Forum - View topicCoolest Character Tournament - Post-Mortem
|
Goto page Previous Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Kambei. I find Balalaika a pretencious character more than anything else, not even mentioning cool. I actually sped up watching Black Lagoon considerably expecting so much more of a series, but not only it left me cold, the episodes with Balalaika were the least interesting out of all. A stereotypical flashback (of course with some patriotic undertones, since all Russians are patriotic) did not add much to the itnerestingness of the character. I suppose she will make it quite far in the tournament, but oh well, not thanks to me. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Izumi, although out of all the females in FMA she probably is not the coolest one. However, in bots FMA1 and FMA2 she turns out to be one of the most skilled fighters. Despite lacking some of quite important internal organs and generally not being in best health, she still manages to awe Olivier Armstrong with her strength. She is respected, and feared by her pupils, and is surrounded bu an aura of self confidence that no one dares to challenge. 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! Claire Stanfield, although the last few episodes of Baccano! really undermined his coolness for me. Might have to change the vote once I finish the series and Claire goes through to he next round. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Brandon, no doubt about it. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Kenpachi Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Mugen. Sorry Hei, you're just not good enough. |
|||
|
|||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18264 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
||
The last part of that statement is not accurate. He does use weapons at various points throughout the series. |
|||
|
|||
Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Balalaika has a formidable presence. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Izumi Curtis Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Roy Mustang T The only guy from FMA I like. I wish he was the main character. His ability to make and control flame is cool, so he gets my vote. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Simon Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Claire Stanfield for being a sweet and cool psychopath. 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 Kenpachi Zaraki Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Mugen |
|||
|
|||
Generic #757858
 Posts: 1354 |
|
||
Admittedly it's been a while since I saw the series, but when did he use a weapon? As I recall, after spoiler[he went into Rail Tracer-mode he just started throwing guys off the train, grinding them to a pulp and ripping them apart], but I can't rebember him ever using anything but his bare hands. Are you sure you're not confusing him with some of the other characters, like Jacuzzi or Firo? |
|||
|
|||
Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4622 Location: Gainesville, FL |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Voting For: Kambei Shimba 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 Well, if I want my only nomination left to survive I guess I'll have to be convincing. Annoying since it's been awhile since I've watched the show, specifics escape me. I see two problems apart from that, neither of which is that she's not a match for Mustang, IMHO she is much cooler but 1. it's not the most widely seen show and 2. maybe I should have nominated her in general cool. Not that she isn't very able in a fight- she is, but her very presence oozes cool, style and self confidence. This is the pic I wanted to use for her profile picture (not my pic, I didn't name it that- just a bit of synchronicity), same outfit, fuller shot- I really should have resized it and submitted it, I think it really shows it all. It gives a sort of old school Pam Grier look- sexy, tough, stylish and you know this woman woman won't take your sh!t, not that she jumps into a fight, she more the type to make you feel worthless with a look and only resort to violence if it's really needed. If she is captured, such as the times she's been in prison, she's also not the type to break under pressure, tie her to a chair and demand information, she'll just bide her time until she can escape, as she has done at least four times. Mustang, for all his patience, has so much trouble really going after what he wants and suffers from a rather uncool fatalist or even defeatist streak and lingering sense of guilt that works against his toughness- he wants to move ahead and has some ideas to do so, but he is very reliant on others, this is not a fault of Michiko. She goes after what she wants and insists that she gets it. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Voting For: Simon Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Voting For: Teresa (Vote change- reasons stated on p.17) 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 Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Voting For: Mugen Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
|||
|
|||
Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
|
||
Yes, you didn't score 15 points this week. I'm greatly disappointed in your lack of consistency. You merely managed 16, which means your total for round 1 is only 61, barely besting the previous round 1 high score (set in the Hero Tournament by Olliff) by 4 points. For shame. Full results later, after I work out a little kink in my graphs. |
|||
|
|||
Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3911 Location: New York state. |
|
||
|
Match A-17: Balalaika (Black Lagoon)
Match A-18: Eikichi Onizuka (Great Teacher Onizuka) Match A-19: Michiko Malandro (Michiko to Hatchin) Match A-20: Guts (Berserk) I think the fact spoiler[he willingly allowed himself to stay captured and risk dying on the Earth's surface during the start of the attack from the Anti-Spirals] and not being as gung-ho and energetic as Kamina turns me away from Simon. Meanwhile, you have a guy like Guts who has lived a miserable life yet does what he can at great risk to himself to protect his comrades in the Band of the Hawk. I still say its too early to vote Guts off from this tourney. Match A-21: Claire Stanfield (Baccano) Match A-22: Brandon Heat (Gungrave) Mostly a vote against Black Jack who I'm still stunned was able to beat Haruko last round. Match A-23: Kenpachi Zaraki (Bleach) Match A-24: Mugen (Samurai Champloo) |
|||
|
|||
|
Dorcas_Aurelia
Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
|
||
|
As promised, full results.
