is not appreciated even by enquiring minds.

I expect it to be K-on, Madoka, and maybe Angel Beats. I am curious as to how TWGOK will perform. I hope Gosick does well to


LMAO ~degeso:heh:

The favored should be Akemi Homura. The problem is that in history of AST, most ( maybe 70%? ) of leading contestants gets sniped before they reach quarter-final stage. Here are potential contenders other than Akemi Homura

2. Kuroneko : Some people say Ore Imo is more popular in Japan compared to outside of Japan.
3. Charlotte Dunois : When even Germans say Vive la France because of this girl, there must be something special about this girl. Someone should check out how dominating Charlotte's booth number is compared to everyone else in IS related doujinshi conventions.
4. Kaname Madoka : most logical choice for Homura fans to rally around if Homura gets ousted

5. Misaka Mikoto : She is the favored over Homura and others in KBM. In 2006 and 2009, KBM and AST crowned the same girl as the champion. There is slight chance that 2011 may be the same.
6. Elsea de Lute Irma : Her series's timing is great.She is cute. Need more?

7. Akiyama Mio : Everyone knows how she was sniped in past 2 years. AST voters have shown sympathy to those they have hurt in the past.

8. Tachibana Kanade : Similar case with Mio. Her ISML numbers are just too scary and there exist some chance it might carry over to AST

9. Haqua du Lot Herminium : She is supposed to be more popular than Elsie, but didn't get enough chance to show her stuff in the TVA. Still, she has a chance since comic book popularity matters in AST.

10. Ika-Musume : She is the perfect Submarine for Saimoe. Popular, but no one notices her underwater. She can be used as a torpedo to sink the favorites. If she is lucky enough, she might become haters' choice or weapon of revenge against other popular characters, and when that is added to her innocent fanbase, it might be just enough to win it all. Pencil her in as a dark horse and a spoiler.

That is my top 10 for AST list. The list is similar for KBM, by the way, but the ordering is different. KBM's start date has not been formalized, yet.

Forgot about Imouto. Kuroneko would be #6 on my list.

Solid list, though I doubt the strength of Puella Magi Madoka Magica as a whole due to Bakemonogatari falling short last year. Mio belongs to the K-ON! group (see: past winner), and as such even if a few voters are sympathetic for her, they still won't let her even have a sniff at the title. It all comes down to block matchups, so I find it almost impossible to really predict individual character strength, as it can fluctuate with different circumstances. For example, Azusa had the advantage of Yui being cast off in the 2nd round, while also capitalizing on a same-series matchup with Mio against Mikoto where K-ON! fans were able to throw all their votes at Azusa. Every champion since I've been following the tournament (2007) has had some major breaks, directly or indirectly.

For the record, I would have Mikoto, Kuroneko, and Charlotte as the top three most likely to perform under pressure, after that it's pretty much a crapshoot. With a return to the bracket format of old, I'm hoping we can see more competitive matches.

And no, I'm not making a personal favourites list yet. I'll save that for after the preliminary rounds.

Umm...not even half a mention of Touwa Erio?? She's by far the most popular character this season...

And as far as I'm concern, Azu-nyan is 900x more popular in Japan than Mio. Madoka is not even #2 behind Homu-Homu (Tomoe Mami is).

Will be able to tell once the prelim votes gets in, because as of right now, it's all talk on paper. Homura IS strong, but not necessarily dominating. Biribiri always have a strong fanbase, Kuroneko dominates C79, predicting Kanade getting sniped off again. No clue as if who's the dark horse (Last year it's Yamada, absolutely no clue this year)

To make things worse(?), no Saki this year (for once), making things much more unpredictable.

Only ranking I can find (and not necessarily 100% accurate):
http://anime.biglobe.ne.jp/userranking/title/9062/

Of course, Haqua being a tsundere never hurts.

I think my list is somewhat close to the currently perceived strength, which isn't necessarily the actual strength. You might consider it the Hit list order for those who seeks to derail the favorites so their character can win. As such, being on this list should not be considered a blessing.


I would have loved to include Touwa Erio, yet all the polls I know that pit her against other characters on my top 10 list had her doing very poorly. She needs an impact moment or two in what remains of the series to have some chance. Of course, if she do get the needed impact moment, she can easily be elevated to the elite level.

What poll? This one?
http://anime.biglobe.ne.jp/userranking/chara/11202/

(Okay, I know AnimeOne poll are not necessarily 100% accurate, especially since that poll don't have any Madoka characters on it, nor Kanade and Haqua...but pitting her against half of your top 10 and she's on top...)

And of course, Charlotte is being forgotten quickly...even though she's the only decent choice from IS...

No way. She has far more tougher competition this year - than any of her previous years.

OK, that chart gives me tears. XD

Lol...very true. We'll have to see, but it's possible for some of the newcomers + Mikoto to make it through to the quarters without collecting much hate along the way. I always see Mikoto as a character who nobody really "hates" and thus why I consider her strong in all moe contests. Then again, Saten made it further than her last year (due to the K-ON dogpile I mentioned in my last post)...

