It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day, It’s a New Life (called The International Saimoe League 2010 Tournament)!
Ξ January 5th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ The Anime Annals |
…and I’m feelin’ good (if a bit anticipatory)! 2010 has finally arrived and we can all happily kick and shove 2009 into the trashbin of history, where it belongs. Ugh. What a year! To be honest, it did have several redeeming and possibly life-saving events and encounters, but on the whole I’m glad that it’s gone. Here’s hoping that our nice, new, bright ‘n’ shiny 2010 will be good to us all 
AND…
banner designed by Marina(ra)
…with the advent of a new year comes the nominations phase of the third annual International Saimoe League, a.k.a. the 2010 ISML tournament! Aside from wishing everyone here a Happy New Year, this post is to give a heads-up to my Anime Visitors to get in early and nominate your favorites whom the voters will hopefully be choosing between throughout the coming year. This phase runs only through January 7th, so head over to HERE to get started! HURRY!!!
And, by the way, since there’s been a welcome influx of Japanese visitors here lately, I’d like to add that we are very much wanting more Japanese participation in our tournament this year, where foreign voters are actually desired, unlike OTHER Moe Tournaments which won’t be mentioned *cough*… (To show my sincerity in courting voters from Japan, I will list the girls’ names here in the Japanese form of “last name first”, which frankly is confusing as hell since I always have to look twice to find their first name. WHYYY???)
Okay: once at the ISML site, your first stop ought to be the Rules Page; there’ve been a lot of changes and improvements in this year’s tournament. After reading up on them go to the Nominations Page, click on the “DO NOT NOMINATE” box to see who is already in (so you don’t waste a nomination), and then fill in the ballot of those 12 moe~tastic girls who you feel should be in the tournament. It’s a year-long tourney, so make sure that each nominee is someone whom you want to be in it for the long haul, ’cause hopefully, you will be with them all the way! It’s quite an endurance test, but a fun one, though it WILL be full of despair as your precious little cuties will be sure to become bashed and bruised in defeat 
And probably in the Forums And… there will be despair
I’m just sayin’…
BUT IT’S FUN, DAMMIT! Zetsubou is just a part of it… zetsubou means you care 
By the way, for those non-anime visitors who’ve gotten this far and are intrigued about this “moe” business (which is indeed serious) there’s a scholarly-type article here, and as always, the Wikipedia gives a general overview with other viewpoints as well. Unfortunately, the concept and definitions of moe have become corrupted nowadays by many anime fans who want to distort the original meanings just to include girls and even males (!!!) to whomever they simply feel attracted to, no matter what the attraction is. Which is NOT moe. It’s totally becoming watered-down, which is a shame, because all too many are simple-mindedly equating moe with “popular” or “hot.” So don’t even get me started
Anyway, that bit of unpleasantry aside, my nominations for this year are the following, and not in any particular order since the votes are not weighted anymore:
- Amamiya Yuuko-ef-a fairy tale of the two series
- Shihou Matsuri-sola
- Kamio Misuzu-AIR
- Rakka-Haibane Renmei
- Kuronuma Sawako-Kimi ni Todoke
- Lucy/Nyuu-Elfen Lied
- Amamiya Manami-Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
- Chii-Chobits
- Sawatari Makoto-Kanon (2006)
- Mizunashi Akari-ARIA
- Ochibana Ame-Denpa teki na Kanojo
- Oshino Shinobu-Bakemonogatari
That’s a very nice assortment of (my) favorites from both old and new series, and all of ‘em are cherished characters whom I consider very moe. I did have to reluctantly leave some girls out, but ultimately went with those twelve who I really wanted in the contest who might otherwise be overlooked. My #1 girl here is Misuzu, whom I’ll be voting for in every match since she’s the embodiment of moe to me…
Misuzu and Yukito on a picnic
She’s such a brave girl… ;__;
Now, here’s a sampling of the girls I’ll be strongly supporting this year from the list of those 56 already locked in, and so don’t need to be nominated (SO DON’T NOMINATE THESE):
- Aisaka Taiga – Toradora
- Furude Hanyuu – Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
- Furude Rika – Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
- Furukawa Nagisa – CLANNAD
- Holo – Spice and Wolf
- Ibuki Fuuko – CLANNAD
- Ichinose Kotomi – CLANNAD
- Okazaki Ushio – CLANNAD ~After Story
- Shana – Shakugan no Shana
- Shinku – Rozen Maiden
- Suiseiseki – Rozen Maiden
- Tsukimiya Ayu – Kanon 2006
In the past two tourneys I’ve consistently voted for Rika, Nagisa, Ayu, and Misuzu in almost every match; this year they’ll be joined by Holo (due to newfound respect and love after finally watching Spice and Wolf), and precious little Ushio, whom I doubt I will ever be able to vote against!
Ushio with Naoyuki Okazaki, Tomoya's dad
Aww~! So cute Incidentally, the illustrations in this post are by the magnificently-talented Moonknives, who somehow manages to bring these wonderful 2D creations to almost-3D life. And since I’m in his folder, here’s a very sweet pic of Kanon‘s Ayu for your wintery day:
Moonknives' Ayu sitting on The Stump
All things (and series) considered, I believe that Ayu and Misuzu are my two most-favorite characters in anime, and I love ‘em to death :-)
Now go forth and vote, support your girls, have fun, and NO CHEATING!!! Cheaters are dealt with harshly in order to keep the tournament on the level; integrity is very important, and the vote counts are taken seriously. The ISML Staff are dedicated to providing you, the voters, with a fun tournament and are working hard and doing their best to see to it that your time is invested well 
And, have a Happy New Year!