Yuru Yuri - Akaza Akari
Akarin~ Saimoe championship, hajimaru yo! Akari is my pick to win this year, and Yuru Yuri as a whole will be formidable, with the second season running during the summer to build interest. This year may come down to who's less hated than the competition, and who could hate Akari? She's inoffensive and sympathetic despite broad popularity. She gathered a number of votes in Saimoe 2011, even though none of them were counted (as expected for Akari). Dedicated fans, running jokes, broad popularity, a currently running series, and little hate; what more could you ask for? Akarin~ actually stands out from the rest of the cast for once, but all the major characters will have to be taken seriously.
Saki Achiga Hen - Onjouji Toki
It's time for Toki to emerge as the Saki franchise's best shot at a Saimoe title. She's so moe she could die. She started out as an opponent like Koromo, but the series took a Toki shift and she drew the protagonist spotlight. She fits the usual winner profile and is backed by the notorious Saki faction, which has shown some of the greatest teamwork and tactics seen in previous years. If Akarin~ disappears, Toki will score a riichi ippatsu tsumo saimoe championship. I'm not sure if that's considered a single or double yakuman.
There's plenty of other Achiga characters to watch out for. Kuro received a lot of focus and is quite moe. From omakaseare to punching bag and back again, she's the kind of girl you'd want to give a hug to. Haramura Nodoka is back, but in a minor role. That will seriously diminish her power, although it wasn't minor enough to extinguish it. She could be more of an assassin than an endgame contender. Kirame will score underdog points. Yuu should receive a warm reception. Shizuno is a bit of a wild card: she probably won't be taken seriously enough, but she's the official main character and "never give up" incarnate. Ako has a lot of lovers, but her appeal is too sexual. This is a moe contest, not Comiket. Ryuuka may benefit from Toki's popularity, but will need a lot of development in the future episodes to become more than just the ace's love interest.
Idolm@ster
An especially big and flashy faction. That's what idols are for. At long last, the highly anticipated Idolm@ster Saimoe is here. However, the girls tend to have focused appeal, so they'll need exceptional teamwork to make a run for the championship. Rivals will be aiming for them and hoping to divide and conquer 765Pro.
Unfortunately, the anime didn't really do justice to Yayoi. She could've been an ace, but didn't get the presentation needed to position her for the championship. Chihaya did, and will be extremely strong, but she's the type who appeals greatly to certain fans, not everyone. She'll go deep but could choke in the finals. Miki isn't moe enough. She's more of a sexy, western-style idol. She's popular, so she won't be weak by any means, but she'll have a hard time pulling in fans from outside her core base.
Iori, the classic tsundeRie, will be an important standard bearer in a tournament overflowing with over-the-hill Rie girls. I don't expect her to outperform, but she has resources and will be an important barometer for juding the strength of the Rie fans. Makoto, with her tomboyish charm, will be very powerful. Voters aren't likely to allow a tomboy to win it all, but Makoto can reach the finals. Haruka, the ordinary everygirl, will also be relevant. Japan likes main characters, so even though she doesn't stand out from the cast, she could enjoy the support of the faction as a whole if they turn out to be sufficiently organized.
Overall, Idolm@ster will be one of the factions that defines the tournament, but despite literally being a bunch of stars, they don't have one as individually powerful as Akari and Toki.
Inu x Boku SS
Ririchiyo and Karuta will both be very dangerous. They're extremely cute and sweet. Ririchiyo and her tsundere antics are likely to show up in the finals. Her show was popular and appeals to a wide variety of fans.
Accel World
Kuroyukihime is astonishingly popular in Japan and is probably singlehandedly responsible for bringing in a large chunk of the show's viewers. She's been top tier in popularity polls and will be a dangerous contender in Saimoe.
Nyarlko
Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos, shall crawl deep into the tournament and attempt to steal fans' votes along with their sanity. Cthuko, moeru. She has a lot of otaku appeal, being a gaming twintailed pervert. The question is whether voters will fall for a flaming lesbian. This show is an absurd comedy with over-the-top characters, which is a disadvantage compared to more serious dramatic fare, so in strange eons the time will come to stick a fork in it.
Acchi Kocchi
Miniwa is heart attack-inducingly cute, but the show might not attract enough attention to bring her to the top in a competitive year. She's not to be underestimated, though, and has the potential to crea-HNNNNNNGGGGG
KyoAni - Chitanda Eru
K-ON will remain old and busted. The thought of Nichijou reaching the finals is almost as funny as the show itself (you can interpret that in more than one way). Hyouka, however, has given the studio one relevant character. I'm curious to see how far Eru will get; she could dig deep into the tournament to find out the truth about how voters feel.
Nisemonogatari
Despite being wildly popular, this series isn't really tailor-made for Saimoe. It'll be relevant, but shouldn't surpass Bakemonogatari. Karen and Shinobu are promising dark horses, Tsukihi should get some votes, and the Bakemonogatari girls should maintain their previous strength.
Another
Misaki Mei and Izumi have plenty of fans. Mei is individually outstanding, but she's coming from a gorefest that wasn't exactly as popular as K-ON, so there's a lot of uncertainty here. Nobody knows whether they'll survive to the end.
Smile PreCure
PreCure has traditionally been subpar in Saimoe. Peace may put them on the map this time, so don't underestimate her. However, she'll eventually end up in tears.
The Rest of the Field
There's plenty of other strong shows, such as Ro Kyu Bu and Papa no Iu Koto Kikinasai representing the loli lovers. Rinne no Lagrange and Aquarion EVOL have some good characters, such as Madoka and Yunoha. Horizon and Persona bring massive established fanbases to bear. Haganai's Sena and Kobato will be competitive, High School DxD has Rias, and Marika's Mouretsu Pirates could board the tournament.
Although this post focused on fresh characters, 2012 is the year when veterans will have the opportunity to make a comeback after the rookie-dominated 2011. Just about every single character Kugimiya Rie voiced, which includes approximately 73.613% of all anime characters ever, will be in the tournament. Top contenders like Ika Musume will be back, Poplar and Yamada will be working, Charlotte of IS and Erio of Denpa Onna will get chances to redeem themselves, Hayate is here, Type/Moon has Carnival Phantasm and Fate/Zero with loli Illya and Rin, and, of course, it's finally Hinagiku's year. It has been common for characters to perform better in their second year than in their first, so don't underestimate last year's girls.
Overall, this is a heavily stacked field. Look forward to an intense Saimoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment