Anime Saimoe Tournament 2012 (Japan)

[Ithekro]

The best way for there not to be "series dominace" is to have the series not have dozens of moe girls up for Saimoe. If the show has basically a core group, that group might dominate, but it won't be able to take over every Block. Think Haruhi. While all the girls got into Saimoe, only the three core group were real movers. Lucky Star had a larger cast, but still only a small number of them were really powerful in Saimoe. Saki has a massive number of girls in it and their power is all over the place as seen each time they've come up in Saimoe. It is just to wide a selection.

The other way is to make sure they is a viable rivalry betwee two or three major factions in a year. Even if those factions have large numbers of girls, they will fuctionally be worked to knock each other out (Rozen Maiden-Nanoha Wars).

[stormtrooper]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

The best way for there not to be "series dominace" is to have the series not have dozens of moe girls up for Saimoe. If the show has basically a core group, that group might dominate, but it won't be able to take over every Block. Think Haruhi. While all the girls got into Saimoe, only the three core group were real movers. Lucky Star had a larger cast, but still only a small number of them were really powerful in Saimoe. Saki has a massive number of girls in it and their power is all over the place as seen each time they've come up in Saimoe. It is just to wide a selection.

The other way is to make sure they is a viable rivalry betwee two or three major factions in a year. Even if those factions have large numbers of girls, they will fuctionally be worked to knock each other out (Rozen Maiden-Nanoha Wars).

The Saki voters really supported most of their representatives from day 1. Did the other factions do the same? It's usually the core group that would advance further.

[Ichuki]

Originally Posted by stormtrooper

The Saki voters really supported most of their representatives from day 1. Did the other factions do the same? It's usually the core group that would advance further.

The other faction did the same as the Saki faction but Saki was at the overwhelming level of dominance (as in they were so dominant the other faction still loses even putting 200% of their effort to the girls they are rooting for) for this year. The best way for not over dominance happening is put the faction that is threatening to do that in the same block like one person said earlier or don't IP ban to the point it is ridiculous. Not to mention the IP bans probably made the other factions weaker than they actually are.

Originally Posted by Archaeon

After thinking a while and looking back at past Saimoe tournament, I don't think IP ban is really responsible for Saki domination this year consider that Saki is already a dominating force since 2009 when foreigners are still allow to vote.

In Saimoe 2009 quarter final and semi final, half of the character are from Saki. In Saimoe 2010, again half of the characters in semi final are also from Saki.

The issue in 2009 and 2010 Saki weren't strong enough to win it all unlike 2012 when the IP ban didn't happen.

[JW1]

I think the tournament will remain vulnerable to faction dominance as long as vote counts remain so low. If matches are only picking up 500-600 votes then a small cadre of dedicated fans can swing matches their way. The more voters there are, the harder it becomes to organise a faction large enough to make a difference.

[Archaeon]

Originally Posted by Ichuki

The issue in 2009 and 2010 Saki weren't strong enough to win it all unlike 2012 when the IP ban didn't happen.

Or Saki popularity just increase by 2012. When 2 of their characters make it to semi final even when the anime already ended for 1 year, you know this is indeed a strong faction and all they need is small push to have winner and Saki Achiga is the push they looking for to increase Saki popularity. Show with sequel/spinoff/side story will market the franchise even more.

[Ichuki]

Originally Posted by Archaeon

Or Saki popularity just increase by 2012.

I don't think it did since the some of the Saki characters (who were in 2009-2010) strengths were about the same as this year's (minus Hisa and Saki) or actually lost some strength (Kana and Mihoko).

[npal]

Originally Posted by Archaeon

Or Saki popularity just increase by 2012. When 2 of their characters make it to semi final even when the anime already ended for 1 year, you know this is indeed a strong faction and all they need is small push to have winner and Saki Achiga is the push they looking for to increase Saki popularity.

I find hard to believe that people liked this year's Saki more than the first one, moreso to the point of it dominating the whole tournament.

[Archaeon]

Originally Posted by Ichuki

I don't think it did since the some of the Saki characters (who were in 2009-2010) strengths were about the same as this year's (minus Hisa and Saki) or actually lost some strength (Kana and Mihoko).

I wonder if the manga had anything to do with increase popularity of Hisa and Saki. Since I didn't read the manga, I can't comment on it. Nodoka make it to the semi final for the third time in a row. No surprise there. Toki victory is pretty much justified consider the amount of screen time she got in Achiga. Why do you think some people even call this show Toki Senriyama Hen.

Originally Posted by npal

I find hard to believe that people liked this year's Saki more than the first one, moreso to the point of it dominating the whole tournament.

That is why I said Achiga is kinda marketing the franchise. Those who plan to watch Achiga must watch the first season first.

[npal]

Originally Posted by Archaeon

I wonder if the manga had anything to do with increase popularity of Hisa and Saki. Nodoka make it to the semi final for the third time in a row. Nothing wrong with that. Toki victory is pretty much justified consider the amount of screen time she got in Achiga. Why do you think some people even call this show Toki Senriyama Hen.


That is why I said Achiga is kinda marketing the franchise. Those who plan to watch Achiga must watch the first season first.

If it were marketing the franchise, the old guard should have won That is obviously not the case. Personally I couldn't watch more than 5 eps of Achiga, it just didn't feel good. I downloaded some eps afterwards then stopped caring altogether. I had too many other stuff I'd rather watch than what I perceived as a lesser sequel/prequel/whatever it was.

