march madness: elite 8 (part 1)
Categories: anime, march madness
Tagged: haruhi suzumiya, kanon
24 Comments »
Poor Ayu… hikari ni narue!
(Well, at least Ayu wasn’t in a train. In-joke.)
Previous Voting Results
One surprise (at least for me) for the tournament is that The Second Raid has been doing really well, dispatching both Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Lagoon (two quality, and not in that cabbage way, series). It advances, but so does Gurren Lagann, which promises to be an interesting match-up.
Haruhi Suzumiya easily demolishes Kanon (only the Minami-ke vs. Otome wa Boku match was more lopsided) and is just further validation of the melonpan faction. Though I wonder how the voting would have gone if Nayuki was the end girl, and Makoto’s arc didn’t take up five episodes.
Though with The Second Raid and Haruhi advancing, 4 of the 8 series in the Elite 8 are produced by Kyoto Animation. I think that’s just further indication of their franchise quarterback-like status. Note that in the Elite 8, there’s no other studio with more than 1 series while Kyoto dominates with 4. JC Staff, Madhouse, Gainax, and Doumu/Asread round out the remaining contenders. Somehow, I’m not surprised that no series from Sunrise, ZEXCS, Gonzo, or Studio Deen made it to the Elite 8. Another nifty note is that because every Kyoto series that is still alive are in different match-ups, there is a possibility of an all Kyoto Final 4. It’ll be like seeing 4 teams from the same conference make it to the NCAA Final Four.
The remaining eight series have an interesting balance:
One series features a boy who digs holes.
One series features a dad who is a strange cat creature.
One series features a lad learning to play rugby.
One series features a girl who enjoys reading books in a corner.
One series features a demigod who enjoys honeycrisp apples.
One series features a girl who cuts hair like Lockon.
One series features a haremette who isn’t bullied enough.
One series features a boy who might be a girl and vice-versa.
Good mix. I think.
Elite 8 (Part 1)
These two matches will end around 11PM PST on March 16th. The final two Elite 8 matches will then begin shortly thereafter. As always, rules are available here.
#9 Fumoffu vs. #16 Azumanga
Both series are very similar in that they’re both character-driven comedies that relies heavily on both character interaction and the shared history that develops after watching it for a period of time. Azumanga‘s strength is that it has some interesting characters (especially a franchise center in Osaka and some quality perimeter players in Tomo and Chiyo), and the humor between the characters gets better as the story progresses and more of a shared history develops. For example, Chiyo-chan forever scarred by Yukari-sensei’s driving and Kimura-sensei’s antics. The kink in Azumanga‘s armor is that it depends a lot on milestones for humor. Many of the episodes are centered around specific events or holidays, and there’s not much new by the time they go on their third summer vacation. Azumanga also uses more subdued humor and relies more on cute antics than visceral humor pops.
Fumoffu, on the other hand, is very different in that regard. It goes almost the opposite an relies on over-the-top humor and relies a lot on generating the biggest humor pops it can. Almost everything about Fumoffu is kinetic. For example, while Osaka might be dreaming of Chiyo-chan flying off with her ponytails, Sagara is actively punching people in the nuts. There’s humor… there’s character-driven humor… and then there’s Fumoffu and Azumanga. Fumoffu, though has a tremendous cast that’s not easily rivaled.
It has franchise players in Sagara and Chidori, add to them All-Stars like Bonta-kun and the Crazy Police Chix0r, and then toss in some very good role players in Ren and Issei with a tactician like Tess. That’s impressive, and all of them bring something to the table.
(One more thing about Fumoffu is that it is Kyoto’s rookie solo project, and when I saw Chidori twirl in full-rate animation in the OP, I knew the Full Metal Panic franchise was in good hands. A studio like Shaft or JC Staff wouldn’t bother with something like that, like how JC Staff didn’t bother to animate the original Aozora Loop OP.)
#4 Death Note vs. #5 Clannad
Since I have nothing to write about this one, I’ll just toss up some delicious thigh meat. (Thanks Kaze. I’ve seen this video twenty-two times already, and I’m planning to go back for more once I publish this post.)
24 Responses to “march madness: elite 8 (part 1)”
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Death to UGUU!
