Forum - View topicCoolest Character Tournament - Post-Mortem
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Characters can be both badarse and generally cool; one does not preclude the other. As for how to compare badarse with general cool, well I would compare them the same way as I would compare an apple and orange. I would rate the apple on how good an apple it is, then rate the orange on how good an orange it is. If the apple is 9/10 and the orange is 8.5/10, then the apple is the winner. That's how you successfully "compare" apples and oranges.
My thoughts exactly. But since the tournament is already underway, not much I can do except refuse to participate in it, a course of action I don't necessarily want to undertake.
Simon is never in any real danger, because the blatant nature of his powers means he will always win in the end, and easily. Kenpachi spoiler[almost dies in his first on-screen fight, has to battle two other Captains at the same time for his second (he wins that one thanks to some impressive deduction work on his part and his virtual inability to feel fear), and then against Espada #5 he gets beaten up badly enough he has to get serious.] Kenpachi does ignore damage temporarily, but invincible he ain't. |
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Generic #757858
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Well, I personally don't really see that being that much of a flaw. Sure, his worldview is warped, but at least it's consistent and the source of his absolute confidence in himself and his abilities. It also helps that Claire is stable and always in control instead of being a raving lunatic or a gibbering madman, which can't be said for certain other candidates in this tournament. Last edited by Generic #757858 on Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:07 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mow123
 Posts: 339 |
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Vote change from Roy to Michiko. I also agree with Key that Claire is being overrated, and that's coming from someone who is voting for him. He's a one tone character that's psychotic. Sure, he hits that one tone well, but my vote for him was mainly driven by my disdain for Teresa.
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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Vote Change Group A-21 from Claire to Teresa
It's a difficult one. I was all set to change to Teresa on Saturady but had second thoughts when I read the spoiler comments of how she ends the series but the truth is I don't want to vote for a psycho and it sounds like Teresa is awesome and I wonder if even how she ends is as bad as some describe it. My reasoning for supporting Claire so far is that I do think he brings a good dynamic to the show and as a psycho he is at least much better than Ladd but does it make him "cool"? Mainly, I think psycho characters lose too many points in the stylish and classy aspects of being cool simply by being psychotic. Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Mon Feb 14, 2011 4:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bahumut75
 Posts: 65 Location: Rochester, NY |
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Some really tough choices to make in this round already for me, things are looking exciting!
Group A-17 Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Balalaika She is a controlling force in her world, commanding the respect and fear countless hardened criminals. I'll be giving her the vote in this round. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Eikichi Onizuka I never really thought of Izumi as particularly bad-ass. Sure she is more than capable in combat, and particularly in Brotherhood she gets a decent amount of screen time in an action capacity, but I think she has too many real character flaws to garner a vote from me in this round. Despite having plenty of flaws himself, Onizuka manages to change the opinions of pretty much everyone around him in some way or another. Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Roy Mustang Possibly my favorite character from Fullmetal, Roy definitely has charisma. Particularly in Brotherhood he breaks out some bad-ass fighting skills spoiler[I was hooked after he roasted Lust] and his dedication to making the country a better place gives him cool points to boot. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Guts I haven't seen Berserk, but I've always thought Simon was a bit too wimpy to be considered. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Teresa One of the two very tough matches in this round for me. Baccano! was great, and so was Claire; however, Teresa changed the whole landscape of Claymore in my view. She was so drastically over powered with respect to everyone else that she just stands out. spoiler[ When the number 1 can effortlessly take on numbers 2 through 4 at once, that is pretty impressive.] Claire certainly managed to pull off some stunts of his own, he just can't make up the ground that Teresa can, in my opinion. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Black Jack Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Roronoa Zoro The second really tough match-up this round for me. I really want to vote for Kenpachi, he is just a monster in his series, and pretty much the embodiment of bad-ass. Zoro is no push-over himself, being probably the second strongest person on his crew next to Luffy, but he can't really stand up to the heavy hitters in his series the way Kenpachi can. What sells me on Zoro is his character behind the bad-ass bits. He is just much more developed than Kenpachi, who is basically two-dimensional. I'll probably end up voting for other two-dimensional characters simply based on their bad-ass qualities, but for this match-up I have to go with the more developed character. Someone linked a picture of the aftermath of Zoro's battle in the Thriller Bark arc, and that is where Zoro wins me over. As determined as he is to become the strongest swordsman in the world to fulfill his promise to spoiler[the deceased Quina] he goes to great lengths to protect his captain, even at cost to himself. Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Hei I've seen some good arguments for Mugen, but I'm just going to go with what I know, and Hei was impressive enough that I don't feel too bad about it 
