RESULTS: 2014 Ruby 8

[Midnight-Jasper]

Is Kuroyukihime's path to 2014 Ruby necklace the most dramatic ever?

A lot of things needed to happen for her to come out on top
Like Kanade/Kuroneko, Kuroneko too low on points to enter necklace, DAL split, Eu > Ayase > Shana triangle, Mikoto / Mashiro, Hime > Asuna, Rikka loss.
Looking at the NM I guess that if Asuna had won then she would have taken the necklace for sure.

This is certainly dramaticShow

And so is thisShow

KYH starts in 6th place after one hour and her votes rise hugely for about half of the day.
But Asuna's line is really crazy. She gets two enormous boosts contrasted with tiny gains between hours 5 - 11.

Also
if I'm not wrong, Rikka faces Asuna in Round 7 in Emerald, so that is her last chance at a necklace
Kurumi is up against Yoshioka, KYH to Kotori.

Mashiro will face Eucliwood or Ayase next round, while Mikoto faces Kanade or Ruri. If Mashiro faces Ayase next round, Emerald 7, and Mikoto faces Kanade, then Ruri faces Eucliwood

I'm 100% sure that Mikoto / Kanade will be saved for T7. So Kuroneko will probably be shut out next round too. *giggles maniacally*

[Zefyris]

Calling fans "shit" for liking a series is just like calling a person's tastes "shit" for the same reason. While there is definitely a perceived difference between the two (attacking a person rather than simply their tastes), the underlying reason for doing so is the same: raging at results you don't like.

That's not the same and that's why I said that you should refrain from saying this. Raging at results you don't like or not.

I "know" Shokuhou from the 3 and a half minutes she showed up in Railgun S.

You don't know her, and that's what I say. It's like watching a trailer of a show and saying you know the character in the show because of it.
There is a lot of voters (actually, most of them) who have between 1 and a lot of character that they don't know (because they didn't watch the show) among the ISML contenders. You're basically in the same situation now. You watched railgun S, yes, but fans voting for Misaki don't use that as a reference, like you know. So it's like you didn't watch anything on her subject. I have no problem with you not wanting to read the manga, and sure won't try to convince you. Simply, for me your current situation toward Shokuhou is exactly the same as a situation toward a character from a show you haven't watched. And I don't see people in that situation calling others "shit" for voting for characters they don't know themselves. Well, there are probably people doing it here and there. That doesn't change the fact that it should not be done (even if you knew the character properly btw~).

[smartboyhw]

#EmeraldForAzu-nyan!

The Azu-nyan faction has awoken!

And she still has to face Kanade and Mashiro. Good luck with that.

Is it confirmed that she'll face them both next period? Or even worse, one in Emerald and one in Topaz? Because depending on which it is, it will be either hard or harder to gather support (gathering support to overcome two matches in one period is definitely harder than gathering support to overcome one match).

Complaining about Misaka winning is like you're complaining about a character from a show you haven't seen winning. You don't know about the character, so how can you judge.
I know that depending on how you interpret the ISML rules she doesn't have her place here, so what. She's here, and she's liked for good reason, so how about dealing with it already after 3 months.
BTW, calling fans "shit" is going seriously overboard. Please refrain from that kind of behavior.

I "know" Shokuhou from the 3 and a half minutes she showed up in Railgun S. And I'll preempt your reply for me to read the light novels since I have no intention on doing that for anything unless I make an exception based on my own reasons. I am, for the most part, an anime-only fan, and for the time being, that won't change. And once again, the only reason Shokuhou is here is because Raildex fans (most likely a varied combination of the series' fans in general plus the series' light novel fans) voted her in; it definitely wasn't due to her 3 and a half minutes of screen time. So yes, since I don't know Shokuhou beyond that, of course I'm going to be bitter about it. If Railgun gets another anime season AND Shokuhou gets more screen time AND I end up liking her character development, sure I will reverse my opinion on her, just like I did for Ayase after watching OreImo 2. But not before.

Calling fans "shit" for liking a series is just like calling a person's tastes "shit" for the same reason. While there is definitely a perceived difference between the two (attacking a person rather than simply their tastes), the underlying reason for doing so is the same: raging at results you don't like. It's not something anyone needs to take seriously, because it is only just raging, nothing more. The people who are being attacked should be smart enough to know this and not be bothered by it and simply ignore it. But if you still prefer, I can edit my post to change it to "tastes" instead.

Edit:

Is Kuroyukihime's path to 2014 Ruby necklace the most dramatic ever?

Well, it certainly feels like something has changed since last year. I'm not sure if has to do with the new scheduling algorithm, the moe math captchas, or what, but things don't feel as lopsided or as predictable as before.

