Congratulations to Taiga Aisaka for winning Saimoe. She is the first champion ever to complete the "MTmoe" Triple Crown of the MegaTokyo Anime Grand Prix, the Korean Best Moe (this link will probably change), and the crown jewel - Saimoe. This will probably be a feat that will never be repeated, quite frankly.
Also, Omedetou to Rie Kugimiya. It's been a long long time coming for her to finally get a character to the top - especially after what happened two years ago when Nagi came oh so close to winning it all.
AGP will be in half a year, and the early Saimoe winner predicting can begin once again.
I won't be posting on the blog for awhile. Instead, I'll continue to give match analysis over on the MegaTokyo forums. So instead, I'll be leaving this image above for those who want to track the SaiMoe 2009 results. The above image is updated by Aya Reiko - a forum member (moderator?) over at the AnimeSuki forums.
Saki has 6 characters who could end up Top 8 still (which would obviously be a Saimoe record). However, some of the matches don't really favor them anymore and there are no double votes to help them from this point forward. You really have to give it that "Any Given Sunday" attitude to each match.
And these matches are not easy for most of them - Today's match is probably the 2nd easiest to win for the Saki faction, quite honestly.
Kana vs Isumi does not favor Kana. This is practically the test match to the major Nodoka v Nagi match later on.
Momoko has to go against Louise - a perennial threat every year to win and has a bit of that "Suiseisuki" hate-love factor going on.
Koromo draws Amu-chi - and Shugo Chara's recent Season 2 ending is going to give Amu a big boost (she had her best cheer-up monologue of the series in the last episode, IMO) while Koromo was not really featured at the end of Saki.
Lastly, Nodocchi has to face Nagi who just knocked out Saki two days ago. I'm sure more then anything the Hayate faction would love to shift the balance of power to their favor by knocking out Saki's strongest character in the tournament.
The only match where a Saki character is expected to outright win is when KYAPTEN goes off to obliterate poor Eruruu out of the tournament forever after her usefulness of kicking out both Haruhi characters is gone.
This oesn't mean that 6 out of 8 characters will come out of one series is impossible - but the odds of that happening are very slim. I would believe at most 4 end up in the top 8.
Also a quick mention here - Rie Kugimiya still have 4 characters in the tournament (none of them got eliminated last round.) It could be possible that we could see all four go on to the top 8 - and depending on how the match pairings come out when the top 8 face off - we could see a top 4 all KugiRie final four. Which IMO would be a amazing feat were it to actually happen.
And also - Hayate despite losing a number of people last round including one of its strongest in Hinagiku - is still a threat out there that needs to be looked out for.
We've finally reached the 2009 SaiMoe block finals. Here is a quick analysis of each match - and picks.
Introducing your top 16 girls of anime for the past year in Japan:
There isn't a order to the madness yet, but as we get closer to that final match date of October 17th, we'll know who is at the top and who is just mid-tier.
Round three of Saimoe has already started. Before getting to round three, a good number of expected results happened, so I won't bother with going to a analysis of round 2. Rather, what *is* surprising is Block G, of which two of it's matches went into ties. And unlike "The Damn Coin" that the MegaTokyo AGP uses to determine who wins ties - both characters who are tied advance to the next round regardless. And there wasn't just one tie this year, it happened twice. In the same block. It'll be interesting how much Eruru will affect the very anticipated and fabled 2006 rematch between Haruhi and Yuki - as well as how much Ushio will affect the votes against Ritsu and Mihoko.
There are also supposed fears that this tournament will turn into a Saki-fest with the possibility of six Saki characters making the top 8.
I'm here to tell you there is no way in hell that's going to happen.
Chiaki Minami - who won her round three matchup against Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke is no slouch when it comes to votes. Isumi Saginomiya might be the surprise dark horse to win it all to come out of Block B and knock out Yuuki/Fuuko. Momoko will have her hands full against 3 top SaiMoe veterans in Kyou, Mion, and Louise. Koromo will have to face Amu (my personal favorite to win this year's SaiMoe) while CAPTAIN Mihoko will have to fend off not only Ritsu and Ushio this round, but also quite possibly Yuki Nagato (who should be expected to repeat her win over Haruhi, with Eruru being a vote-eating bottom-feeder). That's also not to mention the two strongest Saki characters (Saki herself and Nodoka Haramura) are in the same block and are expected to face each other "Nanoha vs Fate" style.