And despite Key and Olliff's predictions that D would be the least predictable bracket, at was actually just slightly less than group B (.35% specifically, which is just 1 guess, and if we count my predictions, it swings the other way). That said, the margins by which each round was won were drastically smaller than the minigame predictions. Only two winners had better rates than the minigame expected (Honoka and Dark Schneider, the latter actually being less favored than Scar to win D-12), with half the characters doing far worse than expected (most notably Ladd Russo who actually beat Lelouch for the dubious honor of worst expected performance for a winning character). |
|||
|
|||
LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5633 Location: Southern California |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Group A-19 Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann I am not fond of either character in this group. Both irritate me. But I am going with the one that I find least objectionable. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave I have to go with Brandon because living or dead, he had a Code of Honor that he kept and tried to live up to. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK |
|||
|
|||
|
Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Vote for: Balalaika Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Vote for: Izumi I only recently watched the episode of Brotherhood where that fist forms out of the wall, knocking out a bad guy, and she comes walking out of it... so entertaining. Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Vote for: Michiko Malandro Okay, Spastic Minnow convinced me with the additional argument. Besides, I didn't really feel all that strong about Roy anyways. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Vote for: Simon I doubt I'll see him get past this round, but if anyone saw my mile-long write up for Simon, they probably wouldn't be surprised by my vote. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Vote: Claire Stanfield Gotta vote for the man I entered this competition. I entered him for a reason! Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Vote for: Black Jack Kind of a tough decision. This may change. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Vote for: Kenpachi Zaraki I don't care much for Bleach, but Kenpachi has to be one of the best damn things to come out of it, and I'll watch an episode just to see him. Not only does he kick ass in the manga and anime, but he's been the cause of many an entertaining fanfic in regards to parodies of the 11th squad. Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Vote for: Hei Only seen half of one series (Darker than Black) and an episode of another (Samurai Champloo), so not much to go on. However, I liked Hei from what I've seen - yay, someone who can kick butt but also has a heart amongst those who technically shouldn't. Also, not really an issue, but Mugen in that picture looks like a transvestite to me (not that transvestites can't be bad-ass... uh, yeah). |
|||
|
|||
Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 My vote: Balalaika Voting based on reputation/guide entries, though a strong enough argument could make me switch. Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO My vote: Izumi Curtis I'm familiar with Izumi and like her, and the bits I've seen of Onizuka have only moderatley impressed me, so she gets my vote for now. Same as above, this vote is subject to change if I hear a good enough argument in favor of Onizuka. Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise My vote: Michiko Malandro Eh, was going to vote for Mustang though I don't think he's the strongest candidate there is, but Spastic Minnow made me reconsider. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk My vote: Guts This is a match between two pretty strong candidates, but Guts deserves to win. He's definitely more bad-ass, and if one wants to argue that Guts's character flaws hold him back in a more general cool sense, well, Simon has plenty of those in the first half of Gurren Lagann himself. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! My vote: Teresa Teresa Teresa Teresa. First of all, Claire is not nearly as cool as he could be. His whole speech to Ladd on the top of the train really put me off on his character. I understand arrogance is a common trait for bad-ass characters, but he just came off as preachy, annoying, and delusional. And not the fun to watch type of delusional either. I was really hoping for Ladd to utterly crush him. As a said in an earlier post, attitude is a huge part of being bad-ass or cool, and Claire's attitude is just slightly off. He just rubs me the wrong way. The OVA episodes made my opinion of Claire improve, which is why I voted for him last round (plus Kallen seemed a weak contender), but I still don't rank him that high. Teresa, on the other hand, is awesome. Even though she's not the nicest person herself when first introduced, she never is annoying like Claire. And the more you get to know her, the better she is. Her relationship with Clare (not the Baccano Claire) softens her character, but actually enhances her bad-ass nature in my view. Maybe it's because for some reason the idea of a single mother protecting her child from the hordes of doom or whatever strikes me as particularly bad-ass, and that's essentially what Teresa does. She's also quite sexy, which certainly doesn't hurt her general coolness factor. Just look at her pic and tell me she's not awesome. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack My vote: Black Jack Eh, I don't feel that strongly about Black Jack, but I also don't feel that strongly about Brandon either. I wish Data Masamune had made it, he sounded fun. Oh well, going with Black Jack for now. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece My Vote: Roronoa Zoro The battle of the shounen bad-asses. Oddly enough, I nominated both of them. Those familiar with Zoro will probably understand at least partially why I am voting for him with this simple sentence: "Nothing. Nothing at all." If you don't understand the significance of that, read on.. They are rather different types of characters, despite both being bad-ass. Kenpachi is the insane, laughing bad-ass. He loves to fight, really really loves to fight, ignores pain, is insane, has to hold back just to make fights interesting, is insane, etc, etc. He's tons of fun to watch, and you really don't need to see much of him for him to make an impression. Zoro is a much calmer and more stoic character, so he doesn't inititally make as much of an impression. But the longer you watch him and the more you see, the more you realize just how awesome he is. Just to give you a few examples of his awesomeness, here are some of the things he had done. When fighting a acrobat swordsman early on in the series, one spoiler[who was taking advantage of an injury in Zoro's side, Zoro grew frustrated with the guy's cheap tactics. So Zoro stood up and just let the guy ram his sword directly into his already injured side, shocking the guy by the fact that he didn't dodge. Zoro then asked him if that was finally enough of a handicap, and proceeded to beat the crap out of him.] When facing a bunch of bounty hunters, Zoro found himself suddenly in the clutches of a strongwoman probably twice his size, who attempted to crush his skull. spoiler[Zoro's response? Oh, you want a battle of strength? I'll just proceed to put away my swords, defeat you in about 2 seconds with my bear hands, lick some of the blood streaming down my face, and make a chilling comment to the rest of the bounty hunters watching in horror.] Or how about when Zoro was trying to buy replacement swords for a couple of his that had gotten broken, and discovered that the shopkeeper had accidently set out a powerful but cursed blade that had taken the life of everyone who had weilded it before. The shopkeeper insisted he couldn't sell the sword. spoiler[So Zoro's response? To test which was stronger, his luck or the sword's curse, by holding out his arm and sending the sword spinning into the air in such a way that when it falls, it will almost certainly cut off his arm unless it's spin is just perfectly timed to go around it. ]Kenpachi isn't the only insane one in this match up. But all of those are minor things, included only to show you that Zoro has many, many, many, many utterly bad-ass feats. The one that truly puts him over the top is a scene that occurs near the end of the Thriller Bark arc. spoiler[The Straw Hats are exhausted from a huge fight against Moria and his minions, and have just managed to defeat him for good, when suddenly another Warlord shows up: Kuma. The crew is in no condition to fight him, and the guy proceeds to pretty much blows up the island. As he prepares to take the head of the unconscious Luffy, Zoro reveals himself to be still awake, and tries to stop him. To make a long story short, Kuma, whose motivations we won't go into, tells Zoro that he will spare Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats but kill Zoro instead, but his method to do so is to take from Luffy all the pain and suffering he felt during the entire course of the arc, and make Zoro experience it all in an instant. (Yes, Kuma can do this) This will kill Zoro, he says. Zoro agrees, but he does not die. His body pretty much rips itself apart from the inside, soaking him in blood, but he does not die. As the rest of the crew and their comrades wake up (shocked that Kuma is gone and they're all still alive), they find Zoro, bad-ass incarnate, arms crossed, still standing though he should be dead, and ask him what happened. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Because Zoro knows that his friends, and Luffy in particular, would be horrorfied... beyond horrorfied, in Luffy's case simply unable to deal with the fact that of what Zoro suffered to save them, he says nothing. He takes no credit, and let's Luffy express blissful happiness over the fact that all his aches and pains are gone, unaware of why that is the case.] That, and many other reasons, are why Zoro deserves to go on. Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo My vote: Mugen It might have been a closer match, but Hei's hobo phase in Darker than Black 2 really hurts him here. Easily Mugen. |