Grrr............... Confused Azusa with Ayase (thank you Kordosa for changing your favorite in Ruby).

Well, she has got Mikoto and Mashiro (and Shana) left it seems. But if she has lost to Eu and Taiga, I sense no hope for her.

[Just]

Is Kuroyukihime's path to 2014 Ruby necklace the most dramatic ever?

Shana 2011 Ruby!

...

Fine, I'm biased. (hides in the corner)

[Kordosa]

I "know" Shokuhou from the 3 and a half minutes she showed up in Railgun S.

You don't know her, and that's what I say. It's like watching a trailer of a show and saying you know the character in the show because of it.

I don't dislike Shokuhou herself personally due to the amount of screen time she did or didn't get (that's not to say I was impressed with what little I saw of her since I wasn't); I dislike the fact that she made it to the Regular Season based on requirements I didn't think she met (in addition to screen time). However, Kholdy told me that the rules for eligibility were purposely made lenient. And while neither maglor nor Crisu ever provided further explanation, I have no doubt that the Staff has a good reason for this and not likely to compromise on this position. Me raging is simply me redirecting my frustration over this to her fans instead. Is it wrong? Of course. But as I stated before, this is simply raging, and just like trolls, it's something best to be ignored when encountered.

Grrr............... Confused Azusa with Ayase (thank you Kordosa for changing your favorite in Ruby).

Well, she has got Mikoto and Mashiro (and Shana) left it seems. But if she has lost to Eu and Taiga, I sense no hope for her.

I changed to Ayase in Ruby because further supporting Azu-nyan at that point with such an insurmountable SDO gap, was going to be wasted effort, regardless of how much I dreamed. There is a point where reality has to trump blind optimism, after all (regardless of wikiality).

So with that said, if you know something I don't know (such as which period Azu-nyan will be facing the rest of the Stella behemoths), I would appreciate that so I don't have to waste effort on a lost cause (I would prefer to spend one period where Azu-nyan is not likely to gain an SDO advantage due to her opponents on voting for someone else instead).

Also, given that Ayase narrowly defeated Azu-nyan before narrowly defeating Shana, Azu-nyan beating Shana might not be such a wild idea. It all depends on if all of that maneuvering was intentional SDO manipulation to help a different character entirely (as it ultimately turned out to be the case).

[Hajime Tanegashima]

Well, well... Quite the interesting results.

First of all, congratulations to Kuroyuki and everyone who voted for her. The poster is amazing and I'm very happy as a Kuroyuki fan myself. This is the first time I don't vote for her in a Necklace Match, and she got it. I should consider not voting for Kurumi in her next participation, lol

There are many things to say. For instance, avery-kun says Kurumi's performance wasn't satisfactory and Zefyris denies her strength. I disagree with both. Kurumi had to face a very powered up Kuroyuki, who had a good NM partaking record, always with poor results, that faced her "last chance" in conditions difficult to repeat. Kurumi also faced a very powered up Shana, a legendary character in ISML who returned to a NM and in her favoured colour, Ruby. Of course she would get many votes. Finally, Asuna... I understand less her results; perhaps being the defending Ruby champion boosted her. Of course Kurumi had help in Amethyst, I've never denied that. What I have always said, and I think these results prove, is that she has a great strength on her own. This time, Kurumi has been crippled, and her crippling has come from Kuroyuki. They share some traits and I'm sure it's not strange for Kurumi fans to like Kuroyuki (me, for instance). Among the other six characters, I'm rather sure Kurumi was the one who lost most of her votes to Kuroyuki; Kurumi voters wanted to give Kuroyuki her necklace this time. Yet, with all this, she still managed to pull off a victory, even if by a low margin. I think a victory against three powered up characters, with one of them draining directly votes from her is quite the feat and I'm satisfied. Apparently, Kurumi still needs to demonstrate things? Well then, she will keep doing so.

And now, in "DaL Faction Today" news, Kotori practically nails her results yet again. Again, Kotori didn't share votes with Kurumi, nor with Yoshino. Kotori, like Yoshino, would need circumstances similar to Kuroyuki to win a necklace. Otherwise, she doesn't have what it takes to win. She simply doesn't. Kotori fans, though, will keep voting her (and I am not against that) despite the circumstances, because there is no DaL faction. They have fans on their own that vote them no matter what, and secondary voters that vote them because their appeal to them is similar to that of their favourite chars. In series where there are many popular chars with different appeals, you need to investigate appeals to find the trading route of votes. There can be anime voting, yes, but its impact is minimal. DaL and OreImo are good examples of this. But no matter how hard reality hits them, some people just don't want to see.

