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Coolest Character Tournament - Post-Mortem


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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:31 pm Reply with quote
Just a heads-up to those paying attention: I am currently experiencing big problems getting ANN to come up correctly on both my PC and my laptop (essentially, I'm getting the text without the formatting), although every other site I try seems to come up fine. . . Anyway, if this problem does not resolve itself within the next hour or so then I will be unable to post either results or the new round tonight.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:44 pm Reply with quote
I had that same problem last night, Key but seems to be working ok for me right now.

Oops almost forgot to vote again.
Group C Final
The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
vs.
Akira Tokizawa Eden of the East
Pick: Za Count - looks like this may be a close one so I wanted to get my support in for him. Although I've only seen a scattering of episodes of Gankutsuouh, what I have seen of him seemed pretty damn cool. So arguments of his later failures aside, I think I should go off what I know of him kind of like a new friendship with someone who seems cool but has a dark past and many things I don't know about him that may not be cool. Besides Akira does not push any cool buttons for me. At all. He to me is just very ordinary and bland in personality. I'm still scratching my head why he even got in this tournament. And I've watched the entire Eden series.

Group D Final
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop
vs.
Motoko Kusanagi, Ghost in the Shell franchise[/quote]
Pick: Motoko. Yep going against the flow and voting for her. I think I'd probably vote for Spiegel to see how he'd fare up against my favorite to win this, but I'm taking the other route by helping to pit him against someone I think he can beat. As for whether or not Motoko is actually cooler than Spike. Yeah they both have their cool sides, but I think Motoko has the edge with her doesn't take shit from anyone attitude.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:15 pm Reply with quote
HOLY CRAP GUYS! Best turn out since round 2! We haven't hit 20 people in 8 weeks.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:30 am Reply with quote
Dorcas_Aurelia wrote:
HOLY CRAP GUYS! Best turn out since round 2! We haven't hit 20 people in 8 weeks.


Can't speak for anyone else, but I only voted so I could register my displeasure with how Akira was doing against The Count. Neither is a particularly strong contender, not compared to Spike or Motoko, but in my mind there was a clear difference and I simply wanted to express that.
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An1fr3ak



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 235
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:58 am Reply with quote
I've been away from this site for too long... Damn. I won't interfere with the voting at this point in the tournament, but I can see where my voting would have made a difference Confused.

I'll just leave this competition alone with two statements in tow:
Mugen is the king of cool in my opinion and also happens to be my all time favourite anime character (no justifications required I believe?).
Motoko is probably the coolest female character I have seen in any anime and also happens to another one of my favourite characters.

If one of them doesn't win then we have more issues than national geographic to deal with Laughing

[NB] - If I'm breaking any rules by posting this up I am truly sorry, but I felt it was necessary on my part.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:57 am Reply with quote
Round 5: Groups C and D Finals is now closed.

Sorry for the delay on this, folks. Up to 20 votes - the most in a while. The results:

Group C: The Count narrowly beats off Akira Takizawa, 11-9.
Group D: Spike Spiegel more soundly dispatches Motoko Kusanagi, 15-5.

The contentious Group C match was close right up to the end; it was tied at the 18 vote mark but The Count took the last two votes to clinch his victory. The Spike/Motoko match, contrarily, was never close.

I'm doing this from work, so I don't have the stats with me to do an updated Power Ranking. That will be instead included on the Semifinals posting, which should go up about three hours after this one.

Also, I have been looking ahead to what my schedule is likely to be for the summer months and have come to the conclusion that it may be best to get the set-up for the next tournament started immediately after this one; in fact, I may even put out a thread for deciding on the next Tournament them later this week or early next week. From the time we start that process to the time the tournament start typically takes 4-5 weeks and I want everything set up and ready to go before the summer season starts at the beginning of July. (A four day convention trip that I will be undertaking in late June also encourages this.) The other option is to wait until mid-July to start the process, but I'm going to have greater-than-normal amounts of free time the next 2-3 weeks and would like to take advantage of that.

As for what that theme might be? I am leaning very strongly towards Best Rivals, which I think is a highly viable concept, as it covers a broad range of genres, is now sufficiently distanced from our last groups competition to be doable, and would give us a bit different balance of competitors than we're used to seeing. (I don't see any viable way that GITS can even be represented, for instance.) But I'll go into more detail on that proposal in the separate thread.

And An1fre3ak, you're not causing any problems but your comments have no value if they're not attached to votes.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 4:16 pm Reply with quote
Round 6: Semifinals are now closed.

Results can be found here.

The penultimate week has arrived! Due to a tie two weeks ago, we have a Final Five (again!) instead of a Final Four. That should make for a particularly interesting top match.

And before we start, an updated Power Ranking, which is unchanged in order from last round except for taking out the defeated:

1. Balsa, 0.909091
2. Spike, 0.838384
3. The Count, 0.774775
4. Mugen, 0.726852
5. Guts, 0.689815

A/B Semifinal
Guts, Berserk
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo
vs.
Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit

C/D Semifinal
The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
vs.
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop


Last edited by Key on Mon May 23, 2011 11:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Generic #757858



Joined: 03 Nov 2008
Posts: 1354
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 6:11 pm Reply with quote
So, it'll come down to Balsa vs. Spike, eh? I'm cool with that. Personally I'd still pick Guts, but any of the remaining candidates, except the Count of course, is worthy of being the champion.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:04 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Also, I have been looking ahead to what my schedule is likely to be for the summer months and have come to the conclusion that it may be best to get the set-up for the next tournament started immediately after this one; in fact, I may even put out a thread for deciding on the next Tournament them later this week or early next week. From the time we start that process to the time the tournament start typically takes 4-5 weeks and I want everything set up and ready to go before the summer season starts at the beginning of July. (A four day convention trip that I will be undertaking in late June also encourages this.) The other option is to wait until mid-July to start the process, but I'm going to have greater-than-normal amounts of free time the next 2-3 weeks and would like to take advantage of that.