If there is a series out there to watch out for besides Saki, it's going to be Hayate no Gotoku. They have a good chance of possibly taking four of the eight blocks with some of their top characters and possibly send some of the key Saki characters home packing. Isumi has already won her round three match and is primed to reach the top 8. Ayumu and Hinagiku, while facing stiff competition from Yui and Minori - could potentially win the block, especially Hinagiku who traditionally is strong in SaiMoe every year. Hinagiku is always a perennial threat every year to win it all, and if she makes it to top 8, there is a good shot she might win it all. Maria is also having a tremendous run this year, going much further this year then her usual first round exits though she faces stiff competition from Azuza, Nagisa, and Taiga. Lastly, one of the very last matches of round four features Nagi Senzenen going at it against Saki Miyanaga. It would go a long way to completely deflating the Saki group if she were to win the block by beating both Saki and Nodoka (respectively probably the top 2 Saki characters in the tournament still).
In any case, here are some of the notable matchups (images courtesy of AnimeSaimoe.org). By the way, it just so happens to be the last four days:
These two matchups are all about straight up firepower. Hinagiku is round 1's top vote getter, while Yui is round 2's top vote getter (and currently the overall top vote getter) so it'll be without question the vote totals should be over the top. However, who will bring in the most firepower is going to be the question. Azuza vs Nagisa is no match to forget about as well - both of them could be upset favorites in the block.
This is a straight up 2v2 matchup between two series favorites as Hayate no Gotoku girls Ayumu and Maria face off against the one-two combination of Toradora's Taiga and Minori. The vote totals will reflect the series then it will the characters in these two matchups, and expect a lot of ASCII art flying around featuring the two pairs together.
Despite expecting Nodocchi to Saki-roll Miyako out of the tournament, this day is still interesting because of the intrigue the Yuki v Haruhi v Eruru matchup is going to bring. Can Eruruu play off Yuki and Haruhi and sneak a win? Can Haruhi overcome her tragic round three loss from 2006 to Yuki? Or will Yuki get this key win and once again come into the top 8, and instill fear into her competitors as Yuki "Battleship" Nagato as she once did in 2006 before she lost to eventual 2006 champion Suiseisuki? The results can provide some very interesting answers.
The last day features double Saki, with Saki herself facing Nagi (and despite not showing the vote totals to beat Nagi, she should be the one favored to win in the match heading in) as well as the triple threat match between Mihoko, Ushio, and Ritsu. I would expect the Saki characters to Saki-roll their way to their respective block finals, but these will not be easy matches.
Lastly, a quick note - Yuuki, Taiga, Louise, and Nagi are still in it for KugiRie. This is actually not a surprise to this point, considering that the latter three is this year's KugiRie Tsundere triad. It'll be interesting if this is the year KugiRie can finally get over the hump and finally get one of her girls to be this year's champion after coming oh-so-close back in 2007 with Nagi. Yukarin is already out of this year's tournament - and has not had a character place top 8 since Rika Furude's championship back in 2007. Nana Mizuki is down to her last character (Utau Hoshina), and has not had a top 8 character since Fate's 2006 run where she lost in the finals in a shocker to Suiseisuki. KugiRie has the most girls still in the tournament with four, with Yui Horie at 3. Minori Chihara is at 2 along with Rie Tanaka. The rest are all down to their final characters - as expected at around this time.
There is still a lot of intrigue in the tournament in play - and we'll see how the Japanese play it out.
Hinagiku of Hayate no Gotoku - who led all girls in total votes for round 1 with 870. ((EDIT - Image blown up, sorry.))
Round 1 ended yesterday and Round 2 started this morning. So it's time to take account to what actually happened in Round 1 and analyze what may happen in round 2.
Round 1 Analysis - First off, make sure to click the link here to see the latest results from SaiMoe, including the action from round 1. The image is courtesy of AnimeSaimoe.org - awesome website and great work over there!
Okay, lets start off with the characters who saw first round exits, and there is two major ones. The one most obviously to get knocked out in surprise is Mio Akiyama of K-On! who got knocked out by Saimoe veteran Kana Minami of Minami-ke. First off, hats off to Kana for being able to knock out one of the most favored-to-win candidates to win it all this year. Though, you do have to wonder if Kana got her votes because of her actual Moe of if some other force was in play in the background looking to knock Mio out early before she got to the later rounds.(A match between her and Nagi of Kannagi would've been pretty epic.) Quite surprisingly, K-On! girls dropped to 3 after seeing Tsumugi lose to stealth Momoko of Saki, and Ui Hirasawa lose to Amu Hinamori. Sawako-sensei also lost but her loss was expected.
