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I really hope that next year we move to a "Nova = never been in ISML before, Stella = girls who have been in ISML before" format.
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My only gripe would be whether we even have enough people that are competitive if that's the case. There are only so many top guns that comes out every year. On the other hand, yes, the muddle in the middle would be even greater, making ISML a lot less predictable, so such format is not necessarily bad.
And it's a little bit too early to tell from the record. Both Yurippe and Yui-nyan really have 1 win against new girls (good one) anyway (Yuri against Kobato and Yui-nyan against Niku). There's also Charlotte, who beat Aria by only 100. Kobato is 10-4 but look at who she lose to...Kanade (No chance), Niku (Intra-series battle and a 100 vote loss), Yurippe (The only "New can not beat old" match), and Kuroneko (Same CV, both are Chuu-ni Goth-loli, Kuroneko being feature a LOT more than Kobato). Then Kobato turns around and beat Kirino (12-2, lose against, well, the chuu-ni pair...).
In another word, there's Kanade (Way ahead of the pack), Eu (Ongoing series + a surprisingly large fan base...I mean, just look at her performance at last year's JAST
). Then it's Kuroneko, who's way up there last year, so a strong performance is expected. Then there's the AB duo (Yuri + Yui) that has already beat the Haganai duo and is likely to beat the other two "stronger" newcomers (Erio & Aria) as well. That's make 5 girls, with only the AB duo getting more wins than they deserved.
Where I'm going? You can't really blame the format right now. Top newcomers still has a much better chance to go anywhere while the middle is a mess. It's somewhat of an illusion that "old girls" dominated when you have last year's (Counting regular season) #1 (Kanade), #6 (Kuroneko), #11 but has an ongoing series (Eu), and two girls that get vote mainly b/c of the series they're from (Yuri & Yui, but they're also #12 & #13 last year and by all mean, not weakling) that seemingly bias the result towards older girls. But do anyone think the newcomers other than the 3 strong one (Kobato, Niku, Aria) and maybe 2 more (Erio & Inori) to really go anywhere? None of them stands out to me...
Anyway...
ARENA 01: Aisaka Taiga
[Gokō Ruri (Kuroneko)] Saber Yui Shana Eucliwood Hellscythe Nagato Yuki
(I've 3 choices, Waifu #2 in Kuroneko, Waifu #4 in Taiga, or go for 3-peat and vote for Yuki. At the end, Fallen Angel > Goddess)
ARENA 02: Tōsaka Rin
[Victorique de Blois] Shiina Minatsu Hisui Ichinose Kotomi Tsugumi Kōsaka Kirino
(Victorique = moe. It's basically Victorique >> Kirino > Kotomi > Minatsu >>>>> The rest here...)
ARENA 03:
[Akiyama Mio] Tsukamoto Yakumo Flower Matō Sakura Hanabishi Miki Saten Ruiko Suzumiya Haruhi
(This is even more lopside, it's Mio >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "the pack" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Haruhi)
ARENA 04: Kohaku Teletha Testarossa
[Takahara Ayumi] Tainaka Ritsu Tsukamoto Tenma Karakuri Chachamaru Uiharu Kazari
(Not exactly easy to choose from a bunch of weaklings...)
ARENA 05: Shimada Minami Shiomiya Shiori Fear Kubrick Suzutsuki Kanade Sanzen'in Nagi
[Holo] Ikaros
(This is for Rajura)
ARENA 06:
[Dalian] Yin
(She's just better...)
ARENA 07: Morishima Haruka
[Hanato Kobato]
(HanaKana power)
ARENA 08:
[Hakamada Hinata] Tsukimiya Ayu
(Hinata doesn't get enough love...but then, RKB is just not that good of an anime...)
ARENA 09: Ariel, Chris
[Chitanda Eru, Ibara Mayaka]
(Will vote for Eru-chan every time. Although I have to admit that the zombie girls are REALLY moe and it takes a waifu-to-be for me to not vote for them)