Saten got lucky being on a "light" bracket, compared to the others. Mikoto failed to advance to final 8 all due to Azunyan.

Well Azusa did win the crown, so Mikoto's loss was honorable.

just like to remind you all that taiga is once again eligible as she made a cameo appearance on ookami san. so are minori and ami, for that matter.

We've got an outstanding crop of new characters and few strong veterans, so this year promises to be fresh and full of surprises.

Prediction: Victory for Madoka. Madoka and Homura won't lose except to each other. Mami will also be strong, but she's not ahead like she was in episode 3. Her weak presence later in the show means we'll only see a fully powered-up Mami-san if the first two are upset.

Of the returning veterans, Biribiri has the best shot to win it. She gave Azusa respectable competition last year, and there's a full season of Index 2 keeping her relevant.

Tenshi is a threat to win her group, but between last year's loss and only one bonus episode for her franchise, she might not do any better this time around.

K-ON will be strong, like Nanoha was in previous years, but their status as returning champions will prevent them from winning it all.

My little Kirino and Kuroneko can't be this likely to make the finals! Ika Musume might invade them as well. Charlotte of IS is a serious contender for the championship. Other popular girls like Cecilia and Laura will make IS one of the strongest factions in the tournament.

Rounding out the field, Ano Hana's popularity makes Menma dangerous, while the necromancer Eu and denpa Erio are strong characters with unproven support bases. Elsie will also have some fans. There's several wild card shows out there, especially from the Spring season, but Nichijou is looking weak compared to previous KyoAni shows.

And here's some pretty good preview writing:

http://tldrsaimoe.wordpress.com/tag/saimoe-2011/

(not my blog)

===

(but my opinion)

And note, plenty of series I have not seen this past Saimoe calendar year. Very very likely, I'd miss many of 'em.

Heavy Hitters (Good shot @ final 8)

• Kuroneko (Oreimo). Mix in the "true ending" episodes. Then the rage imposed by the author's writing in the light novel.
• K-ON girls. No way that last year is the end of them. However, will the winner this year be a K-ON girl? I doubt it. Winning is tough. Repeating is even tougher.
• Madoka. Personally, I'm only 1/3 watching through this series. I still don't know what got people really into this series, other than, "badass magical girl". That'll be enough here.
• Victorique (Gosick). She has that detective charm. Plus, as the blog notes, she strongly resembles that of a Rozen Maiden, particularly Shinku.
• Anaru (Ano Hana). Oh the drama surrounding her. Sympathy voting?

Just below (May win a few rounds, but fall short of final 8)

• Amagami. Pick one of the 6 main, plus 2. However, this series feels so far away (long ago), such that I have to wonder if there is any heavy support for any of 'em.
• Kirino (Oreimo). Her realistic shot at final 8, to not be in the same bracket as Kuroneko. Unfortunately for her, there are Kirino haters.
• Any of the Strike Witches. Oh they're coming back? Doubt they'd get far though.
• Kanade and Yui (Angel Beats). The only two Angel Beats characters with potential of getting deep. I doubt much of their momentum from last year carry over into this year, however.

Series to be missed

Clannad. Nanoha. Hayate no Gotoku. Haruhi. Saki.

Oh how they'll be missed. The brackets will be more empty without them... eh... nah. Plenty of newcomers this year to replace them. Lol.

Yet, looking at this chart (linked earlier), it's somewhat "nostalgic" looking at their "careers".

This is Hanazawa's year, just sayin'

I'll quote this come October whatever.

I see how Madoka Magica stole 2ch past winter season, but I don't think moe was a important factor. Now, it depends if 2ch can vote honestly on that.

Don't forget

[21:47:00] <%sika> I can see Eu trolling someone

Well... to be fair... IS isn't really a series to be long remembered.:p

Oh well Strike Witches 2 also been forgotten...

Like hell they will doing good in Saimoe... XD

I admit that I didn't see that poll. Will reconsider Erio if I see other polls with similar results.

Enough with trolling...

Anyway Kuroneko really the top 1 that will win saimoe this year...

Beside K-on, Index chara, IS and Madoka will be powerhouse for this tournament...

Angel Beats will doing well too... They will become next HAyate lol...

Looking for dark horse is easy... Milky Holmes is a dark house... they really popular in Japan with dominate in TCG and MAD this year same with Saki before...

I dunno with powerhouse this spring because i don't have enough data but i can see Denpa Onna chara will doing great because SHAFT after their great trolling of Madoka...

Nichijou never doing great because they are no.1 worst anime in spring according 2ch poll...

i am dunno with Kaminomi chara... the anime sales really bad and not many material that people cares enough except manga... i hope they will doing good despite my bad prediction...

Honorable mention is Baka Test and Shana that will get anime this summer and fall... Dunno they will doing great or not...

Which is unfortunately since they are just coming back to get killed. I would have been happier if Taiga got to end her career on a high note.

Quoted for truth. Taiga is one of my favourite characters of all-time and I was most definitely not pleased to hear this news.