｢Saimoe ‘12｣ Semifinals II – Kuro vs. Hisa

Votes are actually higher than expected for the two semifianls, and indeed, both battles see the newcomer from Achiga-hen easily advance over their veteran opponents from Kiyosoumi.  Nodoka could not get over the hump again for the third time, and Hisa had her most successful run to date (jumping up by four rounds), and we will see how they and the other three Kiyosumi competitors battle it out on the field next year.
And so, after three months of battle, after another grueling campaign that saw a number of records broken (especially by team Saki), as well as the largest criticism of the voting policy ever, and the elation or frustration of seeing our favorite characters either rise to the occassion or get their hopes crushed, 287 candidates have been eliminated, and the finale is appropriately enough another reenactment of the Saki storyline.
In the semifinals of side A in the national tournament, the vanguard fight featuring our two finalists was the main portion of Achiga-hen to date.  Toki’s courage and willpower to survive through the onslaught that Teru created was the primary reason why the Saki supporters have combed her to win as the #1 overall seed of this tourney.  Her actions had eclipsed the supposed main school so much that many fans believed the national tournament arc should have been called “Toki: Senriyama-hen”.
Kuro, the genuine protagonist of the Achiga-hen storyline, actuallhy comes from the titular school and had barreled through an unprecedented gauntlet to get here.  Toki represents the seventh preliminary winner that Kuro has to fight (four of whom are her own teammates from the show, including the last vanguard not mentioned, Kirame), another record that any character will most likely never break.  You can’t blame the Saki crew for this one; it’s all on the random draw.  If Kuro does indeed beat Toki, she will become the first Kana Hanazawa character to win it all, after a series of near-misses for the second most dominant seiyuu of the tournament.
No doubt that even though Kuro has had the stronger strength of schedule, she still is a massive underdog.  The seer of the future now fights the dragon lord for the crown.  My final vote is for Toki, and I will side with her to be the champion.  Good luck to the finalists and may the best girl win!