Anime Saimoe Tournament

The nihongo|Anime Saimoe Tournament|アニメ最萌トーナメント|anime saimoe tōnamento|Saimoe for short is an online popularity contest that has been held annually on the Japanese Internet discussion board 2channel since 2002, by which fans vote for the most moe anime character of the year. In recent years, the tournament has garnered growing attention from international fans, and inspired a number of similar contests.

Rules and principles

Saimoe is a single elimination tournament to designate the most moe female character among a few thousand contestants from anime newly aired or released during the previous year. Precise rules have varied slightly over time. The 2008 edition, that ran from June 23 to November 2, proceeded as follows:cite web|url=http://saimoe2008.hp.infoseek.co.jp/|title=Anime Saimoe Tournament 2008 official site|accessdate=2008-08-26|language=Japanese]
# Initial nominations: 2channel users were prompted to submit candidates for entry. The eligible characters were all "female" characters that had appeared in an anime series, OVA or anime movie broadcast or released between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.
# Preliminary round I: the 3000-odd [cite web|url=http://saimoe2008.hp.infoseek.co.jp/yosen/01kekka.html|title=Preliminary round I results|accessdate=2008-08-06|language=Japanese] initial nominees were divided in 20 groups. It was possible to cast a vote for up to 9 characters in each group. The top 9 characters of each group in vote count could advance to the tournament directly. Characters ranked 10 to 30 qualified for the second preliminary round.cite web|url=http://www.internationalmoeleague.com/saimoe-japan.html|accessdate=2008-08-26|language=English]
# Preliminary round II: the 400 (20x20) characters qualified tor this round were again divided in 12 groups, in which voters could pick up to 9 characters. The top 9 characters of each group qualified for the tournament proper.
# Main tournament: the 288 qualified characters (180 top-tier characters from preliminary round I and 108 more from preliminary round II) ;grouped in 8 blocks of 36, went through a 7-round knock-off tournament with groups of three in the first two rounds, and one-on-one face-offs in round 3 onward. the bracket of first round to round 4 (round of 16, dubbed as block final) are determined after preliminary round II finished. The winner of 8 blocks will be pairing for quarterfinal all the way to final.

In case of draw: anyone who're draw in qualified position will advance to next stage. In main tournament, some first round in A block maybe group of four to support "extra" qualified character.

While the voting process may be the most visible feature of Saimoe, participants are strongly encouraged to contribute more than their votes. They should try and express their moe feelings towards their favorite characters, by exchanging comments and "supporting material" of all kinds. [cite web|url=http://saimoe2007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/|title=Anime Saimoe Tournament 2008 official site|accessdate=2008-02-02|language=Japanese|quote=nihongo|"Saimoe is not just a poll. Please enjoy yourself by exchanging moe phrases and supporting material"|最萌は単なる投票行為ではありません　萌え文や支援などの交流を通して(*´Д｀)はぁーんして下さい|]

History

Results

The final 3 rounds of the tournament features the Final Eight of the tournament.

Reception outside Japan

References

External links

* [http://animemoe2007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ Official website for the 2007 edition] ja icon ( [http://animemoe2007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/english.html English summary] ).