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Coolest Character Tournament - Post-Mortem


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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:02 pm Reply with quote
Group D-25
Arsene Lupin, Lupin III franchise
vs.
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop

Voting for: Spike Spiegel

These two have a number of things in common, yes, but this should be about as far as Lupin can go. Spike's got better style, he's much more of a fighter and manages to be more of a serious than comedic character in spite of taking part in several comedic episodes or scenes. Lupin's fairly charming but also a lot less versatile in comparison.

Group D-26
Duke Togo, Golgo 13
vs.
Alucard, Hellsing franchise

Voting for: Alucard

As previously indicated, I can no longer vote for Golgo 13. He clearly represents one of the best examples of the calm, silent and professional assassin but he doesn't have anything over Alucard in terms of personality, skills and presence. That being the case, his coolness definitely has reached its upper limit.

Group D-27
Yang Wen Li Legend of the Galactic Heroes
vs.
Motoko Kusanagi, Ghost in the Shell franchise

Voting for: Motoko Kusanagi

Guess this will be a change of pace for me. As much as I really want to vote for Yang, the arguments in favor of Motoko have convinced me that she is certainly a cooler character because of her multiple attributes and thus deserves to move on. Yang isn't a bad choice by any means and was worthy of getting here, but I was always more of a Reinhard fan myself.

Group D-28
Honoka, The Third: The Girl With The Blue Eye
vs.
Kamina, Gurren Lagann

Voting for: Honoka

In a move that should surprise nobody, here's where I'm actually going to start voting against Kamina. Many people tend to react very favorably to his arrogance and big mouth but I didn't exactly find that to be the height of coolness. While there's no denying that he is an inspirational and admirable figure in the context of his own show, it really isn't enough to convince he's worthy of endless praise. In this particular case, Honoka's accomplishments might not be comparable to Kamina's direct or indirect impact, of course, but she can be respectably cool without being so annoying. The video is pretty good at showing that.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18460
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:40 pm Reply with quote
Round 3 Group D is now closed.

Sorry for the delay, people. My Monday was a mess and I'm only now getting things caught up. (And let's not even get me started about a certain basketball game. . .)

Despite picking up a couple of newcomers (welcome, Tris8 and DonQuigleone!), the mere 18 votes we racked up here tied for the lowest total yet. In the end only one of these matches was even remotely close, so maybe that's why:

D-25: Spike crushes Lupin, 15-3.
D-26: Alucard sucks the life out of Duke Togo, 14-4.
D-27: Motoko Kusanagi stomps Yang Wen Li, 14-4.
D-28: Kamina edges Honoka, 10-8.

The biggest surprise for me was that the gap in D-27 was so great, as I though that Yang had more supporters than that. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Honoka at least kept things close in a match I really thought would be a blow-out.

And since Round 3 is now complete, it's time for my. . .

SWEET 16 17 POWER RANKINGS
As per the norm, these are based entirely on percentage of possible earned votes so far:

1. Balsa, 0.940299
2. Spike, 0.870968
3. The Count, 0.821918
4. Balalaika, 0.780822
4. Mugen, 0.780822
6. Guts, 0.767123
7. Akira Tokizawa, 0.767123
8. Captain Harlock, 0.761194
8. Revy, 0.761194
10. Claire Stanfield, 0.753425
11. Lady Eboshi, 0.746269
12. Motoko, 0.741935
13. Kenshiro, 0.731343
14. Alucard, 0.677419
15. Nov. 11, 0.671233
16. Spoor, 0.630137
17. Kamina, 0.564516

Next round should be up within the hour.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18460
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:30 pm Reply with quote
Round 4 Group A is now closed.

Results can be found here.

The much-delayed start is finally here! After a full set of blow-outs last round, I’m expecting a much more competitive pair of matches this round. Both matches are intriguing ones which pair of entirely different styles of bad-assery.

Down to business, shall we?

Group A-29
Balalaika, Black Lagoon
vs.
Guts, Berserk

Group A-30
Claire Stanfield, Baccano!
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo


Last edited by Key on Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:51 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:45 pm Reply with quote
Well if that's not a sign that Kamina's on his way out next round, I don't know what is. We were only two votes away from having the biggest upset of the tournament.