[Archaeon]

Originally Posted by npal

If it were marketing the franchise, the old guard should have won That is obviously not the case. Personally I couldn't watch more than 5 eps of Achiga, it just didn't feel good. I downloaded some eps afterwards then stopped caring altogether. I had too many other stuff I'd rather watch than what I perceived as a lesser sequel/prequel/whatever it was.

That is why I said there's a good reason why some people consider this shows as Toki Senriyama-Hen which is why Toki win. Beside, just because you think it's not good that doesn't mean other people think it's not good. I learn about this reality when many of my favorite characters got knock out by my least favorite characters in the previous Saimoe tournament. There might also be people who vote new characters due to new and fresh feeling around it.

[Eater of All]

My first post on this thread was: "likely less domination this year." If I was predicting earthquakes I'd be in jail by now.

But if it's anyone from Saki, I'd rather Toki win it. So the end result is good at least.

[Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Team Rocket Elite

Congrats to Onjouji Toki our Saimoe 2012 Champion! In the end, Toki did have to put some effort into a match to win. Kuro did a great job in managing to challenge Toki. However, Toki did an even better job staying a step ahead of her. Unfortunately it isn't enough for Toki to hang on to being the Saimoe champion with the highest minimum percentage across all matches. I guess you can't break every record. Toki might end up with the highest average percentage, though. With their 27th straight win, the Saki series' brilliant run comes to an end. Their last loss to a non-Saki character ended up being over a month before the end of the tournament. I wonder if this record will ever be broken. I get the feeling a lot of people won't be happy if it is. I look forward to seeing how well the Saki characters hold up next year and onward. It will be sad to see Toki fall so much from having won before, though. In any case, congrats again to Toki on her victory!

The streak of 27 is still ongoing: -Saki- can add to it with wins next year. By the way, though, Madoka's streak of 22 is still live too, so there's still an outside chance for Madoka to catch up even without completely dominating the 2013 tournament.

Also, Madoka still holds the record for consecutive inter-series wins. -Saki- is currently at 18, and Madoka at 19. Again, both streaks are still live, so -Saki- could still easily take it.

Originally Posted by stormtrooper

The Saki voters really supported most of their representatives from day 1. Did the other factions do the same? It's usually the core group that would advance further.

Were there even any other factions to begin with? I guess YuruYuri was there, but that's about it.

[RJ TAYLER]

Well it's done and dusted here is the commemorative 4 x 3. It goes to prove the old sporting axiom you are only as good as your opposition, if they are no good then the tournament suffers from it.

Spoiler:

[Wanderer]

Toki is all pixelated

[Team Rocket Elite]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

The streak of 27 is still ongoing: -Saki- can add to it with wins next year. By the way, though, Madoka's streak of 22 is still live too, so there's still an outside chance for Madoka to catch up even without completely dominating the 2013 tournament.

Also, Madoka still holds the record for consecutive inter-series wins. -Saki- is currently at 18, and Madoka at 19. Again, both streaks are still live, so -Saki- could still easily take it.

That's true if you count streak as crossing over multiple years. Breaking 27 as a single calendar year streak would require a new run and be very tough for any series to do. Saki can't extend their streak by much since they have a lot of characters that can lose in Round 1. If Madoka avoids bringing any witches or minor characters to the tournament, they just need each Puella Magi to bring home a win in Round 1 to tie and the first one up in Round 2 to win to take the record. They'll need a bit more if Saki extends the record, though.

[RJ TAYLER]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Toki is all pixelated

Source images in my library that were of her solo, not horizontal were thin on the ground, also i'm not quite as good with photoshop this year for some reason.

[ahelo]

Congratulations Toki. Even with all the downs and downs of this tourney, winning the crown is still no easy feat. At the very least, you were the one I was rooting for when the top 8 was announced.

There really isn't much hope for this tourney anymore. There's 113 pages of comments from foreigners yet barely any of them can vote. I seriously doubt 2ch cares about gaijin problems and if next year gets even worse in terms of votes and series domination. . . even I'll have to bail from caring about this tournament.

[chaosprophet]

Congratulations to Toki. While I have yet to watch achiga, she seems a good character.

For the next year, I really wish I could vote. XD It's just not as exciting for me to just watch without being to vote, usually resulting in me losing my interest around the middle and only coming back around the end.

[Ichuki]

Originally Posted by ahelo

There really isn't much hope for this tourney anymore. There's 113 pages of comments from foreigners yet barely any of them can vote. I seriously doubt 2ch cares about gaijin problems and if next year gets even worse in terms of votes and series domination. . . even I'll have to bail from caring about this tournament.

Yea that's why I hope a "free for all" like someone said is true knowing that there's a potential a new Spring/Winter 2013 we haven't heard of series would over dominate next year and I also hope the tournament holders will notice that low vote total issue/series overdominating as well.

[Coldlight]

Looking back at my earliest posts on this thread, it's ironic how different the tournament turned out. I had expected excitement from the many veterans, but in the end they failed to deliver - which of course wasn't very exciting. There was also a statement about domination being less likely - but boy, was I wrong. It got worse!

I thought those statements were a relatively safe assumption to make, but if I had bet a piece of cardboard on those, then I'd still be having something inedible to munch on long after my favorites got wiped out and after the tournament ended.