Round 2 CD

9/25 Predictions:

Madoka takes another step forward. The second match is a tossup between Maekawa and Nero. Maekawa had better numbers so far, but Erio has been eliminated and Milky Holmes is tenacious. Since I have to pick one, it'll be Maekawa, although it wouldn't be surprising if Nero takes over.

Result: Madoka won't need any grief seeds to recover from such an easy battle. She scored an impressive 65.48% of votes cast. Nero made a last minute comeback to pass Maekawa in a match that changed leadership several times. Prediction Record: 1/2, 9/10 R2, 79/106 Total

9/26 Predictions:
Ika Musume's tentacles will violate another tournament bracket. Hercule vs Laura is a very even match. However, other IS characters have been getting higher vote totals than Milky Holmes ones and IS seems to have good faction organization. Nero's vote total was rather weak, suggesting that the Milky Holmes faction voters can't muster the numbers needed. Hercule is stronger than Nero, but not by enough to make up for the chasm between Lingyin's 290 and Nero's 217.

Update: I don't know what's going on here. A huge span of zero votes for Elly from 07:00 to 10:00, two spans with a big fake spike for Laura around the same time, and Eclair and Ika rising steadily and normally during that period. All totals are so low that it's hard to believe there's a large number of fake votes. Laura's 55 is totally out of line with what Infinite Stratos should be doing.

Result: Ika wins as expected, but Hercule dominated with only 207 votes. Laura was completely abandoned by Infinite Stratos fans, gathering a pathetic 146 votes. Only 459 votes were cast in that match, making this one of the more apathetic contests of the tournament. Prediction Record: 1/2, 10/12 R2, 80/108 Total

9/27 Predictions:
Last Order vs Nao Takanashi will probably go to Last Order. Although 10032 underperformed and Onii-chan has been doing better than expected, Nao's round 1 vote total was inflated by a high volume match on the same day, and the veteran Index faction should put some effort into defending this loli. Elsie is an obvious favorite in her match, even though Sanya could make her work for this capture.

Results: Elsie won as expected, although Sanya lead for large portions of the match. Last Order narrowly staved off Nao in a two vote photo finish. Her 222 is unimpressive for such a contested match, indicating that the Index fans weren't mobilizing. But then again, nobody has been mobilizing lately, and the low 200's has been enough to win a lot of matches. Also of interest was Isana's 180. This was a true three way match, rather than the usual 1v1 with a third wheel. Prediction Record: 2/2, 12/14 R2, 82/110 Total

9/28 Predictions:
Run and Yuno. Menma and AnoHana haven't shown any real saimoe power, but A Channel has been doing relatively well. Yuno's opponents aren't that powerful, so Yuno will win if she maintains her past level of performance.

Results: Run and Yuno. Menma was quite weak, defying high pre-season expectations for her. Prediction Record: 2/2, 14/16 R2, 84/112 Total