Saimoe 09: And the Winner is...
Saimoe 2009 Champion: Taiga (ToraDora)!
& for the second Saimoe in a row, a tsundere has won the tournament! Despite Yui leading throughout almost the entire tournament this year (& in the end she still wound up with more votes than anyone else), Taiga bested her in the final one-on-one battle. It wasn't exactly the result I was looking, but considering I like Taiga too, it's really not the worst thing in the world. At the very least I can say I'm now satisfied with the winner for two years in a row. From 2004 to 2007, I really can't approve of the winners, but for these past 2 years things have finally begun to look good again. Sure Taiga is no Nodoka or Yui or Asuka or Haruhi, & so on & so on. But she is a character I like, so I'm happy with at least that much. & Yui does have a chance to compete next year again. I guess I really did correctly call the 2009 winner last year. Here are the full results for the final round:
Grand Final
1st 1332 Taiga Aisaka @ Toradora!
2nd 1278 Yui Hirasawa @ K-On!
& so after over 2 months of voting, Saimoe 2009 comes to an end. A bit earlier than usual actually, as Saimoe usually ends in early November, which I kind of wish it still did. Never the less, this was an interesting year. Mio, who was predicted by many to win this year, lost in the very first round. Our Final 32 turned out being the Final 34. How incredibly well "Saki" did throughout the tournament, only to fall apart at the very end. & what was up with characters like Isumi & Louise doing so well (both surprising for different reasons)?
Personally I was really surprised how badly "Strike Witches" performed. I thought those flying pantless lolis would be a major force to be reckoned with this year, but instead they mostly dropped like flies early on, including my beloveds Francesca & Yoshika. ;;_;; Also surprising was the lack of support for all the Kyoto Animation characters, with the exception of "K-On" (first round not withstanding). The "Lucky Star" girls got murdered in the first round, & "Haruhi" & "Clannad" didn't fair too well after that either. After having KyoAni dominate last year, it was surprising how quickly they fell apart this year. Only Yui & Azunyan proved to be forces to be reckoned with.
Looking ahead to next year, Mio might take the second chance given to her & make up losing in Round 1 by winning it all in 2010. BiriBiri might fair better next year as well & could be a contender to win the crown, now that she has her own spin-off show this season. & of course let's not forget Mina Tepes from the upcoming Dance in the Vampire Bund. Her show doesn't premiere until next year, but she'll be qualified to compete in Saimoe 2010, & I can easily see her taking it all.
Sadly though, Nanoha & Fate from "Lyrical Nanoha" will be eligible to compete AGAIN next year because of their new movie. This will be their 5th Saimoe Tournament in Saimoe's nine year history. That'll tie them for the record set by Ai Haibara (Detective Conan) & Angol Moa (Sgt Frog), though both of them will likely compete again next year, bringing their record to 6. Only difference is those two have never made it very far, while Nanoha & Fate almost always do. Oh well, at least we had this year off from them.
Thanks for following our coverage this year! See you again in 10 months!
Source: http://www.animesaimoe.org