… and now, let’s see if we can power some series along to the inevitable KyoAni versus KyoAni conclusion. Or if Azumanga will fight one of them, THEN go onto that conclusion.
And now, let us pray for Hosaka and Mako-chan to make the semi-finals…
rofl @ comic, so far with the total votes being at 5 on my screen, Clannad is losing to death note, can I get a Kyoto final 4 please!
nice i didn’t expect a response that fast. that video has changed my opinion on that song completely….
hmm perhaps a greater breast physics pantheon is needed….*clicks replay again*
>> One series features a girl who enjoys reading books in a corner.
Ambiguous! …but that’s all right, since you can’t go wrong with quiet bookworm girls, and “One series features a haremette who isn’t bullied enough.” can be seen as ambiguous too. Though Mikuru wouldn’t agree.
Nice comic Sixten :)
Ackable. There goes the rest of my day. Excuse me as a stare at these delicious thighs in horrid fascination to the tune of sugary music…
Clannad is an easy choice.
Azumanga verses Fumoffu is hard. It is 50-50 for me as Azumanga is what got me back into watching modern anime rather than older style anime. Bonta-kun verses Chiyo-chan (same voice) Crazy police Chix0r verses Yukari-sensei (same voice) Ren verse Yomi (same voice, again) Arrgh!!! Osaka verses Tessa….hmmmm that sounds wrong…mmmm Tessa. Shinji verse Kotomi-chan (wait wrong match group…but same voice…weird).
Left it to the roll…Fumoffu.
I can’t choose! Oh Haruhi-sama, I’ve been broken by March Madness!
Clannad. Fumoufu. Easy.
I am lucky, because I wont be broken untill the second last vote….
I cant put Gurren Lagann and Haruhi against each other. Its against my very essence these days.
Wait, I re-read it and it appears that you have the top left going against the top right first….. so Haruhi and Gurren Lagann wont meet till the end.
Damn You Jason. I cant vote in the final.
*droolzzz….*
Clannad has an unfair *droolz* advantage here and *droolz* … I have this sudden urge for KFC…
Just as planned.
Yes, the score is 4/4 for me this round, so it balances out last round. Of course it feels like shooting myself in the foot, as they will face off against each other the following round. I’m already happy, though, that fifteen out of the sweet sixteen contestants are shows that are on my recommended list. There’s one amongst them that I haven’t seen and I’m not in a hurry to watch.
This round my votes shall go to Fumoffu and Clannad. And I think today’s dinner will be chicken breast…
Haruhi, doesn’t that mean his fake name is Yuuichi?
HREF=”http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/126532/cap-death_note-just_as_planned-photoshop-spanish-s”>Justo como habia planeado.
Wow, that code certainly didn’t work. How do you make hyperlinks?
I guess we aren’t getting a match where Light writes “Ayumu Kasuga” in the Death Note and nothing happens to her…
I have actually never seen Fumoffu.
Now I have to rent it, just to see exactly what it’s got that can beat the mighty Azumanga Daioh.
Sagara being a social outcast is cute, but it gets old after a while. Bonta-kun vs. Chiyo the penguin though… hard to decide.
Clannad #21 was disappointing to say the least, so I’d have to give the edge to animated swimming lessons.
The Internet has left me in DESPAIR!
Now to find a Death Note and to start scribing “[X] was killed by a fat male Tomoyo/Kyou/Fuko cosplayer sitting on their face till they asphyxiated’…
Azumanga losing? This cannot be! The power of Chiyo compels you! The power of Chiyo compels you!
Our Osaka,
Who art in space,
Kasuga be thy name.
Haruhi’s going to win anyway… I see no real point…
if Nayuki was the end girl…champagne would rain from the heavens
if Nayuki was the end girl…
champagneJamu would rain from the heavens. also the tomoyo english after patch would come out, and play all the ps2 extras without breaking any of the h…Judging from the tournament listings there Ike would lose to jigglypuff even though he has higher attack power, he is still a relatively new character so the chances of someone mastering Ike’s timing of his slow powerful attacks is slim. On the other hand Jiggly……
After fully analyzing the results, I conclude that neither Ike nor Jigglypuff will be in the finals. Instead more suprerior animes which will be probably Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Suzumiya Haruhi will be engaged in Mortal Kombat for the champion of march madness
Who can can be so heartless as to vote against the pengun suit?