Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview: Group E

Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview

Group E

Shinku (Reiner Rubin)

How she got here:

1^st Round: Defeated Athena Glory 898-437

2^nd Round: Defeated Nodoka Miyazaki 818-539

3^rd Round: Defeated Takako Itsukishima 1461-1089

Shinku is the fifth Rozen Maiden doll and the first to appear in the series. She embodies the traditional Victorian aristocrat. She is extremely demanding and can seem unappreciative of others, even though this is often not the case. Her favorite words are "tea", "servant" and "What?"; she takes pride in lecturing, slapping, and generally abusing Jun, her medium, at every opportunity. No matter how strong the emotion, Shinku rarely lets her sadness, joy, or fear show through. Shinku may seem cold, but she is highly protective of and cares deeply for her sisters and for Jun. She can be relied on for the occasional bit of parent-like wisdom. Despite her aristocratic quirks, Shinku is the most level-headed doll living in Jun's house.

Shinku does not use honorific suffixes such as "-chan," "-san," or "-kun," except when she refers to "Father." Despite her relative youth amongst the Rozen Maidens, the other dolls look up to her as an older sister, and a worthy challenger in the Alice Game. Shinku does have a cute side, which is evident in her intense, almost obsessive, admiration for the puppet detective Kun Kun. Jun was once able to win her over during an argument by using a Kun Kun doll. Shinku hates cats because one almost ate her wind-up key in the past.

Along with being the central doll in the series, Shinku seems to hold a special place in "Father"'s heart; he had given her a special brooch with his image when she was created, which Suigintou destroyed out of jealousy. Shinku desires to become "Alice," but she refuses to use deadly force against her sisters and believes that there must be a way to become Alice without taking part in the Alice Game as told to her by "Father".

In combat, Shinku fights with rose petal-based attacks, making her one of the strongest dolls in battle. The rose petals are extremely versatile; Shinku can direct them to spread out for wide-ranging attacks, or group them together to use as a shield. Her other weapon is a cane, which she skillfully wields like a sword. Shinku has other special powers, such as restoring broken objects, typically Jun's bedroom windows after Suiseiseki and Souseiseki show up, with a form of time-reversing magic.

* Medium: Jun/Sarah (Ouvertüre OVA)

* Artificial Spirit: Hollie (ホーリエ, Hōrie?) (Also called Hollier (Tokyopop translation))

Shinku, along with Suiseiseki and Suigintou, form the Power Trio among the Saimoe favorites from Rozen Maiden. An all-around fighter in the Alice Games, Shinku’s fetish for KunKun, and her level-headed mentality, places her as a stalwart, and formidable foe in this tournament. It seems that Jun can never escape her wrath. What Shinku wants, Shinku gets. Sort of.

Fancy her coming back to the Sweet 16. More tea, Lady Shinku?

Ayumu Nishizawa

How she got here:

1^st Round: Defeated Akira Kogami 785-450

2^nd Round: Defeated Teana Lanster 830-767

3^rd Round: Defeated Tamao Suzumi 931-888

(from Wikipedia)

* Age: 16

* Height: 162cm

* Weight: 47kg

* Blood type: A

* Birthday: May 15

Ayumu Nishizawa is a girl from Hayate's school before he became a butler. She always had feelings for Hayate and is happy when he pays his old school a visit. She violently lashes out at anyone who badmouths her and Hayate, including a teacher who called Hayate a dropout because his parents had refunded all his school fees the day Hayate was sold. She confesses her feelings to Hayate, but Hayate rejects them after getting a vision of Nagi.

Undeterred, she tries to talk to Hayate when she sees him a week later, but she runs into Nagi and is shocked that in terms of metaphoric strength that Nagi is represented by a dragon while she is represented by a hamster. Nishizawa retreats, vowing next time to bring a stronger hamster. She later challenges Nagi to karaoke, only to lose.

In the anime, it is a running gag that most of the time she is shown eating something.

Talk about rivalry. In Hayate the Combat Butler, the rivalry between Hinagiku Katsura and Nagi Sanzenin is strong, but a stronger rivalry is that between Nagi and Ayumu, both of who are in the Sweet 16. This is the result of mixing a long-lost love, a compulsive appetitive, and a key member of that harem that poor (or is it pure luck?) Hayate Hermione Ayasaki put himself in. And some.

Impressively, Ayumu was able to outlast most of the other members from Hayate the Combat Butler, including Hinagiku, who was upended in the second round. Whether or not her charm and character will be enough against one of the top gun from Rozen Maiden remains to be seen.

What to expect:

A one-sided contest. Ayumu was impressive enough to make it this far. But barring a shocker of the biggest kind, Shinku will be three victories away from being Saimoe, though after this win, a couple of familiar sister will be looming.

BoBA predicts:

Shinku by 400 votes. At least.