The other girl to get knocked out early is none other then defending champion Kagami Hiiragi, who received a first round bounce from Mikuru Asahina this year. This marks yet another year of Saimoe where the Defending champion has failed to defend her title the following year.
It was surprising to me to see Haruka Nogizaka take a first round exit as well despite being a very early Saimoe 2009 favorite. Her sister though did make the next round. Aside from that, the matches for the most part were pretty ho-hum. No major surprises, other then a almost knock-out by Izumi of Hayate no Gotoku over Koromo of Saki. Koromo got a VERY late 3 additional votes and managed to squeeze past Izumi - which would have been a major upset considering Koromo is probably going to be a favorite to get the title as well (though not so much as fellow Saki castmate, Nodoka).
How I fared in quessing round 1 this year: Block A - 5 out of 12 Block B - 10 out of 12 Block C - 5 out of 12 Block D - 9 out of 12 Block E - 10 out of 12 Block F - 9 out of 12 Block G - 11 out of 12 Block H - 8 out of 12 Total - 67 out of 96 (.684 correct prediction)
After having a fairly rocky start in Block A and C, I came back pretty strong in the remaining blocks. Actually, I did better this year then I did last year. My combined Round 1 lifetime total is 129 out of 192, for a average of .672. Not bad, but not so good either. Hopefully next year I can up my total correct to above 75.
Now, for that important round 2 analysis:
Block A's matches are pretty ho-hum non-exciting, with no major contenders in the block (not that there was any to begin with) but they should also prove to be some of the more closer matches since some of the characters are close overall in moeness. It'll be pretty much fan-block voting for the most part.
Block B should prove to be slightly interesting, if only to see Yuno and Fuuko go at it, which we'll see what will happen to Kana after knocking out Mio last round. Isumi did knock out her older sister last round as well, so a little bit of revenge for Kana and the Minami-ke folks.
Block C has a interesting 3-match starting off with Hisa, Louise, and Mio going at it. There is plenty of split votes going on with both the Haruhi faction and the Saki faction - though the Saki faction handled their last split vote pretty well. (Block H-01)
Block D should be intersting if only to see the Hayate no Gotoku folks go at Koromo again - this time with Sakuya. Koromo managed to Haitei Raoyue her way out of round 1, but can she do it again versus yet another Hayate character? Should be interesting to watch.
Block E might prove to have some surprises. We'll see top-vote getter Hinagiku push for top-vote getter for this round again against a To-Love-Ru split vote, while Yui of K-On! go at it against 2007 champion Rika Furude. Will Rika get knocked out in round 2 yet again? The match between Miyuki Takara, Teru Miyanaga, and Minori Kushieda should also prove to be entertaining. While it should be assumed that Minori should run away with the match, her round 1 total is only 7 votes over Teru (who has practically no screentime in her series, btw.) I also wouldn't expect the Lucky Star people to lay down as well and expect Miyuki to bottom-feed votes from both girls.
Block F should prove interesting as we'll see Taiga Aisaka go against fellow castmate Ami Kawashima - and they'll have to be careful with Mikuru in the match, who only got 736 votes to knock out last year's Saimoe champion. It'll be interesting to see if fans will abandon Mikuru, or if we'll even see the Toradora faction manage to push one of their two main stars in this matchup through to the third round. Should be some nice drama in that match.
Block G has a major match between Mikoto "Biribiri" Misaka versus Mihoko "CAPTAIN!" Fukuji and it should be a pretty good match going in. Not to be overlooked, but Ritsu and Ushio going at it on the other side of that part of the block should be interesting as well. This block should prove interesting next round where we might see a 2006 rematch between Yuki "Battleship" Nagato and Haruhi "God" Suzumiya. Yuki won that match, 1112 to 991.
Finally, Block H is the holder of this round's major matchup between Rena Ryuuguu and Nagi Senzenin - which is a rematch of their matchup back in the Semifinals of 2007 where Nagi defeated Rena, 1301-1209. Poor Yumiko has no chance in that matchup. We'll also see the first major test for AnimeSuki's favorite-to-win, Nodoka Haramura as she'll go against Yoshika Miyafuji of Strike Witches and Zange of Kannagi. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the block final become Saki versus Nodoka, though whoever wins between Nagi and Rena will have a say in that.
