Aside from working full-time now, much of my extra time lately has been on developing the 2010 website and programming for International Saimoe League (ISML).  Since my first involvement as a statistics guy in 2008, I have found inspiration to take the tournament further, and I have now been elected to the Commissioner position for the 2010 season. This means a lot of work but a lot of potential for something exciting.

The main event will be the same as the previous two years: round-robin tournament lasting a few months, then a double-elimination finale for the championship. But don’t discount the preliminary period early in the year; it’s been revamped to something that’ll be a lot better than in 2009.

All the official news is or will be on its respective page, but I can offer some statements here as a contributor to this blog. ^^; We just put up a draft of our Constitution, which is a much more solid set of rules that I hope is easier to read than the rules from last year. It’s only half of the documentation for this year, though, as we have a Charter coming out, too, that’ll iron out all the details.

Mainly, we’ll have 50 characters this year instead of 64. It’ll make the tournament a bit less overwhelming, and it should make the whole contest more competitive, too. No more overtime matches, because that carried way too much overhead from an organizational standpoint. And then the exhibition matches were very well-received, so we’ll have a lot more of those.

ISML 2010 begins at the first of the year in January 1, 2010, with the Nomination Period lasting seven days. The page for that isn’t quite up yet, but it will have the rules you need to do things right. There’s also a “Do Not Nominate” list indicating characters who have already auto-qualified for ISML based on pre-determined criteria.

If you’re a fan of the moe genre of anime … or just know of some characters who just warm (or break) your heart in that special way, ISML will be a nice year-long event to enjoy. Stay for the whole deal or just come and go and vote whenever it’s convenient. The tournament staff and I are here to make everything easy for you. So please give us a look throughout the year.

~Crisu

UPDATE — After a downtime of 3.5 hours, we are back. Voting has been extended for 4 hours until 1900GMT. Results will still be released at the usual time.

Apologies to all voters who are experiencing delays on the International Saimoe League (http://www.internationalsaimoe.com) website.

Since it’s the championship match between Hinagiku and Shana, I suppose we’ve had a lot heavier levels of traffic than our usual limit-breaking waves during the regular season and earlier rounds of the postseason.

Our host has temporarily suspended us, but I’ve called them in hopes to resolve things … and set up an upgrade plan for ISML 2010.

Please try again later today if you can’t vote this morning.

~Crisu

Hm.. I wonder where he put down the swimsuit and bloomers so he could scratch his cheek like that.

Stuffed in pocket temporarily? Transferred to other hand? Because it was made rather clear he gripped the two fabrics quite tightly… both right before this scene occurred and at the end of the episode when Tsubasa said so.

~Crisu, back to lurking >_>

Oh jeez, here we go again. According to one source, there’s only two “original” series this fall, and the rest are sequels or adaptations. Fortunately, there seems to be enough non-crap series coming up, but will it be enough to actually keep us sane? Or will the likes of Asura Cryin’s and Queen’s Blade’s sequels make us QQ infinitely?

11eyes
starts 10/6, animated by Dogakobo

CJ: This looks pretty GAR, but the plot sounds pretty crappy so it will likely be a no.
Crisu: Art style is cute. ^^ Although that doesn’t mean it’ll be a good story; I hope it will be?

Asura Cryin’ 2
13 episodes?, animated by Seven Arcs

CJ: Really?? REALLY?!? Why can’t they just take the budget from this BS and pour it into another Higurashi OVA – something that people actually LIKE and WILL BUY?
Janette: I thought the first season flopped?

Darker than Black 2
26 episodes?, animated by Bones

CJ: Ten bucks says Funimation’ll snatch this up before the first episode. But that new Russian girl looks epic…
Janette: So much hype for this show…but I haven’t watched the previous Darker than Black.

Fairy Tail
starts 10/12, animated by A-1  Pictures

CJ: All I hear about is how good this is, but for some reason, it really doesn’t interest me.
Janette: Yes please! I really love the manga of this, typical shonen but so much fun, and I’m hoping they’ll do a good job with this. If they don’t…expect fangirl rage.

Inuyasha: Kanketsu-hen
animated by Sunrise

CJ: Why isn’t the franchise dead yet?!?
Crisu: Goodness, no. I thought it was over already.
Janette: Inuyasha played so a big role in the start of anime fandom over here for my generation…

Kampfer
starts 10/1, animated by Nomad

CJ: Crap.
Janette: I really want to bash this, and don’t at the same time because my boyfriend plans to watch this. I’ll see what he says (”Direct influence over what Janette watches” powers are win!)

Kiddy Girl-AND
animated by Satelight

CJ: I always wanted to watch the original Kiddy Grade, but never did get around to it. This looks like fun.
Janette: I actually own the first two DVDs of Kiddy Grade. Maybe I’ll watch this.

Kimi ni Todoke
starts 10/6, animated by Production I.G.

CJ: This doesn’t look like total shoujo crap or anything, but it doesn’t look like my thing. Still, if people start giving it good reviews, I might check it out.
Janette: Production I.G., and the premise makes me laugh. Will watch.

Kobato.
24 episodes, starts 10/6, animated by  Madhouse

CJ: Everyone’ll be squeeing over this because it’s CLAMP, but I’m gonna be approaching it with a bit more hesitancy. What the crap is the plot of this thing, anyway?
Janette: CLAMP. Will watch. Although was there enough manga for 24 episodes? o.O

Letter Bee
starts 10/3, animated by Studio Pierrot

CJ: I started reading the manga for this, but it went too slow for my tastes. Still, supposedly some of the later chapters are quite epic, so maybe I’ll at least give the anime a chance.
Janette: I really want to watch this. I honestly have no idea why.

