Saimoe 2007 Final: Rika Furude claims the title

Saimoe 2007 Final

The votes are in, and after a bitter, hotly-contested race...we have a winner at Anime Saimoe 2007.

100% precincts reporting


Nagi Sanzenin 1499









Rika Furude 1521

Rika Furude
Saimoe 2007 Champion

TOKYO, Japan - Rika Furude was sworn in as Saimoe 2007 champion, and chairwoman-elect of Alpha Nu Iota anime girls' sorority for the 2008 year. The victory brought elation and joy to the citizens of Hinamizawa City, the home town of Rika, and to those who worked at the Furude shrine in the city, bringing hugs, tears, and fireworks that blasted into the early morning.

"For me, this is a great honor to be the best in all of Japan," an emotional Furude said at a campaign rally in Hinamizawa. "I thank everyone who has helped me this campaign: Mion, Shion, Satoko, Rena, whose defeat I was able to avenge, Jun, Hanyu, and everyone else who has worked hard to get me to where I am. It's not just me: it's the entire team that has put it all together.

"For all your efforts in voting me in as Saimoe 2007 champion...free sake will be on the house for the next two weeks! Drink up! Arigato Gozaimasu!"

The people raised their sake (rice wine) cups, and shot it down, reveling in the Drunken Master's victory.

Nagi Sanzenin was gracious in defeat.

"We must not let this defeat kill us all," she said, pounding the podium at a rally at the Sanzenin mansion in Tokyo. "Furude ran a good race, and in the end, she deserved this victory. This has been a great run, and I would like to thank every one of you for getting me to where I am right now."

"You're still our number one, Ojousama (Milady)!" a tearful Hayate Ayasaki, dressed in a blue cat costume, said. The congregation agreed, to a standing ovation.

Furude will be formally sworn in as Saimoe 2007 champion during the Kohaku Uta Gassen on December 31, live on NHK., and sworn in as ANI chairwoman at midnight, January 1, at the Meiji shrine in Tokyo.

Analysis:

This is the year of drunkenness. The year of drunken masters getting their freak on. The year of mikos who are so underage that it would be a crime not to do some things that would be too graphic to say this blog. This is the year when it's June 1983 all over again, and again, and again.

I warned all you readers on this blog that conventional wisdom be a lie and a jinx, and it showed here. A close race from start to finish, but after some vote cleaning and a strong finish in the closing hours of the polls, Rika Furude, carrying the banner for When They Cry, avenged a Rena Ryuuguu loss to Nagi Sanzenin, and Suiseiseki has passed the torch to the new order.

This tournament has been unforgettable, and one that will live in the memory of those who have taken part in it. We will see you next year at Saimoe 2008, where BoBA will resume its coverage of Japan's premier anime moe competition.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more blogging from the Bedlam.