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

And finally all of the girls I even remotely liked are gone. 

Sakimoe this year is 10x dumber than Madokamoe last year

In years past I wondered what all the griping was about when only one series was dominant in a saimoe competition, but now I think I’m beginning to understand the problem.  It’s the lack of other characters from other series if you’re not a particularly big fan of the series that’s dominant, isn’t it?  I honestly never stopped to consider that, but I’m betting that’s the reason.  Am I right, or is there more to it?

In a rare occurence, Shana made another mad dash in the final hour, despite being hampered by fake votes, and she emerges victorious once again as the third three-time quarterfinalist.  A job well done for the Flame Haze to avoid another sniping attempt.  Meat will get another crack at the tournament next year, where hopefully there will be at best a medium level of fighting among the major teams.
The power rankings of the Elite Eight follow: #1-Toki (Senriyama 1), #2-Yuu (Achiga 1), #3-Kuro (Achiga 2), #4 Nodocchi (Kiyosumi 1), #5-Shana, #6-Louise, #7-Saki (Kiyosumi 3), #8-Hisa (Kiyosumi 4).
This tournament of all-stars has quickly spiraled into the dominance of team Saki, and we may never see such dominance ever again.  It’s probably easier to list the major accomplishments not done by the mahjong warriors, and the only one I can think of is the 22-match winning streak without an unforced loss by the Puella Magi last year, and even that can be broken by the semifinal round (they have 20 so far).  There is already a lot of grumbling and boycotts in Japan as well as overseas, by the result of Saki’s overdominance and rather weaker competition (besides the Kugimiyas, the biggest resistance came from Akarin, Shirakiin, Mei, and teams Idolmaster and Ro-Kyu-Bu), and a perfect storm had just happened to develop (or maybe an imperfect storm as they can’t get all eight spots according to some crazed fanatics).
Nevertheless, the quarterfinal draw produces even more drama within the Saki camp.  A yuri fight and a sister’s showdown (the first-ever duel between non-twin biological sisters) are both on tap, and supporters for Toki can breathe a sigh of relief as she landed in the easier half.  Here’s how I see the last three rounds go: Quarterfinals: Toki over Louise, Nodocchi over Saki, Kuro over Yuu, Shana over Hisa; semifinals: Toki over Nodocchi, Shana over Kuro; grand final: Toki over Shana.  (In battle, Shana secretly hopes Kuro wins in the match before her; Yuu would be invincible to the heat otherwise.)
It is now do-or-die for Louise if she wants to advance further.  She has never been in the Final Four, and drawing Toki as her adversary seems to have already doomed her.  She has Shana’s supporters to back her, but they have to be persistent if the Kugimiya clan wants upsets.  Toki most likely wouldn’t have much of a problem beating the wizard, but she can’t rest if she wants to avoid the void.

my pick: Toki