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Best Team/Organization Tournament: Post-Mortem

[MITHRIL] It's weakness lies in the fact that they are too reliant on a few key members.

Group D-21
Debris Section, Planetes
vs.
Chor Tempest, Simoun

Debris Section

Some of the most developed and most believable characters that you see in anime. Beyond their excellent chemistry and solid group identity despite not being initially respected, the Debris section proves even day to day to work can be heroic and amount to some pretty extreme accomplishments. The way that this is done is done in a way that's believable and you will feel this team grow on you. The two central leads of this grow in a way that seems very real. Not only that, but they grow in a way where they balance each out to improve in the area that the other character is weak in. To top it off, the development makes you care about this characters, and want to root for their team since they seem so undeservingly under-respected.

Group D-21
Debris Section, Planetes
vs.
Chor Tempest, Simoun

This was a potential match-up I dreaded, especially given that I nominated and strongly supported both. Debris Section is going to get a lot of votes because their series is well-known and they do have distinct merits, but as someone who has seen all of both series I must firmly assert that Chor Tempest is the better team/organization based on our voting criteria. They take a little while to completely come together, and intergroup relationships are rarely completely smooth (although the same could be said for Debris Section!), but they unquestionably have a firm sense of group identity, loyalty, and camaraderie, and when push comes to shove, beautiful teamwork, too. The immensely complex coordinated attack maneuvers they sometimes do (which will be highlighted in next round's video clips if they get that far) equal or exceed any of the meticulous planning and coordination that Debris Section performs on their missions and they certainly don't lose in character or development, either.

Really, there's no criteria Debris Section has in their favor that Chor Tempest doesn't equal or beat. For that reason they should be the winners here.

The other five were all decided by 11+ votes, with Mew Mews racking up the biggest victory this round in a match likely more reflective of the strength of their competition rather than their own strength.

Next round will be up momentarily. And don't forget to offer video clip suggestions for next round, especially for you Ala Alba supporters!

Ai was spoiler[willing to give up her own life to save a team mate in space even when she was able to abandon him and easily save her own life in the process. Her choice didn't lead to her death, but she suffered severed pain and suffered long-term damage to her body in the process. ]

The Debris Section brings a few things to the table that Chor Tempest does not. The daily work that they Debris Section does is heroic, serves to greater good to humanity, but at the same they are not respected and they are seen wrongly as nothing better than lowest of the low workers and fools at the start of the series. This same strength is not found in Chor Tempest.

While the relationships grow and foster with Chor Tempest just like they they do with the Debris Section, the sense of personal growth transformation and coming to age moments don't hold the same level of strength or even come close to the same sense of realism or believability with the other team.

These real-world applications do not go as deep with Chor Tempest which tends to stress interdependence and growth of relationships more than other aspects. Some of the characters do improve, but it seems more as a factor of their social growth and well being and increased bond with another member of their team than growth spurred from outside sources.

While it is too bad, that both of these teams had to meet second round, I strongly believe that Debris Section has a significant edge in at least these two areas, if not even a little more impressive in a few of the others due to believability, and total commitment to the team, such as the time where Ai was spoiler[willing to give up her own life to save a team mate in space even when she was able to abandon him and easily save her own life in the process. Her choice didn't lead to her death, but she suffered severed pain and suffered long-term damage to her body in the process. ] This proves than anything will be done to save a member of a team even if it means your own death.

There are also a lot of moments where the team's strength is proven outside of the central two characters. Yuri overcomes specter of his past that caused him to be depressed due to the direct influence of his team mates. The rest of the team realigns their priorities when the they risk their very jobs to do something that is right. Without the direct influence and interaction of the team, this would never happen, especially when Lavi and the Chief are so conservative and fearful at first at keeping their job before this distinct change occurs. Their bonds as a team is what leads to them to make the right decision if it risks their very ability to make a living.

Disqualifying any growth of the of the central two characters, and arguing that is is just a product of their relationship is unfair, such as it would be equally unfair to discount the impact of the relationship between Aer and Neviril in Simoun. Worth mentioning the Planetes pair are to main characters, and they have a trainer/trainee relationship that occupies one of the biggest portions of how we see the Debris Section interact and they are the focus of the show. They are also two main people who are actually venture out into space, and it could be argued that they are core characters. More importantly, this relationship grew because of the Debris Section and the support of the other members to get them to at least get along. At first you can even say they didn't even like each other, and if the Debris Section didn't make an extra effort to smooth out relations and make they work together more effectively, the entire relationship may have never surfaced.

The almost hostile to extremely close relationship between the core characters just makes their relationship at the series end even stronger since it has a real sense of growth even if it only grew gradually like they way most real relationships do. Lastly, even though a relationship does form between these two characters, the strong bonds of the team do not change, and it could also be argued that the commitment to each other and to Debris Section is just as strong as it is between the two core characters. This is what makes this so great, and deserving of the win even against a tough foe like Chor Tempest.