So, mini-game results:
Well, group D is Olliff's worst of the 4, so he only got 6 points this time. That said, it's enough to all but guarantee him a prize. There's a slight chance he'll only end up in 4th, but that possibility could be gone by this time next week. Mow has regained some of the deficit lost to Olliff last round, so there are only 5 points between first and second place right now, but after that it's another 18 to third place, and Key is probably in a good position to hold onto that to the end.
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ClownFREAK



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 29
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:33 am Reply with quote
A 29..........all the way GUTS......... this guys the poster boy of bad ass and no one deserves the title more........................... A30 MUGEN.................. always loved the character but never seen baccono so I guess im biased
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6585
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:58 am Reply with quote
Group A-29
Balalaika, Black Lagoon
vs.
Guts, Berserk

Voting for Balalaika for reasons given on the next page. Essentially because Guts fails as a bad-ass while Balalaika displays her humanitarian qualities.

Group A-30
Claire Stanfield, Baccano!
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo

Mugen's misfortune is to be the stand-out character in a dull series, but that's far better than being an odious character in an entertaining series.

(Edited to change vote from Guts to Balalaika.)


Last edited by Errinundra on Sun Apr 10, 2011 3:40 am; edited 3 times in total
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Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1153
Location: UK
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:38 pm Reply with quote
Group A-29
Balalaika, Black Lagoon
vs.
Guts, Berserk

Balalaika is a dull character in a dull series. I honestly am puzzled to find out how many supporters she had in this and in the previous turnament after watching the whole of the two series. Some characters in the tournament were voted out because they lacked development despite being very cool, and Balalaika is as one dimensional as they come. So my vote goes to Guts.

Group A-30
Claire Stanfield, Baccano!
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo[/quote]

Claire had his bright moments right after he appeared and then towards the very end of the series, but in between he was a nuisance and quite unpleasant to watch. Mugen is entertaining as a character, and although he is self confident, unlike Claire he does not suffer of God complex. Go Mugen!
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Generic #757858



Joined: 03 Nov 2008
Posts: 1354
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:00 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Despite picking up a couple of newcomers (welcome, Tris8 and DonQuigleone!), the mere 18 votes we racked up here tied for the lowest total yet. In the end only one of these matches was even remotely close, so maybe that's why:


Yeah, that was a part of the reason why I didn't bother to vote last round. The other parts were my general loss of interest in the tournament, being too lazy to come up with good arguments and the horribly, horribly wrong opinions of so many other voters Evil or Very Mad (though I did agree with the way the votes turned out) .
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:16 pm Reply with quote
I find it interesting how sometimes, even without really knowing the characters, I can still find myself torn in these tournaments. I've been looking at the names over and over again and trying to figure out my votes and finally I think I have it.

Group A-29
Voting for: Guts, Berserk

Reasons: Like in the last round, I put a lot of stock in reputation, especially when arguments in the past have backed up said rep. When it comes to badassery, Guts just seems to have more in his favour. I actually might even watch the rumoured remake to check him and the others out, even though it's not something that is normally my thing.

Group A-30
Voting for: Claire Stanfield, Baccano!

Reasons: This one pretty much just comes down to personal preference since the evidence for both sides is pretty balanced, IMO. But every time I look at this match up, this is the way I'm swayed and so I'm going to go with it, even if early arguments have gone the other way.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Generic #757858 wrote:
...and the horribly, horribly wrong opinions of so many other voters Evil or Very Mad


That's what I think too. People are still unable to agree as to the voting criteria, which means the results are pretty much meaningless (Dark Schneider. anyone?). But like you said, some people haven't been trying at all to make good justifications. Why should I waste my time giving good and detailed reasons - sometimes over an hour a post for matchups I'm interested in - when others make little effort and get away with it? As anyone who has followed a previous tournament will know, this has been a big gripe I've had for a while now, except in the past the tournaments were more interesting and so I tried to bear with it. But I just cannot muster any enthusiasm at all this time round. And it ain't my Minigame going down the toilet, because if I had been voting then - at the very least - all the ties would have gone my way.

