2012 Preliminary Results

First places by series:
Saki: 8
Hayate: 2
Yuru Yuri, Inu x Boku SS, K-ON, Nyarlko, Shana, Working, Hyouka: 1


Saki has 29 characters qualified, and is on pace to reach 40+ in the second preliminaries. Damn it, guys, when I said "Imagine what a mess the first main tournament round would be if we win half the preliminary groups and get 40 characters in" I was trying to come up with an extreme, exaggerated scenario, and now here we are. Well, I suppose I'll take credit for calling that anyway.

Assuming K-ON fades, as they did in their other post-championship tournament, the names to watch are:

Akari Akaza and TOSHINOU KYOUKO: The overall vote leader, and 3rd place. Saki's strongest rival is, as expected, Yuru Yuri. Tactical voting support from others who want to put a stop to the Saki threat can push them over the top.

Katsura Hinagiku and Sanzenin Nagi: Hayate's two aces and infamous saimoe veterans. There will be people, very butthurt people, looking to avenge the injustices done to these two in the past. Hayate has a history of clashing with Saki, and they were the third most successful team in the preliminaries.

Nyarlko, Shirakiin Ririchiyo, Chitanda Eru: Newcomers who won their groups. These are still relatively unknown quantities, so watch out for assassinations coming from them.

Misaki Mei and Kashiwazaki Sena didn't win their groups, but they're very similar to the previous three in potential. Ika Musume will remain high powered, too.

The Saki army. Toki and the Matsumi sisters are their top three, but they've got a dozen characters who could reach the finals. There's three more episodes yet to be released, which could power up characters who will be playing the remaining mahjong games. That means Ryuuka along with Shizuno and Arata. Since there's just so many of them, their immediate problem will be the random draw. Expect to see a couple nasty groups of death full of Saki on Saki action. But they're lesbians, so that's just how they like it.