Forum - View topicCoolest Character Tournament - Post-Mortem
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ccdx
 Posts: 312 |
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A/B Semifinal
Guts, Berserk vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo vs. Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Balsa all the way. Clearly she outclasses both her opponents here. She's strong, knowledgeable, very skilled, and basically saves the world in the end. The other two are not as well rounded. C/D Semifinal The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo vs. Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop Come on, I don't see any reason to not vote for Spike. The Count is both a badass and cool. This matchup was unavoidable. But The Count falls short here. The whole series of Cowboy Bebop is anchored in the cool way it goes about things. It's not just Spike who's badass and cool, all the other characters are too. Spike is just a cut above them all. He is the embodiment of cool, and deserves no less than to make it to the finals. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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You may have confused Key's post with mine. I only said I was surprised by how this is shaping up. |
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farichada
 Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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I didn't vote in the last minute; that just shows how much of an early planner I am.
A/B Semifinal Guts, Berserk vs. Mugen, Samurai Champloo vs. Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Guts mainly because I feel that he at least deserves a couple of votes against an anachronistic hipster and a holier than thou bodyguard.  I do know both of these choices are strong, and I will probably vote for one of them in the finals. Guts just doesn't deserve to be shut out with only one vote.
C/D Semifinal The Count, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo vs. Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop Okay, Spike is cool but most of that the cool belongs to the series and not just Spike himself. The Count, like others have said, is both a badass and cool character that single-handedly makes his series not only cool, but highly enjoyable. Refined and well spoken, the Count is light-years ahead of Spike in terms of wit and complexity. Spike's position as one of the most iconic character's in anime isn't unwarranted, but I think he's barely in the top five as far as cool goes. Last edited by farichada on Mon May 23, 2011 11:05 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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farichada
Posts: 303 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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Well, I was always told if you are not early, you are late. I also know that regardless of what people tell you with the former if you are late, you are always late, and that's a shame with someone with a track record like me. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18252 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Semifinals are now closed.
A comparatively big last-hour surge bumped us up to 17 total votes. Results: Group A/B Semifinal: Balsa handily defeats both Mugen and Guts, 12-3-2. Group C/D Semifinal: Spike Spiegel barely edges The Count, 9-8. The former was Balsa's to lose, as it was never remotely close, but the latter had the contestants running neck-and-neck the whole time, with neither ever having a lead of more than two. And so the Finals are set. The start-up post should be up shortly. |
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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HOOOOOOOOOOOOO SH****************T.
Spike just barely edged out there. Juuuuuuust barely. I thought for a while there that he would lose (and while not a tragedy, it still wouldn't have been my preferred choice since I don't care for The Count's revenge story). Man, I'm excited now. Balsa has a really good chance at winning. *Crosses fingers* |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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So, the interesting thing is that Guts was the favored to win the AB bracket 6 to 2 to 2, and Spike was favored 11 to 1 against the Count.
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mow123
 Posts: 339 |
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Interesting analysis indeed. If I had only picked Balsa to win, I would have a slight chance to snake the mini-game away from Olliff. I would have had more point this round and extra 10 on top of that. Sadly, I did not. Regardless of what I think about her, I think she has a strong chance to win it at all. Not only that, but I also greatly underestimated Balsa and overestimated uncouth and colorful personalities like Revy and Mugen. And thanks for the catch in your earlier post, I did intend to reference Key and not you. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18252 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Round 7: Tournament Finals is now closed.
See here for final results. This is it - the final battle! And my, do we have two strong contenders here to finish it off. Neither one of them being here should be a surprise, as these two were the top vote-getters in the Nominations phase, two of the four #1 seeds, and have consistently led the tournament field by a large margin in power rankings. (And for the record, the only one of the Final Five who wasn't among the top five vote-getters in the Nominations phase was The Count, who was tied for 9th.) Each represents a very different style of cool: Balsa's is that of the fierce, firm protector, while Spike's is the more classical approach of the laid-back lone wolf, albeit one who can ferociously bear his fangs when necessary. I very much look forward to the arguments for this one. On another note, I will likely start a new thread sometime this week to get the process going for the next tournament, so the select-a-theme process will effectively run concurrently with the Post-Mortem. While the next tournament may not necessarily start before the end of June, I'd at least like to have everything decided and set by then, including the concept and roster of participants. Finals 
Balsa, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit vs. 
Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop Last edited by Key on Mon May 30, 2011 11:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5633 Location: Southern California |
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Well, it looks like I'm going to be the first to jump off the ship...
My vote goes to: Balsa - Why? Because while her life had major moments of suckitude, she spoiler[lived]. She doesn't have as much of a spoiler[Death Wish as Spike] or if she did, she got over it. And she's just a good strong all-around character. She's able to kick your ass without breaking into a sweat and look like a woman doing it. |
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4620 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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VOTING FOR: Spike
In a way it kills me to vote against Balsa, she is awesome, she is strong and everything I like about a character and a hero(ine), and she is definitely cool. I'm going with Spike on this because of the difference in the shows. Sort of like what ccdx said, Cowboy Bebop is all about being effortlessly cool, cool ships, cool music, cool combat and cool characters and Spike is the coolest of them all. When Spike is spouting attitude, performing his natural flow style of Jeet Kune Do or swirling through space or the sky in Swordfish II he is the personification of effortless cool. Many shows TRY to be cool and fail miserably, Cowboy Bebop just is. Moribito is about real heroism, doing the right thing and making the right decisions, which is all very cool, but it isn't quite the point.
Last episode: Faye: spoiler[....What are you going to do, just throw your life away like it was nothing?!] Spike: spoiler[I’m not going there to die; I’m going to find out if I’m really alive. I have to do it, Faye.] and while I considered his seemingly fatalistic feature as a drawback (it's why I helped vote Mustang out) I don't think he really has one. As I said in the previous round, while he is willing to die, by the end he is also very willing to live on as well. Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Tue May 24, 2011 12:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Generic #757858
 Posts: 1354 |
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*applause*
VOTING FOR: Spike Yeah, I'm just going to echo Spastic Minnow here. Balsa might be more admirable and heroic, but Spike is indeed the very personification of effortless cool, blended with just the right amount of believable badassery. He is a champion fully worthy of the title. Last edited by Generic #757858 on Wed May 25, 2011 2:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
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VOTING FOR: Balsa
Balsa is more admirable of these two and she is skilled, knowledgeable, intelligent etc. Not only spoiler[did Blasa succeed in saving Chagun, but also made him more mature and better prepared to rule the whole country], while Spike, from what I understand, spoiler[after he had taken vengeance on Vicious, forfeited his life.] Even if Spike oozes some coolness effortlessly, the way he ended is not very cool. Sad – certainly, but there is nothing cool about it. Not that it bothers me a lot, but at this point even a slight disadvantage counts. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18252 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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VOTING FOR: Spike
Balsa is one the best anime characters to come along in the last decade; few who have watched all of Moribito would dispute that. While the level of her cool is more subtle, she nonetheless demonstrates through action and general philosophy that she has what it takes to be considered amongst the coolest of all anime characters. She absolutely deserves to be here, and I clearly underestimated how many people would agree with that when I picked Revy to beat her in Group B. Even so, I am voting for Spike here, as he's the one character who can equal or exceed Balsa on most any merit. His action scenes are no less slick than Balsa's, nor is his resolve in a fight any less. Rather than having to work to be cool, though, he naturally exudes it, and in a tournament dedicated to cool characters where other factors are about equal, that's a game-breaker for me. That aura of cool is always there, too, whether Spike is enduring a silly moment or struggling through to the bitter end; what is his final scene in this last clip if not a reminder of his coolness? If this was a tournament for the Most Commendable Character then Balsa would win, hands-down. But it's a Cool Character Tournament, so "cool" should be the overriding factor. In that, Spike has the distinct edge. |
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