Yech. Voters stayed home in droves yesterday. Not only were there first-round matches with higher vote totals, there were first-round competitors with higher vote totals than these combined matches. Takako wins out over Ginga by a hundred votes, virtually guaranteeing Shinku victory in the third round, while Suiseiseki still turned out 888 voters in a romp over Asuna.

I think Steven's on to something with the voter fatigue. The real question is how it will affect the heavyweight matches, so to speak. Are people just not bothering voting through the chaff, since most of them will be reaped out of the competition? Or are they just not voting at all, and a smaller swing vote might do it? (Or is it just the Strikers fans that have given up, now that there's no more hope of a romantic Fate/Nanoha scene in this season?)

I hope it doesn't continue on to today, because these are generally good matches. There's no winner to pick between Saki from Hayate, Henrietta from Zero, and Tamao from Strawberry Panic; only 29 votes separates the entire field's first-round take. I happen to favor Saki a little, but part of that is pure maidery (and clumsy maid at that... and she disapproves of porn... but she does not kick ass like Mahoro, more's the pity.) Henrietta's cute but not enough of a character in the first season (and too much of a friggin' idiot to be allowed to run a kingdom, if you ask me) for her to get my support. On the other hand, she's got plenty of screen time in the new season, so it may be enough to put her over the top.

The other match isn't quite as open as a three-way free-for-all, but Souseiseki versus San from Seto no Hanayome is a damned fine match. Sou's moe credentials have always been suspect from my point of view - she's nominally female, okay, but you wouldn't have any way to tell if they called her something different. (No, seriously, I get the feeling that if I'd labeled them "brother and sister" instead of "sisters" in the subtitles, many people would have been fooled.) San is a very unusual sort of moe herself... think Aoi from AYA, but instead of being quietly determined, San is a firebomb with a lit fuse. ("You can't marry my fiance!" is almost cliche, but most characters don't follow it with "and I'll kill you all to stop it!")

No telling as far as who'll win it. Tactically speaking, the Rozen crowd may not show up to contest Sou's match purely out of support for sister Sui - a Sou vs. Sui match is exactly the sort of situation that would make Sui-assassination likely. A similar situation happened in 2005, with Suiseiseki getting bounced by Shinku in the Group B final and Shinku going on to take third, while Sou took second. And Miyuki is a wild card - though the thousand-vote Lucky Star backing hasn't really held her up, if the voting is really low, it might be enough to push her in front (and would virtually guarantee Suiseiseki versus Tsukasa for the block final.)
Yesterday's results:

1位　573 votes Itsukushima Takako@Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
2位　448 votes Ginga Nakajima@Mahou Syoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
3位　269 votes Toudou Shimako@Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA

1位　888 votes Suiseiseki@Rozen Maiden Ouverture
2位　462 votes Kagurazaka Asuna@Negima!?
3位　122 votes Kuzuryuu Momoko@Sumomomomomomo ~World's Strongest Bride~

Today's matches:

E2-3
<<貴嶋サキ＠ハヤテのごとく！>>(Kijima Saki@Hayate the Combat Butler)
<<アンリエッタ王女＠ゼロの使い魔>>(Queen Henrietta@Zero no Tsukaima)
<<涼水玉青＠ストロベリー・パニック>>(Suzumi Tamao@Strawberry Panic)

F2-3
<<高良みゆき＠らき☆すた>>(Takara Miyuki@Lucky Star)
<<蒼星石＠ローゼンメイデン オーベルテューレ>>(Souseiseki@Rozen Maiden Ouverture)
<<瀬戸燦＠瀬戸の花嫁>>(Seto San@Seto no Hanayome)

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at 05:55 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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