I appreciate that Key, ccdx and Dorcas_Aurelia put so much effort into this every week, but the tournament has devolved to a point where it is pretty much inconsequential. For me, at least.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:22 pm Reply with quote
Man, there's not gonna be much competition here. Laughing

Group A-29
Balalaika, Black Lagoon
vs.
Guts, Berserk
Guts. Here Balalaika loses in practically every aspect. Guts is the bigger badass, he's cooler, and has a commanding aura as well. I guess this tournament could still redeem itself after great losses if Guts at least made it to the final round.

Group A-30
Claire Stanfield, Baccano!
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo
Mugen. Here is where Claire's "own world" gives him a disadvantage against the very straight forward Mugen. I'd say that I personally find Claire cooler, though.
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:53 pm Reply with quote
Urgh, don't care much for this group, I'd rather it were mixed with another group just so I vote against all of them. oh well.

Group A-29
Balalaika, Black Lagoon
vs.
Guts, Berserk

VOTING FOR: Balalaika
So, Balalaika is a bit single-minded to go the whole way but at least she's interesting to watch. Sorry, I'm a Berserk hater, barely got through three episodes and all I got from Guts was over-powered malice- nothing "cool." Bad-ass in the way that he can kill with the flexing of a pinky but that's about as interesting to me as cackling villain whose sole purpose is to "rule the world." Yes, from what I've heard I know his end state as presented in the first episode is "Justified" in its way, but I couldn't get the motivation to follow that group of muscly heroes in the line to a porta-potty let alone an 26 episode series.

Group A-30
Claire Stanfield, Baccano!
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo

VOTING FOR: Mugen
As a character more than partially molded on Spike, Mugen has coolness at his core. So the acerbic break-dancing samurai out moves the psycho acrobatic assassin. "Psycho" is always a vote against coolness in my book.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:58 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Sorry, I'm a Berserk hater, barely got through three episodes and all I got from Guts was over-powered malice- nothing "cool."

Far from the truth. Guts is underpowered, which is what makes him cool. He's also a representation of anti-heroes, and anti-heroes certainly play some malice.

Quote:
Bad-ass in the way that he can kill with the flexing of a pinky but that's about as interesting to me as cackling villain whose sole purpose is to "rule the world."

Guts kills with a massive sword. Had you kept watching you'd know that even he had to gain the strength to handle such a monstrous weight.
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4630
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:16 pm Reply with quote
Sorry again, it's been maybe 6-7 years since I found myself completely unable to watch it. In the long gone days when Netflix actually kept anime in stock. And the memory is bad enough I din't even bother watching the

Sure, I realized that he gained the power to be the killing machine he eventually becomes in the first episode and that he was originally the wussy boy in the second, I at least got that far into the show.
But I hate that sort of set-up.
Quote:
Guts kills with a massive sword. Had you kept watching you'd know that even he had to gain the strength to handle such a monstrous weight.

And again, sorry about the sarcasm and hyperbole.

Already in the second episode you know that everyone but Guts and the eventual bad guy were going to die. You already know he'll gain the power to weild the sword, you know he makes some sort of deal with a demon or something. I saw no point in watching the rest of the show and seeing the betrayals and lost loves and friendships that I knew were coming and because I knew where our characters were ending up I saw no way I could appreciate their journey and would certainly not see the coolness in it.
Not my kind of show, not my type of character.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:46 pm Reply with quote
You're such an agreeable fella it makes me want to cry tears of happiness. Laughing

I wouldn't argue otherwise if you had said you were completely biased from the beginning, as you're entirely entitled to that. I'd just rather not have you claiming wrong facts.

I know it's an unreasonable request, but perhaps you could give Berserk a full go. Skip the first episode if you'd like, but it's truly a good story if you're open to it. Guts is an enjoyable character, and I believe you're the first person I've ever encountered who dislike him... he'll become much of a "weakling" later on, or at least second to our future antagonist.
If it helps, I also hated Berserk for having that first episode. But it becomes likable eventually. If my word ever helps... which most likely doesn't. Either way, Berserk is a fine piece of work, and it's for your advantage if you ever come to like it. As even after a few too many titles I still consider it special and unique.
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