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Sparkamus Prime
 Posts: 12 Location: Central Pennsylvania |
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Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Balalaika Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Eikichi Onizuka Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Roy Mustang Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Guts Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Teresa This is a difficult match, but I believe Teresa is cooler than Claire. I even have Teresa's Claymore symbol as my keychain  . She exudes a calm demeanor and aura in her interactions with Clare, but when the situation calls for action she is an unstoppable force. spoiler[As the number 1 ranked Claymore, Teresa was more than capable of defeating the Claymores ranked 2 through Claire's actions in Baccano were cool, but to me he was overshadowed by other characters within the series. He did have a "unique" world view and was willing to take any action to get there. Fortunately for him he had the ability to take on anybody that tried to get in the way of his vision. I think that where he loses out to Teresa is that while she is a calm collected badass, he is hot-blooded and emotional. For me I preferred Teresa's ability to be a calm yet dominating force. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Brandon/Beyond the Grave Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Kenpachi Zaraki Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Mugen *Fixed spoiler 
Last edited by Sparkamus Prime on Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
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Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Voting for: Balalaika Perhaps Kambei would turn out to be the most admirable individual of the two on paper, after taking everything into consideration, but I share a few previously expressed sentiments as far as his relative lack of coolness goes, at least when compared to someone like Balalaika who is far from being a pushover and literally steals many of the scenes she's in. Kambei doesn't really have that particular type of undeniable presence. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Voting for: Izumi Curtis Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Voting for: Michiko Malandro Roy wouldn't be a bad pick, by any means, but I'm going for the more interesting of the two options here, entirely based on the arguments Spastic Minnow has presented. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Voting for: Simon They're both worthy characters, in my opinion, but that doesn't make the choice any easier. I have a feeling that Guts will be far more deserving by the time Berserk reaches its distant conclusion, but for now Simon would be the most well-rounded pick as far as I'm concerned. Not only has he completed his character development cycle, going from an apparent weakling to a more than respectable warrior, he does not lack in terms of the ability to be a badass on what is literally a galactic scale. Not to mention that, in spite of what it seems like at the beginning of the story, he is quite inspirational and influential in his own right...something which even Kamina himself was able to acknowledge. While Simon does have more (or at least more obvious) moments of personal weakness than Guts, I also think this contributes to making him a more convincing and sympathetic character, which is something I do consider cool. Guts is clearly superior in terms of raw manliness or overt displays of strength, sure, and also goes through a number of hellish experiences that contribute to his ongoing characterization, but if I'm asked to decide whether or not that makes him cooler overall, not just as part of the badass category...I'm not sure, at this point in time, that he has the same kind of staying power as Simon, regardless of whatever the eventual outcome of this match happens to be. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Voting for: Teresa You might guess that I haven't been using this particular avatar for two years straight for no reason...and, most of the time, you'd be proven right. 
Claire is a sociopath, no doubt, but I found that his mix of solipsist philosophy, fighting ability, acrobatic skills, unique moral code and willingness to put his life on the line made him quite interesting and not merely entertaining to watch. In that respect, calling Claire one of the coolest and most badass characters in Baccano! would have to be an understatement. Why, then, am I voting for Teresa? One reason would be that I've been influenced by the recent trend of votes supporting her, yes, but that's not the only explanation. She was also one of the most memorable characters from Claymore, to say the least, and remained very impressive in terms of both personality and fighting skill long after her screentime had literally run out. The more I think about it, the more I believe she is more deserving of moving on in the long run. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Voting for: Black Jack Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Voting for: Roronoa Zoro I've started to watch One Piece not too long ago and Zoro has left a fairly good impression on me so far, not just as a badass but also in terms of his general characterization. That said, his opponent sounds like a more than respectable foe within their shared category, yes, but I don't exactly feel especially compelled to support him. Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Voting for: Mugen |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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Sparkamus and Bahamut, Re: Teresa
spoiler[Numbers 2 through 5 at once.] Really now. It's in the write-up 
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farichada
 Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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It's beeeen soooo loooooong since I have posted or even checked ANN. Let me remedy that now!
