A busy week down at the Beach…

Six dollars. Count them. One, two, three, four, five, six.

With six dollars I can buy a trio of carbonated liquid at this place called La Mexicana. La Mexicana, located at the corner of 21st Street and Santa Fe Avenue, is a place where I went to as a kid. When I was young, I would but Funyuns, a type of onion-flavored deep fried corn rings. I would eat those incessantly, and eat them with sandwiches, with the food my mom and dad cook for me, or just by itself when I am watching something on ESPN.

Nowadays, I ditch the Funyuns for those tin cans full of carbonated liquid. But they are not just carbonated liquid. They are a type of carbonated liquid that is laced with chemicals that would seem like illegal substances, but are actually safe. Those chemicals are called taurine, L-carnitine, caffeine, and vitamins and minerals. And that’s just the basics of what’s in that liquid outside of sugar, water, colorings and natural flavors.

The kicker: they are only 2 bucks a can. Cheaper than similar stuff down at the Bookstore or at your regular am/pm. 2 x 3 = 6. Hence, six dollars.

In short, I go to La Mexicana before I hit the PCH 171 heading eastbound for the battlegrounds of the Beach (or the 190’s to 173, the 90’s, or Passport D on the weekends). Sometimes the battleground will be a large body of water with nets on either side. Sometimes the battleground will be a simple football pitch. Other times it will be inside a facility that is shaped like those architectural landmarks in Egypt. Still it could be a softball diamond, or a track, or a practice gym.

In any case, I go to La Mexicana to drink up Rockstar. Zero Carb is my Rockstar drink of choice, because it’s a less-concentrated, but refreshing rendition of the 5-Hour Energy Drink of notoriety. Occasionally I will sip a Rockstar Juiced if Zero Carb is not available. The pomegranate version is what I end up drinking, though I also like the guava version. On rare occasions, it will be a drink other than Rockstar for these games, or it might be a Rockstar and another less potent one, depending on the importance of the contests, and the number of contests going on. It might be a NOS Energy, Full Throttle Mother (acai-flavored), or [even more rarely] TaB Energy. I don’t like using Red Bull for these games, because I use them for study sessions and completing assignments.

With that being said, I am looking forward to this week’s action. Women’s soccer and women’s volleyball have the heavy hitters coming. Fullerton and Riverside will be visiting George Allen Field, while UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly will be dueling the Beach at the Walter Pyramid. It will be interesting to see if we can lift a finger to UC Davis and Stanford at the Campus Pool on Sunday. It would be sweet to beat Stanford in anything other than men’s volleyball.


Never mind that after a Beehive State split, the hockey team will be coming back on the 19th to take on UCLA. That should be a win.


And I’ll need to muster up six dollars to pay for that tasty liquid ammunition in those little 24-fluid ounce tin cans. Chug, chug, chug.

Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview: Group H



Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview

Group H

Suigintou (Mercury Lampe)


How she got here:

1st Round: Defeated Koyori Ishizuki 924-286
2nd Round: Defeated Fate T. Harlaown 1790-1624
3rd Round: Defeated Alicia Florence 1226-736

(from Wikipedia)

The first doll of the Rozen Maiden collection. Her desire to win the Alice Game is the strongest of all the dolls, and is primarily driven by her wish to gain the attention of "Father". Sadistic, spiteful, and arrogant (thanks to her major inferiority complex), Suigintou has no inhibitions when it comes to the Alice Game and will use any method possible, regardless of how brutal, to win. She particularly hates Shinku, and can approximate how many hours and minutes since their last battle. However, upon meeting Megu, her medium, Suigintou's attitude and motivations begin to shift; her softer side emerges, and she even hopes to use another doll's Rosa Mystica to heal Megu of her heart ailment.

Suigintou has a number of strange traits and flaws. In the anime, she is missing her torso; Shinku explains at one point that before Suigintou was completed, her design was erased, but gives no further explanation as to why or how. Curiously, after Suigintou is destroyed in battle by Shinku partly she is restored mid-way through Rozen Maiden Träumend. She was restored by her current medium, Megu. In the Rozen Maiden Träumend finale, she tells Shinku that even with her flawed body, "Father" told her that she was entitled to become Alice. Later in the episode, Rozen is seen lovingly fixing her neck ribbon. It may be that he fixed her torso, as he grips her around the waist afterwards.