I think rushing the preparation stage is a bad idea. When we do the post-mortem, I usually don't have any "Who do you think should have been included that wasn't" characters, but I've got a list of 7 written down (at least 1 of which I know others will agree with) and I know I've had thought of a few more when I didn't have anything to write the names down. While I imagine a Best Rivals tournament will probably win an easy plurality, it would be nice to take our time coming to at least a vague consensus of what the ideal qualities of whatever selection is made for the tournament, and especially for the nomination phase. I'd even go so far as to suggest we start the nomination phase in mid-late June and leave it open through mid-July, when you have time to finally wrap things up.
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Crisha
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Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:10 pm Reply with quote
A/B Semifinal
Guts, Berserk
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo
vs.
Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit

All right! This is an easy decision. Balsa.

She's the character I've been rooting for the entire tournament. My #1 since nominations, and I'd love nothing more than for her to go head-to-head with Spike. And even if she loses, I would be just fine with that, considering how far she came. I am the person who nominated her, so let me re-post what I originally stated:

First off, to have a main female character who's in her 30s is its own level of awesome. But to have a 30-year-old woman who is able to wipe the floor of many fit men (including some of the Emperor's personal Hunters) and with a spear? That is Bad-Ass. Cool, collected, pragmatic, observant, quick on her feet, and not afraid to put herself in harm's way, Balsa is a formidable warrior. She is also very honorable, fighting in order to protect and choosing not to kill in combat if at all possible. Outside of battle, she is still very self-sufficient, intelligent, and independent. In a fantasy world that's similar to Heian period of Japan, she's a traveler and a bodyguard-to-hire, roles that are more commonly filled by men (as noted by several characters in the series). Regardless, she continues her journeys and follows her own code.

I love women who break the traditional gender roles. And she's so self-assured about it, set in her ways, unwilling to let others tell her differently.

She's independent and pragmatic, but she's also very motherly. I love having a woman who's strong and tough (in ways traditionally expected of me), but is still recognizably a woman. And her motherly tendencies only make her stronger, cooler, and a more well-rounded character. She has the best of both worlds and commands them with confidence.

C/D Semifinal
The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
vs.
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop

Spike. I really do like his style and the way he fights, smooth, flowing, adaptable like the cool jazz music that helps define the show. The two are synonymous. He may not be my top choice, but he still deserves to win the title of Coolest Character.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:30 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Group C: The Count narrowly beats off Akira Takizawa, 11-9.
Group D: Spike Spiegel more soundly dispatches Motoko Kusanagi, 15-5.

I recounted 3 times wondering why I kept getting different numbers than you before I realized we both completely skipped a voter. There were 21 people voting last round, not 20 (although even then, I'm still off on the Spike v Motoko match). Not that it changes the outcome, or probably even the order of the power ranking.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:39 pm Reply with quote
A/B Semifinal
Guts, Berserk
vs.
Mugen, Samurai Champloo
vs.
Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit

Voting for Balsa. I think that she is the epitome of being very cool and very badass at the same time. She is a fierce warrior who is not afraid of being a woman to the man who loves her or the boy who needs her.

C/D Semifinal
The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
vs.
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop

While the Count has his excellent points...Spike just outclasses him as being one of the Coolest Badasses in anime. While, like most lead characters, he has his demons to fight...he fights them in a way that you don't see very often.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:06 pm Reply with quote
Oh, yeah, results.
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ClownFREAK



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 29
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2011 9:39 pm Reply with quote
wow i cant believe balsa's beating Guts did i step into another dimension or something? i just dnt understand it, i thought her and the show sucked (dropped it) i have to assume its mainly because she's a girl, and alot of the reasons why you think she's cool is why i think she isnt and definitely not bad-ass. The fact that she trys to avoid killing her enemies is lame and too shounen, and how is motherly instincts cool? she's suppose to be a warrior not a wet nurse i can see it making her a more rounded and likable character but cool? i truly dont think so, heres guts fatherly instinctsspoiler[he stabbed a kid of the royal family straight through his chest ] lol. (he had his reasons he's not a psychopath.) and here are a few other things......... i think huge ass sword that can be swung with one arm is way cooler and badass than a spear, and mercenary is also more badass and cooler than a bodyguard for higher
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Crisha
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PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2011 9:58 pm Reply with quote
OMG, you mean we can have different standards and measures of what makes one "cool"? Say it ain't so! Laughing

While I can sort of respect your viewpoint (even though I don't agree with it), how about you do something more productive than complaining and vote instead? Guts will need votes to win.

And motherly instincts/care for others + pragmatic disposition + bad-ass fighting skills is AWESOME. And while she is affectionate and protective, she isn't overly affectionate nor overprotective. She gives Chagum his personal space and allows him to make his own choices and mistakes. She respects his strengths and weaknesses and allows him to grow using his own strength. I think that shows a lot of character and trust, and makes me like her even more.

But neither is she a pushover. She lets Chagum know when he screws up. But she has enough self-awareness and humility to admit when she screws up as well (as seen in the 3rd video clip), which shows a high level of maturity. She's emotionally, mentally, and physically mature, which only increases her coolness in my eyes.
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