International Saimoe League 2012

[ion475]

I guess with all these Holo fetish, she may still has a half chance of coming back next year (The tail? The nekomimi Wolf ear FTW)

Anyway, the necklace comes down to Shana v. Mio. Shana fan try but Mio's SDO advantage is too much. Haganai split as usual, Aria is abandon (At least using Exhibition 3 results...)

Onto exhibition:
1 - Seriously, Index > Kyouko? I guess Akarin is the only one that's popular...
2 - Koneko is THIS popular? Nice to know
3 - 3 way matchup, the goddess won...
4 - Louise losing I'm fine with, at least give it to Tomoyo...
5 - HanaKana FTW
6 - MaMAMIa...
7 - Poor Mikan...
8 - Utter destruction...a girl from an ongoing anime that's as popular as Biribiri vs. a mid-tier (at best) girl is just not fair.

[Ithekro]

Almost broke 12,000 vote in the main match.

[broken270]

Talk about getting trampled. I guess a lot of people liked Saber and Kiritsugu separately, but together, not so much. Indeed, as a pair, Kirito and Asuna are much more in sync and just better as a pair compared to their opponents. I think the bigger question now is how many of those voters voted thinking as a pair match and how many had a certain person in mind when voting that arena.

Until then, it looks like Koneko and Asuna are going to make a lot of noise come next year. With Season 2, maybe Toshinou will be there, considering that about half of Nova is going to the Stella side.

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by ion475

I guess with all these Holo fetish, she may still has a half chance of coming back next year (The tail? The nekomimi Wolf ear FTW)

Anyway, the necklace comes down to Shana v. Mio. Shana fan try but Mio's SDO advantage is too much. Haganai split as usual, Aria is abandon (At least using Exhibition 3 results...)

Onto exhibition:
1 - Seriously, Index > Kyouko? I guess Akarin is the only one that's popular...

Index was in the regular season hard to compare really especially in a 7 way match, but meh ISML has bad tastes sometimes .

And even though Shana lost the necklace, I am happy with Mio winning it.

Just wow at the Kirito/Asuna stomp though .

[ion475]

Index was in the regular season hard to compare really especially in a 7 way match, but meh ISML has bad tastes sometimes .

More like most of the time...

Just wow at the Kirito/Asuna stomp though .

The margin is a little bit surprising. Saber was fairly strong this year (due to Fate/Zero). As much as Asuna is Biribiri strength (I found them to be very similar anyway...), 8140-3097 (72.44%) is insane...

Until then, it looks like Koneko and Asuna are going to make a lot of noise come next year. With Season 2, maybe Toshinou will be there, considering that about half of Nova is going to the Stella side.

Personally I'm not too sure about Koneko. Although Season 2 is coming, which would help her chance (She looks more like a mid-tier to me...). Asuna is surely going to be strong. Kyouko? She's fodder, sadly (No, I don't hate Kyouko, but ISML voters in general has weird and crappy taste...)

[~Yami~]

Kirito-Asuna have great future ahead...

and Shana is lost... looks like she won't get anything anymore from ISML
I'm so sad

[ppaaccoojrf]

Where did this "Asuna is as popular as Biribiri" thing come from? What did I miss?

Or are people comparing both series because they're both massively popular sci-fantasy LNs?

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by ppaaccoojrf

Where did this "Asuna is as popular as Biribiri" thing come from? What did I miss?

Or are people comparing both series because they're both massively popular sci-fantasy LNs?

SAO's LNs has popularity pasted that of Index's in japans this year, and the sales look to be well above it for anime purposes, so I expect Asuna to do very well in ISML next year.

[ion475]

Where did this "Asuna is as popular as Biribiri" thing come from? What did I miss?

LN girls ranking. Biribiri is #1 while Asuna is #2. SAO sweep everything else, though (Kirito being the #1 male, SAO being #1 LN over Index).

I only use Biribiri b/c personally I found them to have very similar personality, nothing else.

[Sphire]

Damn, forgot about checking this earlier. Mio still manages to win, and has a nice picture to boot. Inori winning something is pretty sweet too. With another nice picture. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll go far in post season.

And Asuna will be dangerous next year. I did expect a trounce, but that was a little more than expected. Sure the pairing itself is a factor, but still. I'm not sure how this bodes for next year, although I think Kuroyukihime vs Asuna will be great to see.

[ppaaccoojrf]

Originally Posted by ion475

LN girls ranking. Biribiri is #1 while Asuna is #2. SAO sweep everything else, though (Kirito being the #1 male, SAO being #1 LN over Index).

