[Lun] Saimoe 11 Round 1 Review-And-Preview

Well, well, where should I start? From BiriBiri’s electrifying win over Homura to ChaRio to K-ON!!’s complete downfall, Round 1 has had its fair share of significant events and unpredictability. I’m gonna do a review-and-preview of most of the series, so prepare for a WOT. If you’re just interested in stats aspect, I’ve crunched up the numbers, sorted by various categories – the links are all at the end of this post.

LOOKING GOOD

Infinite Stratos
After their below-par performances in the prelims, some doubters begin to write off IS’s chances for this year’s tournament. And why wouldn’t they after viewing the tourney bracket? Charlotte – their ace – was pitted against Erio as early as the first round, while Cecilia, Laura and Houki was thrown into brackets where they would seemingly stumble before the block finals.

However, the IS girls manage to turn in a good performance in Round 1 to finish top in terms of average vote % for a series (with losers included). Given Charlotte’s progress to Round 2 and Cecilia’s improved chances of reaching the block finals since Nako and Shana has been eliminated, there’s now renewed optimism in the IS camp. There’s still plenty of work to do though, Rin and Laura are up against some tricky opponents.

Madoka
We expected the Madoka series to be a force, and it indeed is. Perhaps the only disappointment came in the form of Homura, but in terms of statistics, the Madoka series came up top for the average votes (excluding Ika Musume and Victorique themselves) and average vote % among winners. All four of them should be able to make it past Round 2, though Sayaka could face a tough time against Saten.

LOOKING GOOD TOO, BUT WHY CAN’T I HOLD THESE TRICKY MATCHES

Oreimo
While most of side characters disappointed, the popular three was able to record good wins. Kuroneko continues to be a beast in attracting the numbers (4th among winners), and she should have an easy ride to Round 3. But the other two will have a tougher time. Kirino might find it difficult against Index – a match that will probably involve strategic voting, whle Ayase has to duel it out with Milky Holmes’ ace, Kokoro.

Raildex
As usual, the main girls of Raildex once again feature in Round 2, and this time, Index joins them too! BiriBiri’s first round performance was simply a spectacular one, and if she can keep this up, she would certainly have a good shot of winning the tourney. Her R2 match-up seems easy enough, but not so for the other Raildex girls, who will face top-tier opponents (with the exception of Last Order).

Angel Beats
I was somewhat trolled into believing that AB was done and dusted after their poor performances in the prelims, but hey, Kanade was able to beat Mugi by a convincing margin (and end up 2nd among winners for the no. of votes) while Yui came up tops against Komoe in a Raildex block voting day. Both of them will now face two Amagami girls, and will there be enough in the tank to overcome them?

DARK HORSES

Astarotte No Omocha
Till now, I’m still pleasantly surprised at the amount of backing Lotte and Asuha receive. If it continues, both girls should be able to make it to R3, with the former even further.

Amagami SS
Another series that was kinda underrated coming into the main round. Four made it through, but it could have been five as Ai almost beat Kurisu in her match-up. Like I mentioned above, two will face the girls from AB, Nishishi will seek to avenge Ai’s defeat while Rihoko sadly will be in the crossfire between Kokoro and Ayase.

Strike Witches
Suffering from “summer show” syndrome and being one of the returning series, some were expecting the Witches to perform even worse than they did in 2009. But they didn’t, and once again 7 of them enter the next round. However, the witches once again end up with tough fixtures in the second round – Perrine, Shirley, Eila probably have no chance to progress, while Sanya, Barkhorn, Hartmann and Yoshika face tricky opponents. Will the four of them have what it takes to proceed?

A-Channel
Run and Tooru achieved the minimum expectations of A-Channel in Round 1, but Yuuko’s win over Shana was a bonus. They seem to be doing just enough to clinch the win that they need… if things go their way, they could be very well be the dark horses of this tournament.

ONE TO RULE THEM ALL

Hanasaku Iroha
Initially, it was looking very promising for Hanairo – grandma made it to the second round and Ohana switched on her beast mode. Sadly, when support was needed the most, it didn’t come as Nako crashes out against Shirayuki and Minchi came up short against Kirino (to be fair to the latter, she was always gonna have a tough time). But hey, Ohana is still present, and she’ll probably be able to fest it up all the way to the block finals.