In the manga, her wings (she is the only Rozen Maiden with them) have ravaged her back with cracks. Despite these flaws, her love for "Father" and willpower is so strong that she can use her powers independently of a medium. Initially, Suigintou's will to exist was so strong that she was able to move without actually possessing a Rosa Mystica. She resists a medium because of her strong sense of independence and disdain towards humanity. Suigintou has uniquely been defeated and revived three times.

In Rozen Maiden Ouvertüre, her complete past is revealed. Her intense hatred for Shinku stems from the very moment of Suigintou's awakening, when she notices Rozen affixing a brooch with his image on Shinku's bow. Nevertheless, they still managed to be friends as Suigintou was ignorant of the Rozen Maidens' true purpose--destruction of one another through the Alice Game--when they meet in 19th century London. Suigintou stumbles through a mirror in the room of Shinku's medium, wailing hysterically for "Father". Shinku takes Suigintou in after determining that she is not a threat. Shinku not only teaches her how to walk, but also treats her as an equal. One day, she follows Shinku into an Alice Game battle with Souseiseki, and is cut in half by Souseiseki's shears. This reveals her incomplete body, and she vanishes into a watery N-Field where "Father" gives her a Rosa Mystica of her own at last, thus, making Suigintou a true Rozen Maiden. Not long after, Shinku admits that she only felt pity for the "poor, unfinished doll" that certainly couldn't become Alice and insinuates that Suigintou could not possibly be a Rozen Maiden because she is flawed and different from all the others. This angers Suigintou, and she releases her black wings for the first time, beginning an Alice Game battle with Shinku. She eventually pulls Rozen's brooch from Shinku's ribbon and crushes it in front of her eyes. As Suigintou laughs arrogantly at Shinku's anguish, Shinku calls her "junk". The fight between the two becomes even more intense, but Laplace no Ma ends the battle, stating that the Alice Game of that era has ended.

Along with her artificial spirit, Meimei, Suigintou's weapons are her ragged black wings. With their arrow-like feathers, she can conjure up a shield, a large sword, or even twin black dragons. Suigintou can also create destructive blue flames as a last resort. The variety in Suigintou's abilities, particularly when combined with her savagely cunning nature, make her a strong player in the Alice Game.

* Medium: None (First Season) / Megu (Second Season)
* Artificial Spirit: Meimei (メイメイ, Meimei)


Is it sympathy for the devil? Or is it sympathy for Suigintou?

Whatever the case, what could be seen as the biggest threat to Suiseiseki’s Saimoe defense is now in the Group H final. She was able to do what the defending champion was able to do last year: defeat Fate Testarossa, this time in the second round.

Suigintou may have an inferiority complex, but don’t tell that to those who support someone who uses feathers as multi-purpose weapons and a shield, or burn the house down when everything is on the line. They will tell you that Suigintou, whose seiyuu is Rie Tanaka (of Chobits [Chii], Azumange Daioh [Koyomi Mizuhara] and Hayate the Combat Butler [Maria] fame, among others), has a superiority complex that not even the Desu nation could topple.
Of course, coming to the aide of someone who needs that healing touch won’t hurt Suigintou’s cause, either.

This brings up the question: will that inferiority-turned-superiority complex result pay off against Louise?
You make the call.


Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere


How she got here:

1st Round: Defeated Otoha Sakurano 922-590
2nd Round: Defeated Mai Kawasumi 797-795
3rd Round: Defeated Eri Sawachika 1013-630

* Familiar: Saito Hiraga
* Age: 16
* Height: 153 cm (5')
* Three Sizes: 76/53/75
* Favorite Food: Cookberry Pie
* Hobbies: Knitting (Though she is terrible at it.)
* Special Skills: Horseback Riding
* Hates: Frogs and Kirche
* Full Name: Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière
* Runic Name: Louise the Zero (zero no ruizu)
* Magical Affinity: Void

Louise is the main female character. She is a second year student at the Tristain Academy of Magic and a terrible mage who is often scorned by her fellow classmates because every spell she casts fails, she is nicknamed "Louise the Zero" after her zero success rate and zero attributes. This has led her to be very bitter and in the way she treats her future familiar Saito to a cruel extent. She is the third daughter of the noble family La Vallière who owns the north-eastern territory of Tristain.