If you need some important match dates - the most important match date to circle is 9/13/09 (9/12/09 for us in America). That day has the match between Yui Hirasawa and Rika Furude, as well as the fatal three-way match between Mikuru, Taiga, and Ami. A close second should be 9/17 in a epic rematch between Rena and Nagi.
Saimoe 2009 has finally begun, and here is my overall analysis of the first round (no predictions though, those come by block as they come up).
The very first thing you should notice is that this year, there are four girls in the first round instead of three (and the first matchup in A1-1, who traditionally has a extra character, has moved up to five and B1-1 now goes up to five as well). This is a significant change, as the added number as upped the total from 289 combatants to 387 combatants. A total of 98 extra girls have suddenly been added to the fray, ready to wreck havoc to all who try to predict winners. And I could understand why the number has been increased - this year's SaiMoe is one of the most deepest fields in SaiMoe history. There are a number of characters within the top-40 who can win this thing. And this year, in the second thing to be noticed, is a interesting year in that there is no series like Rozen Maiden or Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha who have a full stable of girls who repeatedly make top-64 every year. The only two series who are even close to the status of Rozen Maiden and Nanoha are Hayate no Gotoku and Higarashi - but characters from both of those series do not consistently make it past round two every year. This volatility makes for predicting that much harder to tell who will advance and who will be defeated in shame. I always knew the "Post-Nanoha" SaiMoe time was going to come, but I never thought it'd be this year.
That said, there has been some interesting developments during the preliminary process. One of those is the popularity of the mahjong fanservice show "Saki", which has seen many of it's characters take first place or place top three in most of the preliminary rounds. How much strength the Saki girls have in this year's SaiMoe is a complete unknown - and easily this year's dark horse series. Another thing of note is the love for Mikoto Misaka of "To Aru Majitsu no Index" - and her clones. Not only is Misaka herself in there, but two of her more prominent clones and even the whole "clone army" have made it in - and they're all in different brackets. This year's Saimoe most obviously is concentrated on new series to have come out over the past year - from early favorite Haruka Nogizaka to mid-favorite Taiga Aisaka (MT AGP09 Champion) to late-favorites Mio Akiyama and Yui Hirasawa.
Well, here are some of the first round matchups and girls to look out for:
Match A2-1 - Maya Kihara (Toradora!) vs Tamaki Kousaka (To Heart 2) vs Minato Minase (Akane iro ni Somaru Saka) vs Fatina (Tower of Druaga) - A very crazy and interesting first day matchup between four equally moe characters. I have predicted a Minato win here, but any four of these girls can win and move on to the next round. This is easily the example of just how crazy this year's SaiMoe will be.
Utau Hoshina (Shugo Chara!) - I predicted last year that she is going to be the eventual replacement character for the fabled Fate Tessarossa from Nanoha, considering both are blonde haired girls voiced by top seiyuu Nana Mizuki. This year, with no Nanoha characters in sight, will Utau truly be the replacement or will she falter like she did in being forced to matchup with one of the Minami-ke sisters. Her advancement this year is paramount to Shugo Chara fans, especially since Amu in the D group has a huge early test in the first round (see below).
Match B1-4 - Yuno (Hidamari Sketch) vs Tsugumi Aoba (Kannagi) - a matchup of top-40 girls in the first round. The other two girls (Mawari and Setsuna) will easily be overshadowed in a battle between one of the newest perennial all-stars in Yuno versus one of the early season favorites in Tsugumi. Let me tell you - this will make for good popcorn and fireworks.
Match B2-2 - Kana Minami (Minami-ke) vs Mio Akiyama (K-On!) vs Hiro (Hidamari Sketch) - Another matchup of top-50 characters to go at it in this first round. Mio is easily the favorite in this fatal four way, but there is no telling how the vote splits will come out with one of the Minami-ke sisters who constantly make round 2 is in there, as well as one of the four main Hidamari girls in Hiro. It's a huge early test for Mio fans everywhere - and I feel sorry for poor Maria from ZSZS - she doesn't to be deserved to be sacrificed like this.
Match C1-2 - Sae (Hidamari Sketch) vs Louise De La Valliere (Zero no Tsukaima) - two perennial girls going at it, though one has been stagnant for awhile while the other has seen her popularity drop with the rise of Taiga Aisaka. Should see Sae win, but a Louise win would not be surprising.