Group A-17 Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Kambei Balalaika is too mean to be cool, and she's a bully. Plus Kambei, has the way of the samurai thing down to an art. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Eikichi Onizuka He's a goofball, spaz, and a loser, but he's somehow cool and a badass. He's also a most excellent role model to the youth. Well, maybe not, but he sure is amusing! A conundrum of a character but I honestly don't think he will go far due to some of his shortcomings. I think he's a awesome and has his moments and that's enough for me. Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Michicko Sounds cool based on what's been said, and I never really liked Roy's character that much. I think Scar would have been a better pick from FMA. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Guts Simon is bit too Shinji like at the start to even be consider here. Plus, he wavers even after he's so called gotten over his weaknesses. Anyone remember the prison arguments used the in best hero contest? Simon pretty much calls it quits in the prison --- not cool! Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Claire Crazy may not equal cool, by itself but Claire has an ineffable charm and style that goes along with his lost of his marbles. He dominates every scene, and he does it with class. Teresa takes herself way too seriously, and she makes a critical flaw that makes her looks like a dumbass and not a badass. Also since when does being unyieldingly harsh make you cool? It's just makes you a hard nosed holier than though fanatic, and that's lamesauce. Teresa needs to chill and relax -- chillax a bit, she's way too tense. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Black Jack I honestly don't care about this match. Don't know either choice and the weak arguments for both sides about equal out. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Kenpachi Not only is Kenpachi a monster, and a hulking fighting machine, but he does it with style and brutality. Plus he has a little loli on his shoulder -- how cool is that? I think she's suppose to be his GPS system or something. It's cool regardless. Zoro is just a pirate with many blades. Also ninjas > pirates and I think a shinigami is close to a ninja so Kenpachi > Zoro. Makes sense, right? This post is not at all biased, and I would never be sarcastic is something sacred as a reasoning for an ANN tournament. =_= Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Hei Okay, Mugen blows Hei out of the water but I feel like he should at least get some votes. He's not as lame as the comments make him out to be. He can eat quite a bit, too. No wait, so can Mugen, lol, maybe Mugen is better overall and this is just a pity vote. Last edited by farichada on Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:27 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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At this point (if I've counted right) if one more person changes From Roy to Mustang it'd be a tie- I'd be happy with that- I kind of get the impression neither will be able to stand against Guts but I'd love to get a video up for Michiko- everyone's seen video of Mustang.
edit- when I started writing this farichada hadn't voted- so a change for Michiko would put her ahead. |
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farichada
Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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C'mon Key do a last minute ninja vote change, and upset the overestimated Roy. Based on your reasoning, you seem like a potential vote change. Spastic Minnow has put in a lot of effort; it would be a shame if he just failed by one vote. Just would take one vote change to change the outcome, but we only have 20 mins left. Then again, someone else could come in with a last minute vote. Remember when multiple people voted in the last minute? Don't look at me; I would never do something tricky like that. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Round 1 Group A is now closed.
And I must apologize to Michiko supporters, as I was being swayed towards changing my vote in her favor but never got around to it until too late. (I have a feeling that would have been a significant upset, too.) Late vote changes made things much more interesting than they looked like they were going to be but ultimately didn't make a difference in the final result. With 23 votes in: A-17: Balalaika over Kambei Shimba, 16-7. A-18: Izumi Curties eliminates Eikichi Onizuka, 15-8. A-19: Roy Mustang barely resists a late surge by Michiko, 12-11. A-20: Guts overpowers Simon, 15-8. A-21: Claire Stanfield out-slaughters Teresa, 13-10. A-22: Black Jack surgically removes Brandon/Beyond the Grave, 14-9. A-23: Roronoa Zoro duels to a slim victory over Kenpachi Zaraki, 12-11. A-24: Mugen nimbly dodges around Hei, 17-6. So it was actually a fairly competitive round, with three close matches and even the biggest blow-out still grabbing less than 75% of the vote. Teresa made up a lot of ground late but was simply too far behind to catch up in time, while Zoro and Kenpachi were neck and neck the whole time. Honestly, I'm not sure whose loss - Teresa's or Kenpachi's - irritates me more; probably the latter, since it's harder to argue a fault in Kenpachi's case. Zoro's clips had better be pretty damned impressive to warrant him beating a guy who once defeated a powerful opponent despite being denied all senses except touch and enjoyed himself in the process. And speaking of that, now that the eight quarterfinalists for this Group have been set, let's see some video clip suggestions for them. They should be around 5 minutes in length and show off the character at his/her bad-ass best. I already have one in mind for Mustang (the spoiler[death of Lust] scene from Brotherhood, in case anyone's interested), but I am open to suggestions on others. PM either me or ccdx with the suggestions, including episode #, exact time stamps, and a description of the context for the scene chosen. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Round 2 Group B: Mixed Group #1 is now closed.