But that's only data from Japan, and only from the LN readers to boot. I know we barely have more data to compare, but coming to that conclusion with such a non-indicative sample feels a little far-fetched, personally.

Originally Posted by ion475

I only use Biribiri b/c personally I found them to have very similar personality, nothing else.

Having read (most) of both LNs, I disagree. Asuna is more mature and strict with herself, but generally dependent on others (though incredibly bold), while Misaka is more rebellious and brash (and chilidish), and likes doing things on her own instead of depending on others.

For example, in a cross over, Misaka would probably be a Solo Player, while Asuna would probably become a member of Judgement. Well, that's my take on it at least.

Spoiler for Disclaimer:

Do note that I'm not up to date with the SAO anime because I didn't like how they rushed the Side Stories. Asuna may give off a different impression on the anime, though I doubt it.

[broken270]

Spoiler for Nova PS:

1. Tachibana Kanade vs. 16. Haruna
8. Hasegawa Kobato vs. 9. Yuzuriha Inori
5. Nakamura Yuri vs. 12. Kuroi Mato
4. Yui vs. 13. Touwa Erio
3. Gokou Ruri vs. 14. Victorique de Blois
6. Kousaka Kirino vs. 11. Kanzaki H. Aria
7. Kashiwazaki Sena vs. 10. Charlotte Dunois
2. Eucliwood Hellscythe vs. 15. Mikazuki Yozora

Spoiler for Stella PS:

1. Misaka Mikoto vs. 16. Sakagami Tomoyo
8. Suzumiya Haruhi vs. 9. Katsura Hinagiku
5. Nagato Yuki vs. 12. Segoku Nadeko
4. Akiyama Mio vs. 13. Oshinou Shinoubu
3. Aisaka Taiga vs. 14. Tohsaka Rin
6. Nakano Azusa vs. 11. Hirasawa Yui
7. Saber vs. 10. Senjougahara Hitagi
2. Shana vs. Illyasviel von Einzbern

I am having a problem visualizing how the joint PS is going to look like. Is it something like this?

Spoiler for Possible Joint PS:

N1 vs. S6
N8 vs. S3
N5 vs. S2
N4 vs. S8
N3 vs. S7
N6 vs. S1
N7 vs. S4
N2 vs. S5

[stormtrooper]

It might be like this

Spoiler for Joint PS, Group Crossover:

1N vs. 8S
5N vs. 4S
2N vs. 7S
6N vs. 3S
3N vs. 6S
7N vs. 2S
4N vs. 5S
8N vs. 1S.

[HasuMasu]

Nice poster there.

SAO expected outcome, all set for 2013.

[broken270]

Originally Posted by stormtrooper

It might be like this

Spoiler for Joint PS, Group Crossover:

1N vs. 8S
5N vs. 4S
2N vs. 7S
6N vs. 3S
3N vs. 6S
7N vs. 2S
4N vs. 5S
8N vs. 1S.

Right. That's certainly how it should be arranged vs wise. I was so focused in making sure that everything fits statistically that I got my arrangement screwed up. I changed it a bit such that 1N would meet 2S and 1S meets 2N in the semi-finals, so the formula should end up like this.

Spoiler for Maybe Joint PS:

1N vs. 8S
5N vs. 4S
3N vs. 6S
7N vs. 2S
2N vs. 7S
6N vs. 3S
4N vs. 5S
8N vs. 1S

Okay, I think I got the visual part down. Thanks, stormtrooper.

[Team Rocket Elite]

Congrats on winning the Topaz Necklace, Akiyama Mio! Poor Shana will have to go without a necklace this year. She may have had a sizable advantage but Mio did really in staying close enough to Shana to take the necklace. 169 is what made the difference. I guess this year really highlighted the problems with Kugimiya Rie having so many strong characters. Shana and Taiga sabotaged each other for 3 periods and when Shana finally got away from Taiga, she didn't have the SDO to get the job done anymore. Aria showing up in Topaz probably didn't help either. Hanazawa Kana can get away with this because Kanade is strong enough to win despite split votes and take an early necklace. Everyone else did badly relative to Shana and Mio but Yui did end up doing quite well relative to Yuki. This might have been because Yui's SDO was also pretty good. Sena and Kobato split vote each other to death and unsurprisingly Aria gets hammered by Shana's presence to take last place.

Kyouko looks stronger after Season 2. However, she still trails a fair bit behind Index.

Toujou Koneko really surprised me with her performance. I didn't think she would win, let alone so easily. I only watched Highschool DxD not to long ago so it's cool to see Koneko do well.