Match C1-4 - Mion Sonozaki (Higurashi) vs Yukine Miyazawa (CLANNAD ~After Story~) - A interesting matchup to watch out for, Mion should be the odds favorite coming in but Yuikine is coming off a great CLANNAD series with one of the more memorable storylines in that series.
Match C2-5 - Chika (Hidamari Sketch) vs Kotomi Ichinose (CLANNAD ~After Story~) - Another interesting match to watch out for, with the odds favorite going to Kotomi. However, Chika can't easily be dismissed with two factors going in for her - the fact that she was not in the tournament last year and the fact she is voiced by top seiyuu (and Tsundere queen) Rie Kugimiya. Whoever wins will earn a date versus Tsumugi Kotobuki of K-On! in the next round.
Match D1-4 - Alicia Melchiott (Valkyria Chronicles) vs Akiha Shishidou (Sora Kake Girl) - A match between two main girls in two very interesting series. Neither girl is a clear cut favorite as well, and we could see Yakumo (School Rumble) and Rin (Kodomo no Jikan) either take votes or even win in this matchup. Should a least be a good mid-august matchup to look at.
Match D1-6 - Amu Hinamori (Shugo Chara!) vs Ui Hirasawa (K-On!) - Out of all the matchups in the first round, this easily should be the most anticipated matchup of the round. The other two girls are quite forgetable, making this matchup practically a one on one matchup between the spiritual successor in a long line of Mahou Schoolgirl heroines by the likes of Sakura Kinamoto and Nanoha Takamachi facing against one of the best younger-sister (and very moe) characters in a long time in Ui Hirasawa - who will also have KyoAni voters pulling for her. Both can easily pull 500+ votes, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see over a thousand, if not two thousand for this single matchup. This should be one of the best first round matchups in quite a long time.
Match E1-5 - Yui Hirasawa (K-On!) vs Yaya Yuiki (Shugo Chara) - This match will only be interesting if Amu Hinamori would lose in her match to Ui Hirasawa. The reason for that is this match is the earliest chance for revenge votes on a Amu loss. I would still believe whether Amu wins or loses that Yui would be the expected favorite, but this matchup can be interesting with a Amu loss.
Match E1-6 - Rika Furude (Higurashi) vs Ryou Fujibayashi (CLANNAD ~After Story~) - Another battle of top-50 characters, with the 2007 SaiMoe champion in Rika going against one of the main CLANNAD girls in Ryou. Both are technically on the downturn, but this should still provide a excellent match.
Match F1-4 - Mikuru Asahina (Melancholy of Haruhi-chan) vs Kagami Hiiragi (Lucky Star) - A very interesting matchup between two KyoAni stars. It can't help Mikuru right now while the Endless Eight arc of Haruhi Suzumiya is going on, but it should well over and done by the time this matchup rolls around - which will make it tough for Defending Champion Kagami to handle. And whoever gets out of this matchup as the victor has a date with two of the three main Toradora girls in Taiga Aisaka and Ami Kawashima. And getting by that you still have to face Maria of Hayate no Gotoku next round, and then either Nagisa (Clannad), Mion (Higurashi), Mizore (Rosario + Vampire), or Asuza (K-On!) in the round after that. By the way, need I remind everyone that there has NEVER been a successful title defense in the history of SaiMoe. Looks like a tough climb for the Defending Champion.
Match G1-3 - Satoko Houjou (Higurashi) vs Yuki Nagato (Melancholy of Haruhi-chan) - A interesting matchup between "Godslayer" Yuki Nagato who placed top 8 back in 2006 by beating her fellow cast-mate and leader Haruhi Suzumiya (and will have to beat her again to get into the top 16) versus a perennial favorite in Satoko Houjou. A interesting sidenote to look out for is Nanami Nishijou of Chaos;Head, who might end up stealing votes from either one.
Saki Miyanaga (Saki) - The main girl and title character of "Saki", with the surprising popularity of this series, it'll be interesting how many votes she gets this round and whether she'll have the firepower to be a top 16 candidate as she'll have to face Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku) or Rena (Higurashi) - two top tier perennial favorites in round three if she gets that far.
