Saimoe 2010: Round 1, Day 1
Winners: Miki Noda (GA), Nazuna (Hidamari Sketch)
And so Saimoe 2010 begins! The early rounds of course see two separate matches a day, and we kicked things off today with a bit of a light start. No real huge names just yet, though I was personally rooting for Kureha from "Soranowoto" and the cute Kaede from "Nyankoi". Both come from really great and under appreciated series, though neither is my favorite from said series either. That being said, they both lost anyway. The two winners are a bit off an oddball considering they're more cartoonish looking than your average attractive moe anime girl, though the Hidamari girls in particular have always done well in the early rounds of the tournament, despite my constant surprise.
One of the most interesting characters to compete this round was a girl named Komaki Jindai, a character who only appeared briefly during the ending credits in the final episode "Saki". I was almost tempted to vote for her just because ofvhow cute she is! That and I really liked the series (considering how long Saki has been over, I really haven't given much thought in supporting the girls from that series for is year, so that flame I have for it might be igniting again; Saki & Nodoka were my two favs to win last year). But it would've been a bit silly to throw away my vote for a character we've seen so little of. Then again, i just may be voting for the Girl Who Sits Next to Yui is round, so I'm not really one to talk.
Today's matchup sees two girls from "Working" competing against each other in the first round- Kyouko and Yachiyo. Split-voting is always a source of trouble in Saimoe, so Working-supporters have to learn how to deal with it the best way possible if they want one of the two to advance, probably Yachiyo. Otherwise Hiiragi from "Hanamaru Kindergarten" just might take advantage of the split and slip in an early victory.
The other group sees a much tougher set of characters, perhaps the first decent matchup in the tournament. We got Ryou (Clannad), Kaho (Stray Cats Overrun), and Mika (Nogizaka Haruka). This is Clannad's third Saimoe tournament in a row, but I question how much steam the girls have left after so long. I like Ryou too, but personally I'll be pulling for the young imouto Mika this round, even if it isn't likely that she'll win. That honor just might go to newcomer Kaho.
Source: http://www.animesaimoe.org