I was looking forward to seeing how well Yuuhi was doing after so many years since Kugimiya Rie characters tend to have strong staying power. It's too bad she got paired with Aria making her strength completely unreadable. Maybe I'll get a better read the next time she shows up.

The battle for the Topaz Earrings was Inori vs Tomoyo as I thought it would be and Inori came out on top. Congrats to Inori!

I generally don't give newcomers much credit before their first match. I thought I was being generous when I pegged Asuna and Kirito as being only a bit weaker than Saber and Kiritsugu. Reaching Saber's level is no small feat afterall. I was completely wrong. Asuna and Kirito completely demolish their opponents. At face value, it's a performance that means Tachibana Kanade would have trouble hitting 40%. I don't know if this is something Asuna could do in a non-exhibition match but if it is we may have out ISML 2013 Champion already.

For those interested, here are my character rankings from before Topaz 1 and after Topaz 7:

Before Topaz 1:

Spoiler for Character Ranking before Topaz 1:

Aisaka Taiga - 63.25
Nakano Azusa - 58.58
Misaka Mikoto - 57.38
Suzumiya Haruhi - 57.02
Shana - 56.9
Nagato Yuki - 56.1
Akiyama Mio - 55.44
Saber - 54.57
Katsura Hinagiku - 48.55
Sengoku Nadeko - 47.49
Hirasawa Yui - 47.39
Senjōgahara Hitagi - 46.02
Oshino Shinobu - 45.19
Sakagami Tomoyo - 45.06
Fujibayashi Kyō - 43.8
Tōsaka Rin - 43.53
Illyasviel von Einzbern - 43.4
Last Order - 43.02
Louise Vallière - 42.6
Furukawa Nagisa - 41.77
C.C. - 41.53
Asahina Mikuru - 41.25
Hiiragi Kagami - 41.23
Izumi Konata - 41.08
Ikaros - 40.84
Konjiki no Yami - 40.03
Sanzen'in Nagi - 39.53
Nymph - 39.39
Kotobuki Tsumugi - 39.36
Ichinose Kotomi - 38.52
Index L. Prohibitorum - 38.22
Hirasawa Ui - 38.08
Holo - 37.98
Shirai Kuroko - 36.11
Shiina Mafuyu - 35.66
Hecate - 33.3

Tachibana Kanade - 72.73
Eucliwood Hellscythe - 66.37
Gokō Ruri (Kuroneko) - 54.43
Yui - 52.89
Nakamura Yuri - 50.89
Hasegawa Kobato - 47.69
Kōsaka Kirino - 47.45
Kashiwazaki Sena - 47.26
Yuzuriha Inori - 44.29
Charlotte Dunois - 43.58
Kanzaki H. Aria - 42.34
Victorique de Blois - 41.49
Kuroi Mato - 40.64
Tōwa Erio - 40.49
Mikazuki Yozora - 39.02
Makise Kurisu - 38.82
Elucia de Lute Ima - 38.8
Haruna - 38.6
Aragaki Ayase - 38.04
Kirishima Shōko - 37.81
Iwasawa Masami - 37.52
Konoe Subaru - 37.01
Haqua du Lot Herminium - 36.6
Himeji Mizuki - 36.49
Akemi Homura - 36.34
Irisviel von Einzbern - 35.6
Mine Riko - 35.11
Kasugano Sora - 35.08
Shiomiya Shiori - 35.03
Nakagawa Kanon - 34.85
Suzutsuki Kanade - 34.34
Honma Meiko - 34.27
Fear Kubrick - 33.99
Shimada Minami - 32.61
Sakura Kyōko - 31.97
Gasai Yuno - 29.49

After Topaz 7:

Spoiler for Character Ranking after Topaz 7:

Aisaka Taiga - 65
Nakano Azusa - 58.98
Misaka Mikoto - 58.1
Akiyama Mio - 56.77
Shana - 55.53
Nagato Yuki - 54.86
Suzumiya Haruhi - 54.57
Saber - 54.51
Katsura Hinagiku - 49.82
Senjōgahara Hitagi - 46.59
Sengoku Nadeko - 46.16
Hirasawa Yui - 45.91
Oshino Shinobu - 45.44
Sakagami Tomoyo - 44.61
Fujibayashi Kyō - 44.09
Furukawa Nagisa - 43.29
Last Order - 43.22
Illyasviel von Einzbern - 43.13
Louise Vallière - 43.08
Tōsaka Rin - 42.8
Konjiki no Yami - 42.52
C.C. - 41.79
Hiiragi Kagami - 41.69
Izumi Konata - 41.11
Asahina Mikuru - 40.89
Ikaros - 40.53
Nymph - 39.62
Kotobuki Tsumugi - 39.31
Index L. Prohibitorum - 38.57
Sanzen'in Nagi - 38.55
Ichinose Kotomi - 37.56
Holo - 37.55
Shirai Kuroko - 36.9
Hirasawa Ui - 36.86
Shiina Mafuyu - 36.2
Hecate - 33.98