So, to sum it up. Great results and happy outcome. Kuroyuki gets a necklace, Kurumi gets a great result with victory... Hard to imagine a better outcome. Let's see what Emerald has in for us.

[BugH]

I dislike the fact that she made it to the Regular Season based on requirements I didn't think she met (in addition to screen time).

need the explanation about this
is there any other requirements for the contestant beside nominated or something ?

oh my...

poor my Misaki
everybody hate you
i still don't know why...
why why why.....

*go to sleep

[LOveLive!]

Is Kuroyukihime's path to 2014 Ruby necklace the most dramatic ever?

Kuroneko's 2011 Sappahire and 2012 Amethyst were also dramatic.

[maglor]

Is Kuroyukihime's path to 2014 Ruby necklace the most dramatic ever?

Kuroneko's 2011 Sappahire and 2012 Amethyst were also dramatic.

True. I wonder if anyone will consider making a poll about dramatic story. In terms of drama, I would probably put 2009 Hinagiku's Tiara run among the most dramatic story, since rarely do you see a 11th seed win the whole thing, amid the back drop of Rozen Meister, 62-1 Shana, and, at that time, the girl who always beats the unbeaten, Sakagami Tomoyo.

[Midnight-Jasper]

All this celebration of DAL Seitokai will be counterbalanced when DAL misses out on necklace

2011: K-On! infighting
2012: Kugyuu catfighting
2013: lol sorry Mikoto, no SDO for you!
2014: DAL civil wars

[Zefyris]

I don't dislike Shokuhou herself personally due to the amount of screen time she did or didn't get (that's not to say I was impressed with what little I saw of her since I wasn't); I dislike the fact that she made it to the Regular Season based on requirements I didn't think she met (in addition to screen time).

I know about that. And like I said the time before when we discussed about it, I think your opinion about Shokuhou's eligibility is far from being illogical. Simply, like you yourself just said, fans are simply voting for their favorite characters among the eligible/nominated/qualified characters. They are in no way responsible about the fact that she's eligible. Hence, as you seem to realize it yourself, you're turning your anger toward the wrong target. That, and I think you're making too much of a big deal of it. Railgun is probably going to get a 3rd season sometime and she'll be one of the two main character of it if this happens, so it's like she's just qualifying before her time; plus, if she's that popular, she's better for the competition than a less popular character. Think about it. If she didn't qualify then seomone even weaker/as weak as the bottom of nova may have to fill the place. Do we really want to weaken nova even more than it is? I don't think so. I really appreciate the character that Shokuhou disqualified, so I would have liked the result during qualification to be different. However, eligibility isn't decided at the end of the Preliminary Period, but during nomination. Meaning, if shokuhou wasn't eligible, then all match up nova side would have been different during qualification. In the end, her opponent may have just lost against someone else instead.

Well, well... Quite the interesting results.

First of all, congratulations to Kuroyuki and everyone who voted for her. The poster is amazing and I'm very happy as a Kuroyuki fan myself. This is the first time I don't vote for her in a Necklace Match, and she got it. I should consider not voting for Kurumi in her next participation, lol

There are many things to say. For instance, avery-kun says Kurumi's performance wasn't satisfactory and Zefyris denies her strength. I disagree with both. Kurumi had to face a very powered up Kuroyuki, who had a good NM partaking record, always with poor results, that faced her "last chance" in conditions difficult to repeat. Kurumi also faced a very powered up Shana, a legendary character in ISML who returned to a NM and in her favoured colour, Ruby. Of course she would get many votes. Finally, Asuna... I understand less her results; perhaps being the defending Ruby champion boosted her. Of course Kurumi had help in Amethyst, I've never denied that. What I have always said, and I think these results prove, is that she has a great strength on her own. This time, Kurumi has been crippled, and her crippling has come from Kuroyuki. They share some traits and I'm sure it's not strange for Kurumi fans to like Kuroyuki (me, for instance). Among the other six characters, I'm rather sure Kurumi was the one who lost most of her votes to Kuroyuki; Kurumi voters wanted to give Kuroyuki her necklace this time. Yet, with all this, she still managed to pull off a victory, even if by a low margin. I think a victory against three powered up characters, with one of them draining directly votes from her is quite the feat and I'm satisfied. Apparently, Kurumi still needs to demonstrate things? Well then, she will keep doing so.