Miracle☆Train
starts 10/4, animated by Yumeta Company

Janette: What is this, and what does it have to do with trains?
CJ: … It’s Hetalia… only with trains…?!? *wipes drool from chin*
Rakuen: Hetalia with trains.  No, really, we’re going there.  I fear though, that while national humor is universal, train station in Japan humor is… not so much, I think it’ll lose a lot of its impact from that.

Natsu no Arashi! Akinaichuu
starts 10/4, animated by SHAFT

Janette: I still haven’t finished the first one!
Aaron: Wait wait, when was this series about time travel?  I missed that?  I guess I’ll have to go visit the first season before deciding if I want to sit through that AND a second season.

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Purezza
starts 10/5, aniamted by Diomedea

Crisu: Ooh, nice. First season was a bit cheesy but still cute and enjoyable. Been waiting for this; had almost forgotten about it.
Aaron: Pretty girl is an otaku, round two, fight!  I didn’t even know there was a first season to this, and I’m pretty sure this is a premise that’s been done before and probably better.

Nyan Koi!
starts 10/1, animated by AIC

CJ: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF this is gonna inspire so many LOLcats macros I’m gonna die.
Janette: Hehe, this will be fun or suck.

Queen’s Blade 2
13 episodes?, starts 9/24, animated by ARMS

Janette: Oh, wow, I can’t wait to watch this! …just kidding.
Crisu: Oh boy; looks like I’ll be seeing more galleries on Sankaku.

Sangoku Engi
animated by future Planet Company and Beijing Glorious Animation Company

Crisu: Will this one be more faithful to the original Three Kingdoms story? Embarrassingly, all I know of the story is what I’ve played in Dynasty Warriors on the PS2; I ought to learn more about it (though I guess reading the original novels would be the best way, wouldn’t it? >_> …but I like anime…) And I didn’t watch Koihime Musou last year (not that I expected that series to have been faithful at all).
CJ: *yawn*

Sasameki Koto
starts 10/7, animated by AIC

CJ: ♥! I started the manga and loved it. It’s adorable – though in an unconventional way – and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Will at least start, though if it strays too far frmo the manga I’ll be pissed.
Janette: Yuri time! Although I doubt it’ll be as cool as Aoi Hana.

Seitokai no Ichizon
animated by Studio Deen

CJ: Crap.
Janette: It doesn’t matter if it airs in Summer or Fall, if I thought it was crap then, I still think it’s crap now.

Shin Koihime Musou – Otome Ryouran Sangokushi Engi
starts 10/5, animated by Dogakobo

CJ: Does anyone actually still care about this show?
Crisu: LOL wait; when I commented on Sangoku Engi, I didn’t realize Koihime was going to have a sequel. Well… I think I should stick to just one Romance of the Three Kingdoms adaptation for now.

Sora no Otoshimono
starts 10/4, animated by AIC ASTA

CJ: A bewb machine, a loli and a tsundere. Are the studios REALLY that far out of ideas?
Aaron: Angels, fanservice, and comedy.  The first one is definite, the second two are assumed on the character designs alone.  Maybe if I’m really bored…

Tatakau Shisho
starts 10/2. animated by David Production

CJ: This looks fun, but so fanservicey…
Janette: Librarians kicking butt? Well, they do anyway without epic fights, but still, yes please.

The Sacred Blacksmith
starts 10/3, animated by Manglobe

CJ: Too many boobs. Not enough awesomeness.
Janette: Typical high fantasy, as typical, not interested.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
24 episodes?, animated by J.C. Staff

Crisu: HOT. Biribiri >>>>>>> Index. This should be amazing.
Rakuen: I actually enjoyed Index, so I’ve been looking forward to this since it’s been announced.  You just don’t get much better than girls that can turn coins into electromagnetic railguns.

Trapeze
animated by Toei

CJ: Based on a short story collection? Could be somewhat intriguing…
Janette: I like weird artsy stuff, so this will be a good. Whether this will work, we’ll see. I have a fear of needles, so the injection fetish might really turn me off.

White Album 2
13 episodes?, animated by Seven Arcs

CJ: Won’t watch. Will squeal over new Nana Mizuki songs. <3
Crisu: Aw… I’m still way behind on first season. But I look forward to the new singles that come out.
Janette: I thought the first season flopped?

Winter Sonata
26 episodes?, starts 10/17

CJ: *drools* soap opera yes please. Daaaaang, I’ve been waiting for this one for… forever.
Janette: I still want to know why this isn’t airing in Winter. I guess because it’ll finish in Winter. No interest what so ever.

Yumeiro Patissiere
starts 10/4, animated by Studio Pierrot

CJ: Shoujo crap.
Janette: Probably watch the first episode. And regret it.

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(Admin note: All series with unspecified air dates are presumed/confirmed to air sometime in October. Episode counts with question marks beside them are best guesses based on previous series and/or rumors.)

Following up on a previous post, hosting and registration fees have been paid for at internationalsaimoe.com, so the ISML tournament will continue. The latest match, Diamond 3, originally scheduled for Friday, August 14, has been pushed back a week to Friday, August 21.

The Double Elimination tournament will still keep to its original schedule.

~Crisu