Preliminary Halftime

The preliminaries are halfway over, and most of the major contenders have made themselves known.

Top factions by number of advancing contestants:
1: 12 girls - To Aru Majutsu no Index II
2: 6 girls - K-ON!!
3: 5 girls - Ore no Imouto
4 throuh 7: 4 girls - Strike Witches 2, Hidamari Sketch, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Hanasaku Iroha
8 throuh 13: 3 girls - Amagami SS, Kaminomi (TWGOK), Angel Beats!, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Steins;Gate

Top factions by number of preliminary winners:
1: 3 winners - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
2: 2 winners - Hanasaku Iroha
3: 1 winner - Ore no Imouto, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Dog Days

Sorted vote counts and vote percentages:

Hanasaku Iroha has had a stunningly successful preliminary round and established itself as a top faction. Milky Holmes and Steins;Gate have also been successful. These new factions are all outclassing K-ON.

Ika Musume and Erio Touwa are high-powered individuals with thin factions.

The big remaining unknown is Infinite Stratos. Its major characters all appear in the later rounds, and it's expected to be one of the top factions. Kuroneko of the formidable OreImo faction is one of the most dangerous contestants, but may not face a real test until the main tournament. Victorique of GOSICK will go up against Sayaka, possibly the weakest of the Madoka main five. The big event will be Madoka vs. Menma in group 16, which will test the strengths of two championship contenders.