And now, in "DaL Faction Today" news, Kotori practically nails her results yet again. Again, Kotori didn't share votes with Kurumi, nor with Yoshino. Kotori, like Yoshino, would need circumstances similar to Kuroyuki to win a necklace. Otherwise, she doesn't have what it takes to win. She simply doesn't. Kotori fans, though, will keep voting her (and I am not against that) despite the circumstances, because there is no DaL faction. They have fans on their own that vote them no matter what, and secondary voters that vote them because their appeal to them is similar to that of their favourite chars. In series where there are many popular chars with different appeals, you need to investigate appeals to find the trading route of votes. There can be anime voting, yes, but its impact is minimal. DaL and OreImo are good examples of this. But no matter how hard reality hits them, some people just don't want to see.

So, to sum it up. Great results and happy outcome. Kuroyuki gets a necklace, Kurumi gets a great result with victory... Hard to imagine a better outcome. Let's see what Emerald has in for us.

That, or more simply, there wasn't a single strong contestant among the 3 with good SDO. That's why we're getting such closes results. KYH has always been pretty weak during Necklace match. This time, she got better results since she was for once a valid choice due to her leading SDO (in all NM, leaders in SDO always receive a boost. But this does include ALL the girl close enough in SDO to win... Meaning, Kurumi also received it). Still, that wouldn't have been enough if a single strong necklace contestant was close enough in SDO. But there wasn't a single one, so that little boost was enough.
Bottom line is. With splitting vote, except under specific circumstances like amethyst 2014, , Kurumi isn't strong during necklace matches. She'll receive a boost if she's the only DAL contestant or if she's the only nova character with a good SDO, but that's the case for everyone. Look at asuna, Rikka and Mashiro's necklaces last year. Exactly the same as what happened in amethyst for Kurumi. This isn't her strength.

[ssdcgaddq]

Congrats to Kuroyukihime for her long-waited necklace! I like her (even though I dropped the series...)

Just wondering how Asuna got so much votes. From the graph, many of her votes came in the first hours, but that's midnight in China...(in China, voting starts at 11 pm) I thought only Chinese like this character, and the map seems to confirm this.

[Hajime Tanegashima]

I disagree, and I have explained why already. Supposedly Kurumi gets a boost but Kotori, with only 3 less SDO and a victory against Kurumi, doesn't, even when there were intents to make Kurumi voters shift to Kotori. According to your reasoning, it should be Kotori who should have gathered the DaL voting, but she didn't. She kept stuck at her usual results. Kurumi was clearly crippled this time, and she certainly has a strength her own. There are examples of that. Going to an extreme case, Mikoto lost to Mashiro by much in the Topaz Necklace match. Mashiro was buffed and Mikoto clearly crippled. Kurumi not only has strength on her own; she's clearly the strongest DaL char. But again, that won't matter because DaL doesn't exist as a faction. Kurumi being the only DaL char won't change anything. She will benefit more of Mikoto or Kuroyuki not partaking than Kotori or Yoshino. The only good part of this for Kurumi is that repeated results like this might promote the apparition of a real DaL faction around her, with the rest of the DaL girls voters tired of her chars not winning and shifting her votes to Kurumi when she needs them. That 1,4-1,5k votes that really are of Kotori and Yoshino might go to Kurumi, which would be very helpful at a NM and in later PS matches. Strong chars like Mikoto and Kanade have nearly all the series' fans behind then because they have no opposition popularity-wise. Like Jasper said, perhaps it will take a civil war to decide DaL candidate so everyone can gather around her. Right now, yet again, there is no DaL faction and, the way I see things now, it might take a whole season with no titles for a DaL faction to appear. If Kurumi keeps demonstrating her strength, she will be taking important steps to unify the DaL vote.

[Sphire]

Aw yea, forgot results came out today, but am happy with the outcome! Love that Hime finally had a good SDO score to actually challenge in the NM and to actually win was awesome. That is a pretty awesome poster too! Best poster for this year! My personal top poster pic is still probably Suigintou's Amethyst one, but this comes close to that. She didn't get many votes, but it was enough against the competition.

Too bad Ayase was sniped (although arguably Asuna was too).

Can't say DAL have been impressive in NMs this year. At least compared to Stella's strongest. It looks like a Stella Tiara winner unless big changes happen.

Misaki winning is all cool with me too. I've read the Railgun manga (which is painfully slow) so I'm down with her. Great poster too. Zell winning is interesting in that Shiro will tear things down. Can't wait for that.

Congrats to Kuroyukihime for her long-waited necklace! I like her (even though I dropped the series...)

This is the thing. I love Hime, but I hate everyone else in that show.... I think I dropped Accel World too. I don't particularly like Asuna, but I'd more likely recommend SAO over AC. Well, I probably wouldn't recommend either.

