｢Saimoe ‘12｣ Group “D” Finals – Block Results

For six of the past seven years, and for the fourth straight year, the Elite Eight again has a character voiced by Rie Kugimiya.  Louise has become the first three-time national quarterfinalist in the tournament’s history, and she did this out of four attempts total, which definitely shows the strength of the wizard despite her character flaws early on.  Her presence can also pose a big question on the Saki dominance as a clash between the two biggest teams will again take place after not having any of them in rounds 3 and 4, provided that Sena (if she wins) isn’t drawn against her in a week’s time.  Now we’ll see if Louise can take the next step and win a round 5 battle, something that she hasn’t done in her previous two endeavors.

The remaining people not from or supporting Saki must have the lyrics to “The Internationale” in their minds now, with the mahjong empire being the oppression.  When the Strke Witches debuted in 2009, not many people took them seriously as they were mostly wiped out by round 3 by Saki and Hayate characters.  Last year, they took advantage of the most favorable draw among the major teams to send Karlslander Erica into the Final Four.  This year the 501′s Orussian fighter, overall fan favorite, and top-3 seed Sanya had a flight route where she defeated Hinagiku in a duel before cruising in the next two rounds.  A big concern is that she’s the weakest aggregate fighter of the top sixteen.  So far the flight officer’s night patrol has not been disturbed much, but now a huge heat source is incoming.
This is Yuu’s second straight duel against a foreigner after eliminating Frenchman Charlotte last round.  Her ability to draw warm tiles, those with some red marking on them, must make her attracted to the red banner of the Soviet Union that Sanya flies, and she wants to contribute to the empire that the mahjong warriors have built.  If she succeeds, team Saki will have taken the maximum 3/4 of the quarterfinal pie they are spotted after round 3.
Both fighters are beneficiaries of the marathon mahjong match in round 1, but now only one can advance.  Given how well the representatives of Achiga Academy are doing, my pick of Yuu should be able to advance easily.