Match H1-4 - Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier) vs Nagi Sennzen (Hayate no Gotoku) - Nagi easily is the favorite in this matchup and should win in a landslide, but this matchup is really the only interesting matchup in the block as there shouldn't be too many surprises or high powered battles in the last block. The next round should prove to be much more interesting.
Well, that's the rundown of first round of SaiMoe this year. A lot of things to look out for over the next month as SaiMoe cuts the fat from 385 girls to 96 girls. I'm not going to get around to writing up individual matchup reports (instead I will do that at the MegaTokyo AMC forums if I have the time) but hopefully next round I'll get around to doing that. Before I forget!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
It may be quite too early to perhaps talk about Saimoe 2009, but the cutoff date for this year's eligibility is coming right up (June 30th) so why not talk about early favorites right now?
For those of you who simply don't know what Saimoe is, I suggest you stop reading this blog post and type in Saimoe into your Wikipedia search field and read up on it.
And for those who need a reminder (and because I didn't really give the results on my blog before) - last year's winner and current defending champion is Kagami Hiiragi of Lucky Star, who defeated her twin sister Tsukasa for the title. And pretty much it's a given that this year will not see a repeat champion. No champion since the start of Saimoe has ever gone on to repeat. As a matter of fact, only one girl (Nanoha Takamachi, 2005 Champion) has ever even gotten back to the top 8 after reaching the top 8 in any of the previous years. While that isn't a concern with the Bamboo Blade girls gone (cutting the top 8 by 2), I highly doubt we'll see three Clannad girls in the top 8 again, though they'll probably make a good run. With the major lack of new material, I wouldn't expect the Hiiragi sisters to do as well this year as well. That really leaves Hinagiku as the only one who has a outside shot of making it back into the top 8 - but like with all things in this tournament, it depends on who you face as you get to the top.
Of course, there are the seasoned veterans of Saimoe in much the same vein that we expect the same veterans to do well in Sasuke. Saimoe's "Makoto Nagano" is very much the aforementioned Nanoha Takamachi. With a return to loli-form, we'll see how well she does along with fellow friend/rival Fate Tessarossa, who also does well every year. Shana of Shakugan no Shana will also be back, along with fellow Kugimiya holy trinity members Louise of Zero no Tsukaima and Nagi Sennzen of Hayate no Gotoku. Also making their returns is the cast of Haruhi Suzumiya - and while Haruhi herself backdoored her way in via cameo in Lucky Star, this year is finally the year we see new episodes of Haruhi and I wouldn't expect this time around for Haruhi to get bounced in the first round. I expect as more of the new episodes come out, the bigger the boosts will be for Haruhi and her brigade. The Hidamari Sketch girls will be back as well - they had very strong showings last year despite being kept out of the top 8. To finally add on to the veteran list - I couldn't forget to mention Amu Hinamori. Amu had a great showing last year, and I expect her to build on that, depending on who she ends up facing in her particular brackets. Japan loves it's classical mahou shoujo heroines, as evidenced by the first Saimoe champion, Sakura Kinomoto. I would expect at least another good showing.
Now, every year there is the new blood that makes big waves. Bamboo Blade last year made a major impact, and many characters have won Saimoe before only to not even be around the next year when their eligibility is up. This year's list is quite impressive, perhaps even more so then last years. One of the casts to look out for is the Haruka Nogizaka cast - while I don't think all of them will advance very far, I would at least suspect Haruka herself to get pretty far. The Chaos Head cast should also be interesting to note. Two series stand out among the newcomers this year however, and should provide some really great runs this year. The first is the cast of Toradora - headlined by the Rie Kugimiya-voiced Taiga Aisaka (who just so happened to win this year's MegaTokyo AGP.) The main three girls - Taiga, Minori, and Ami should get very far this year, if not one or two of them reaching top 8. Especially Taiga, since generally new Kugimiya-tsundere characters reach the top 8 or higher in their first year of eligibility. The other cast to look out for is the K-On! cast, which just recently ended. Headlined by Yui Hirasawa and Mio Akiyama, I would expect much of this cast to do fairly well as the new KyoAni IP to come out. There are some hidden dark horses in this series as well with Ui and Azusa.
There is a lot of new names to pop up this year, and with a field of over 200 girls, we'll see how well some of these girls do this year. If I had to make a early prediction on who would win, I would probably go with Taiga Aisaka in a narrow victory.
Well, enough chatter of Saimoe tonight. There will be more talk when the Saimoe brackets come out.