Results can be found here. And yes, I actually have it right this time! Anyway, this round featured more big blow-outs last round than any other, and a lot of those blow-out winners are matched up against each other this time. This could be a quite competitive round in this Group, too, as I don’t see much for indisputable winners here. Group B-17 D, Vampire Hunter D vs. Kirika Yumura, Noir Group B-18 Captain Harlock, various (see Guide entry) vs. Ginko, Mushi-Shi Group B-19 Kisuke Urahara, Bleach vs. Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Group B-20 Kenshin, Ruroni Kenshin vs. Oscar Francois de Jarjay, Rose of Versailles Group B-21 Lelouche Lamperouge Code Geass vs. Lady Eboshi, Princess Mononoke Group B-22 Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop vs. Nana Osaki, NANA Group B-23 Suzuka, Outlaw Star vs. Revy, Black Lagoon Group B-24 Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star vs. Celty Sturluson, Durara!! Last edited by Key on Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Group B-17
D, Vampire Hunter D vs. Kirika Yumura, Noir Merely the first of many difficult choices this round and easily the most painful. I am a big fan of Kirika (her poster has been on my walls for going on seven years now) and think she has plenty enough bad-ass scenes to warrant advancing another round, but there is also a certain undeniable vulnerability to her which pops up at times, and that does not fit a bad-ass image. It was bound to pop up and be a problem for her sooner or later, but D hardly needs that advantage to win here. He is the epitome of anime cool, a bad-ass warrior of almost implacable prowess and snazzy dress, one who defined dark and brooding heroes and set the standard for cool for many a vampire hunter who followed. Group B-18 Captain Harlock, various (see Guide entry) vs. Ginko, Mushi-Shi Both of these characters won very big last round, but who's better here? I favor Captain Harlock based on a more firmly-entrenched reputation. Group B-19 Kisuke Urahara, Bleach vs. Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Kisuke won big last round, but Balsa won bigger, and there's a reason why. A better female role model amongst anime heroines is hard to find, as she can be tough, puissant, and formidable in personality without entirely losing a feminine touch. She is the kind of character who makes you want to respect her and find her cool, and that sets her apart from most other top contenders. Group B-20 Kenshin, Ruroni Kenshin vs. Oscar Francois de Jarjay, Rose of Versailles Boy, I really don't care here. Given the flaws cited about Oscar late in her series in a previous tournament, I give the small edge to Kenshin for now. Group B-21 Lelouche Lamperouge Code Geass vs. Lady Eboshi, Princess Mononoke This is how I see this match coming down: CG tries very hard to make Lelouche look formidable and cool, while Lady Eboshi simply is formidable and cool. It takes guts to not flinch even in the face of gods and to call out a person whom she knows is trying to kill her and meet her face-to-face. Group B-22 Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop vs. Nana Osaki, NANA Tough one here. Faye has merits but is, I think, a much weaker option than Spike. Edge to Nana for now. Group B-23 Suzuka, Outlaw Star vs. Revy, Black Lagoon I don't think Suzuka should have beaten Sawa last round, and she has a far better-known - and considerably tougher - opponent here. Revy may be uncouth, rough, and foul-mouthed, but there is no denying her bad-ass abilities and attitude. She simply has more of a presence than Suzuka does when on-screen, and that alone is enough to make the difference. Group B-24 Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star vs. Celty Sturluson, Durara!! Anyone else see the irony in a guy who makes heads explode delayed-reaction matching off against a woman who has no head to be exploded?
I have grown to like Celty a lot, but Kenshiro is one of the original and defining anime bad-asses so I have to continue to give him the edge. |
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DarkRoseFairy
Posts: 271 Location: Alberta, Canada |
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Group B-17
D, Vampire Hunter D vs. Kirika Yumura, Noir Vote For D Group B-18 Captain Harlock, various (see Guide entry) vs. Ginko, Mushi-Shi Vote For Captain Harlock Group B-19 Kisuke Urahara, Bleach vs. Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Vote For Balsa Group B-20 Kenshin, Ruroni Kenshin vs. Oscar Francois de Jarjay, Rose of Versailles Vote For Oscar Francois de Jarjay Group B-21 Lelouche Lamperouge Code Geass vs. Lady Eboshi, Princess Mononoke Vote For Lady Eboshi There were a few moments in Code Geass where I just find Lelouche to be plain annoying and some of the ways he used his geass is dumb when spoiler[ he can only use it once per a person.] Group B-22 Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop vs. Nana Osaki, NANA Vote For Faye Valentine I’m one of those rare people who never saw Cowboy Bebop and I never saw the anime version of Nana. So I voting based on guides and Faye impress me more; a singer of a rock band to me isn’t as cool as someone who is a bounty hunter that have impressive skill at piloting a space craft and using a gun. On a side note, I have say I really disappointed that Char didn’t make it to the second round (I thought he would have gone far in this tournament), especially since I just started getting into the original Gundam series. Group B-23 Suzuka, Outlaw Star vs. Revy, Black Lagoon Vote For Revy Group B-24 Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star vs. Celty Sturluson, Durara!! Vote For Celty |
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