Tachibana Kanade - 72.89
Eucliwood Hellscythe - 65.53
Gokō Ruri (Kuroneko) - 56.22
Yui - 51.65
Nakamura Yuri - 50.91
Kashiwazaki Sena - 48.15
Kōsaka Kirino - 48.11
Hasegawa Kobato - 47.18
Charlotte Dunois - 44.45
Yuzuriha Inori - 43.67
Kanzaki H. Aria - 42.28
Tōwa Erio - 40.5
Kuroi Mato - 40.35
Victorique de Blois - 40.34
Makise Kurisu - 40.15
Mikazuki Yozora - 40.03
Haruna - 38.67
Aragaki Ayase - 38.42
Iwasawa Masami - 37.66
Kirishima Shōko - 37.37
Haqua du Lot Herminium - 37.14
Konoe Subaru - 36.98
Elucia de Lute Ima - 36.9
Kasugano Sora - 36.49
Akemi Homura - 36.01
Himeji Mizuki - 35.8
Irisviel von Einzbern - 35.75
Mine Riko - 35.31
Honma Meiko - 35.11
Shiomiya Shiori - 34.78
Nakagawa Kanon - 34.46
Suzutsuki Kanade - 33.93
Fear Kubrick - 33.53
Sakura Kyōko - 31.36
Shimada Minami - 31.16
Gasai Yuno - 30.03

Characters in bold made the playoffs.

I haven't seen it yet but Yami seemed to have gotten a decent sized boost from the To LOVE-Ru Darkness OVA that came out after Emerald. She shot up quite a bit right from the start of Topaz. By a fair bit, she was the one that grew the most across Topaz. The other character that improved a lot was Kasugano Sora. She shot up another 4 place on top on what she already did at the end of Emerald. It's really too bad she didn't fight any opponents where her new found strength would help her. With a more normal schedule she could have gotten 3 or 4 more wins. Other than those two, no one really tried to go above and beyond their usual level. Nagisa, Kurisu and Kuroneko looked a bit better but nothing huge. I guess with the exception of Kuroneko, none of this really matters since they are done for the year.

In terms of crashes, Elsie looks like she was hit hardest. She shouldn't really be struggling with Riko and Mizuki but I guess she still won in the end. Minami didn't look to good in Topaz but I guess she's already near the bottom anyways. Last year Haruhi crashed pretty badly in the playoffs and a lackluster Topaz may be a sign of a repeat. Yuki doesn't look too good either. They will need to step up their game if they want to be competitive this year.

I guess you could call it a limitation on my ranking system but Taiga and Azusa still sit on top of Stella despite getting thrashed in Topaz 7. Taking into account all the matches in Topaz, those two still look the best. I guess Azusa isn't really that much higher than Mikoto in my rankings, though. Kanade tops Nova but I doubt many people expected differently.

When I was talking about characters that improved across Topaz, I didn't include Shana and Mikoto. Their boosts are another limitation in my stats system. Shana and Mikoto massively boosted for just Topaz 7 which doesn't give my stats enough time to adjust to the change. Normally, I need another match or two to confirm it's a permanent boost and not a one time spike. The reason I believe these spikes are real is because this is a repeat of last year. In 2011 Diamond 7, Shana and Mikoto both spiked up in strength. In the playoffs, Shana would go on to knock off Kanade while Mikoto won. Even if it isn't reflected in my stats, I think both Shana and Mikoto will give Kanade a run for her money when they cross paths.

[broken270]

Beautiful post-season poster. Not that it is a problem, but I do no see any exhibition matches. Maybe they will come later in the metagame.

[KholdStare]

Hm you're right, we don't have any exhibition matches. I guess that means we blame wontaek. Now if Irisviel and Saber had a baby, and that baby wants to lick Holo's tail...

[stormtrooper]

Fantasy players will like it. Less matches means less effort.

[Rajura]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

Hm you're right, we don't have any exhibition matches. I guess that means we blame wontaek. Now if Irisviel and Saber had a baby, and that baby wants to lick Holo's tail...

Then that would just be creepy... :P