|||
|
|||
guet
 Posts: 492 Location: Sparta |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Voting for: Kimbei Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Voting for:Eikichi Onizuka Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Voting for: Roy Mustang Reason: Check out Mustang Vs. Envy on your video site of choice, and then decide if this guy isn't much of a badass. Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Voting for: Guts Reason: In my opinion this one should not even be close. Simon's weaknesses during his childhood phase were pointed out and played a big part of his failure in the best hero tournament. Gut's childhood is shown as well, and where Simon had Kamina and others support him and help him become the man he needed to be, the early life of Guts was a struggle that he overcame on his own. spoiler[ Raised by mercenaries, Guts is told that no weapons and armor fit for a child will be made, so he learns to fight with man-sized weaponry at an early age (this leads to his giant-sized weapon style in adulthood). Even after he has shown himself to be an asset on the battlefield despite his age, his guardian pimps him out to be raped by another soldier, and instead of getting all depressed, he exacts bloody vengeance on them both.] Where Simon often suffers from doubt and depression, Guts always overcomes the odds and struggles against forces greater than himself. spoiler[In one truly badass moment late in the series, in order to save the woman he loves, Guts hacks off his own arm with a broken sword (this takes several very brutal hits) to break free of the demons pinning him in place, and later proceeds to replace the hand with more weapons so he can kill more efficiently.] He is the "Hundred Man Slayer", the strong right arm of the Band of the Hawk, and the man who fights demons night after night without rest. Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Voting for: Claire Stanfield Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack Voting for: Brandon/Beyond the Grave Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Voting for: Roronoa Zoro Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Voting for: Hei Reason: Not only is Hei a more interesting and powerful character in my opinion, but I've always found Mugen to be kind of like a watered-down version of Spike. |
|||
|
|||
|
Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6540 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
|
||
|
Group A-17
Balalaika, Black Lagoon vs. Kambei Shimba, Samurai 7 Balalaika Group A-18 Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise vs. Eikichi Onizuka, GTO Izumi Curtis Group A-19 Michiko Malandro , Michiko to Hatchin vs. Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist franchise Roy Mustang without conviction Group A-20 Simon, Gurren Lagann vs. Guts, Berserk Guts Group A-21 Teresa, Claymore vs. Claire Stanfield, Baccano! Teresa because one-dimensional anime psychopaths like Vino are boring. Group A-22 Brandon/Beyond the Grave, Gungrave vs. Black Jack, Black Jack I watched the first half of the Black Jack episode set in Australia. He’s not very bad-ass. Brandon by default. Group A-23 Kenpachi Zaraki, Bleach vs. Roronoa Zoro, One Piece Roronoa Zoro because the person who nominated both says he’s better. Group A-24 Hei, Darker Than BLACK vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo Hei because Mugen is Spike light. |
|||
|
|||
|
Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4622 Location: Gainesville, FL |
|
||
To make sure I wasn't exaggerating Michiko I watched some of the first episode again. The first scene is her prison break, at one point she's running on foot and being chased by a helicopter, guns blazing, she turns around, daring them to come after her and yells at the helicopter "If you fire your guns at me you better be prepared for what happens!" and then leads them on a chase into a windmill. Copter down, she turns arounds, lets out her signature "tsk" sound and gives it a thumbs down- no special powers needed. 
|
|||
|
|||
|
Key
Moderator
Posts: 18264 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
||
|
With 13 votes in (probably half the final total), this round is, indeed, proving to be much more competitive than last. No match it split wider than 9-4 and the majority are 7-6 or 8-5 splits. The tightest matches so far are the ones you'd probably expect: Brandon/Black Jack and Kenpachi/Roronoa. Somewhat surprising is that Simon is actually giving Guts a contest.
More surprising (to me, anyway) is that Teresa isn't giving Claire Stanfield more of a contest. That is the match right now that I think is least indicative of the contestants' relative merits, and I'm saying that as someone who's seen all of both series. I've only seen one significant justification for Claire so far, too, and that one was strictly on Claire's merits and not a comparative argument. If Teresa's going to get voted down, I want to see some justifications for why Claire is more cool/bad-ass than her. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group