Hidan No Aria
Riko choked against Erica Hartmann, Shirayuki was able to overcome Nako, Aria had an easy time. Result of the match-up between Shirayuki vs Cecilia would tell us whether Shirayuki’s first round win was assisted by… Cecilia backers. Aria should be okay till Round 3 – a potentially tricky match against Houki.

Hidamari
Four of them made it, but once again, Yuno will be the one to shoulder Hidamari’s hopes.

Ika Musume and Victorique
I don’t even need to elaborate, lol.

FUCK YOU RANDOM DRAW, FUCK YOU

Sora no Otoshimono
Actually, they surpassed expectations – Nymph, Delta and Chaos faced tricky opponents but came through their obstacles successfully. Sadly though, they face difficult opponents YET AGAIN in the second round and this time, it probably won’t be enough. Ikaros will have to beat Asuha, but even then, a probable Kuroneko match would be too much for her to handle. Aside from the angeloids, Sohara is a goner against Charlotte too.

TWGOK
The top-tier characters of TWGOK delivers, but now they face difficult opposition. Elsea is up against Strike Witches’ top ace, Haqua faces a daunting trip to Kissuiso while Kanon and Ayumi face IS’ might. Not looking good.

NOT LOOKING GOOD

Milky Holmes
While MH’s representation stands at five in the second round, make no mistake: some of them certainly had easy match-ups. Furthermore, two of their stronger representatives – Sherlock and Cordelia- have already been eliminated. Zenigata and Hirano stand no chance in the second round, while Nero, Elly and Kokoro will do battle against characters from stronger factions. Stats do not look too good for MH: 25th in average vote % and 32nd in average votes among 41 series that feature in the second round.

Steins;Gate
Somewhat underwhelming, Mayushii choked against Himeji, Kurisu had to depend on a splendid final rush to beat Ai. ZA ZOMBIE will have to step it up even she is to make it to the block finals. Suzuha, at the moment, seems to be their most promising representative.

Denpa Onna
Their ace is out. Maekawa stands a good chance against Nero – but her run will end in Round 3 against Ika. Ryuushi will have to combat Barkhorn, and if successful, a probable encounter with Tenshi awaits. In other words, doomed.

Nichijou
Nano is the word. But she’ll face the girl who dumped Shana out…

Ano Hana
A shock defeat for Anaru which leaves Menma on her own. The latter will probably find it difficult against Run in her R2 match-up, and even if she beats her, Sanya/Elsie would probably be a far too huge obstacle.

To Love-Ru
Poor Mikan. Poor Kotegawa.

R.I.P

K-ON!!
Game over.

Shana
Yo Hinagiku, see you in 2012.

Yup, that’s about it.

Now for some stats in brief:

Highest turn-out: 1338 – Akemi Homura vs Sara vs Misaka Mikoto
Lowest turn-out: 360 – Rebecca Anderson vs Sera vs Koumato Madoka

Winner with the highest votes: Misaka Mikoto – Raildex (696)
Winner with the lowest votes: Zenigata Tsugiko – Milky Holmes (143)

Loser with the highest votes: Akemi Homura – Madoka (585)
Loser with the lowest votes: Meme Touwa – Denpa Onna and Kusano – Sekirei (40)

Winner with the highest vote %: Mami Tomoe – Madoka (62.08%)
Winner with the lowest vote %: Iroha Tsuchiura – Ochinko (36.18%)

Loser with the highest vote %: Sakura Akari – Jewelpet (46.56%)
Loser with the lowest vote %: Sara – Jewelpet (4.26%)

Series with the highest average vote %: Infinite Stratos (50.39%)
Series with the lowest average vote %: Sora No Woto (11.28%)

Series with the highest average vote: Madoka (373)
Series with the lowest average vote: Durarara! (58)

Detailed statistics for Round 1:

Round 1 Stats (All)
Round 1 Stats (Winners Only)

And I’m done for my part. Looking forward to Round 2, and may there be more exciting moments ahead!