[maglor]

My personal top poster pic is still probably Suigintou's Amethyst one, but this comes close to that.

That is a legendary poster.

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[Kordosa]

I dislike the fact that she made it to the Regular Season based on requirements I didn't think she met (in addition to screen time).

need the explanation about this
is there any other requirements for the contestant beside nominated or something ?

The ISML Constitution.

Article III, Section 2Show

Prior to becoming a Competitor in any ISML-hosted event, every character must be reviewed for eligibility by the Staff. The following minimum qualifications must be satisfied or the character will be deemed ineligible to participate in League events:

1. The character must be female, must possess a female form, in which case only the instances when the character is female shall be considered, or must regularly exhibit feminine qualities when the character's gender is unknown or cannot be determined.
2. The character must possess both a humanoid appearance and anthropomorphic qualities.
3. The character must have a name or a universal means of identification.
4. The character must appear in a product that is published and distributed in Japanese media and is not rated 18+ or classified as pornographic.
5. The character must either appear in the production on a regular basis or have individual significance to the series’ storyline.
6. Sufficient information and promotional material regarding the character must be readily accessible to the public and the Staff.

Article III, Section 3Show

Eligibility for the Preliminary Period (and subsequently the Regular Season and Postseason) additionally requires the character's appearance in a full-length animation published and distributed in Japanese media (television, theatre, Internet-exclusive videos, and video discs) on a commercial scale by a registered animation studio.

As I stated here, I didn't think Shokuhou met number 5 satisfactorily.

[Jiharo]

YES I KNEW IT WAS RIGHT TO ABANDON KOTORI FOR HIME!

HA! Kurumi and ****SUNA didn't take the necklace. Feels good.

[Bastion]

#EmeraldForAzu-nyan!

The Azu-nyan faction has awoken!

I shall support her as well.

[BugH]

The character must either appear in the production on a regular basis or have individual significance to the series’ storyline.

ahh, i forgot that regulation
sorry2
but is the "individual significance" only coming from the anime? can't from other media like LN or manga itself ?

SpoilerShow

In the LN itself, Misaki only appear in New Testament, not in first-22-volumes of Index' LN
The development of her character strongly appear in Manga

if i can interpret that article, its mean was the chara must give significant contribution to the main event in the storyline

examples of misaki's contributionShow

Past of Sister's Arc
Daihaseisai Arc

so i think its okay for her to appear in this ISML, anyway she's level 5
:3

if the answer that IT MUST COME FROM ANIMEShow

can i ask something ?
maybe to maggy about this Misaki
why Misaki appear as representative of Index not Railgun ?
She was only appear in Railgun S, not from Index (manga and anime)

[Kordosa]

The character must either appear in the production on a regular basis or have individual significance to the series’ storyline.

ahh, i forgot that regulation
sorry2
but is the "individual significance" only coming from the anime? can't from other media like LN or manga itself ?

SpoilerShow

In the LN itself, Misaki only appear in New Testament, not in first-22-volumes of Index' LN
The development of her character strongly appear in Manga

if i can interpret that article, its mean was the chara must give significant contribution to the main event in the storyline

examples of misaki's contributionShow

Past of Sister's Arc
Daihaseisai Arc

so i think its okay for her to appear in this ISML, anyway she's level 5
:3

if the answer that IT MUST COME FROM ANIMEShow

can i ask something ?
maybe to maggy about this Misaki
why Misaki appear as representative of Index not Railgun ?
She was only appear in Railgun S, not from Index (manga and anime)

This is a good question. If Shokuhou met the eligibility requirements for number 5 via having a significant role in the manga, that would explain a lot. Basically, that would mean that the anime requirement was for inclusion in the Preliminaries and therefore the Regular Season, and only applicable after the other requirements were met.

BUT....

If that's the case, then why wasn't Hayate no Gotoku's Athena Tennos eligible until the fourth season? She had a significant role in the manga. Check. She made an appearance in the anime (two different flashbacks in the second season, and with dialogue in the second flashback). Check. And yet, she was found to be ineligible until Cuties. That doesn't seem fair to me. Flashback or not, she made an appearance.

As for why Shokuhou is listed under Index instead of Railgun, I think it's because the Staff didn't want to waste time figuring out which character belonged to which series. Their most likely thought process was "Index and Railgun are in the same universe, so we'll just label all of the characters as coming from Index to save us some headaches". I personally still think they should be split. Railgun is a separate side story to Index after all. Characters that only appear in one series should only be labeled as such, whereas characters that appear in both should be labeled in the series they appeared in first, broadcast-wise. So Mikoto would have been labeled coming from Index because Index aired before Railgun.