Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
Often in real life, I'll ask someone "Do you watch pro hockey?" (as my other main entertainment interest other than anime is pro hockey).
A common answer: "Not in the regular season, but I usually tune in for the playoffs".
I wonder if some American and Japanese SaiMoe fans (of a more "casual" persuasion) are much the same. They're not interested in following SaiMoe for three quarters or more of the calender year, but they will show up for the annual playoffs "where it matters".
Perhaps this "the playoffs are the only place where it matters" mentality is more common among Americans and Japanese voters than amongst most other nationalities, so they flood ISML to unusual degrees in the post-season. And that can have a major impact on who wins, of course.
|
Part of it is liekly because of their experience with J Saimoe. Saimoe thrives on late rush to pull off come from behind wins, and most of J Saimoe followers( note that many follow J Saimoe even though they can't vote in it ), many of whom living in English or Korean Speaking regions as well, seems to try to do the same in ISML.
I would like to stress that I still believe the safe thing to do in ISML, unlike other saimoe-type tournaments, is to put your best effort in as early as possible. Poor start in regular season is a death sentence, no matter who you are. Most of ISML winners usually started the regular season with steady streaks of wins, often being the last one to suffer a loss. They may ease off in the mid to late regular season when they are cruising to playoff spot, only to come back strong in the playoff, but rarely did any playoff entrant started off badly. Late surge may be key ingredient to winning in Playoff, but you won't get to Playoff if you don't start off with your best stuff. Competitions in regular season is equivalent or better than final 32 in most other saimoe-type events, and even in those, you will have trouble winning if you ease off at that late stage.