She always treats Saito like a dog throughout the series, whipping him, making him lie on a straw bed, and even getting naked in front of him thus showing him as being less than human to care. She also makes him dress her and wash all of her clothes (including her underwear). Typically of Rie Kugimiya's voice roles as tsundere type characters, Louise at first hates Saito, but because of various situations, grows fond of him, even having notions of love at the end of the second season even though she beats him with a whip every chance she gets without fail even at the end of the series when he mentions a fairy with big breasts saved him. In one instance she beat him for hours until he had wounds all over his body. This character is best said to be "The typical female anime character" who uses the fact she has feelings for the male lead to justify what she does to him in times of jealousy or misunderstanding without repercussions. It should be stated that she is under no one's control or being forced by any means to hurt Saito. She does this willingly and in most cases is shown to actually like hurting him physically. (Smiling being the indicator along with never feeling a shred of regret after every one of them.)

Later is revealed that Louise's failure in perform magic of any of the four basic attributes is because in fact her magical affinity is with the rare and powerful Void element, hence being known as the Void Wizard since then. This at first relies on the cooperation of Saito's ability to trigger it, even through the way she treats him.

She is named after Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, duchesse de La Vallière, a French courtesan who was mistress to Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.


When I think of the young lady who puts the “Zero” in Zero no Tsukaima, I think of this phrase: Jeez Louise, you’re quite a tease!

Actually, Louise almost wasn’t in the Group H final: she had to sweat out a tenacious 2nd round match with Mai Kawasumi of Kanon before winning by only two votes. After that matchup, it was an easy cruise to the group final, with a trouncing of Eri Sawachika of School Rumble 2nd Semester.

Heralded as the “New Shax” (although this title is disputed by those who believe Nagi is the “New Shax” or those Shanaists who belive that the Old Shax and New Shax are one and the same…confusing, isn’t it?), Louise has all you can ask for in a moekko: youth, shortcomings in performing, a Lolita complexion, and so on. Her seiyuu is Nagi Sanzenin’s and Shana’s seiyuu, the ubiquitous Rie Kugimiya. She will be facing her biggest test yet, the ever fearsome Suigintou from Rozen Maiden. Can she pull it off? You make the call.


What to expect:

The group finals conclude with a huge finale. I am calling for Suigintou to pull off another close match, with high turnouts from all corners of the world.

BoBA predicts:

Suigintou by less than 100 votes

Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview: Group G

Saimoe 2007 Group Finals Preview



Group G




Sayuri Kurata

How she got here:

1st Round: Defeated Anri Hiiragi 934-395

2nd Round: Defeated Alice Carroll 599-349

3rd Round: Defeated Eruru 827-757

(from Wikipedia)


In Kanon, Sayuri is Mai Kawasumi's only friend before she meets Yuichi, and thus her biggest part is in Mai's story. She is the daughter of a wealthy family, and always tries to smile and help others. She uses more formal Japanese honorifics for Yuichi when she addresses him, even when they become close friends. Sayuri cares very deeply about Mai, as it shows since they not only hang out together constantly, but Sayuri will get worried if Mai is in trouble; she also never forgets Mai's birthday. Initially, she is completely ignorant about the demons but even though some begin to target her near the end of Mai's story, she stubbornly stays by Mai's side. Sayuri, as with Ayu and Makoto, has a cute quirk; when she laughs, she voices a distinct Ahaha. Sayuri always addresses herself in the third person due to an event in her past.


Despite Sayuri being a supporting character, she gets some back story to explain some of her current situation and how she came to become such good friends with Mai. Sayuri's story begins many years ago when Sayuri was still a young girl. She had been raised primarily by her father who did not spoil her, so she grew up with manners. When her younger brother Kazuya was born, Sayuri decided to be rather strict with him as her father had been with her so that he would grow up to be a better person. In her heart, she really wanted to console him when he was crying or scared, but Sayuri believed that it was for Kazuya's sake that she was strict. Kazuya himself was slow to develop and did not talk even after entering kindergarten; he hardly ever laughed. Kazuya was always alone; he had a weak body so Sayuri would walk him to and from kindergarten.


Kazuya eventually starts to get more sick and weak and is admitted to the hospital. For the first time in Sayuri's life, she decided to go against being strict with Kazuya and went out buying many toys and junk food which she brought to Kazuya's hospital room. Soon after that time, Kazuya died, which completely changed Sayuri's attitude and personality. After he died, Sayuri began to address herself in the third person. Sayuri explained that she could only see herself from a third-person point of view from then on; she did not smile either until after she met Mai.


Sayuri first met Mai in their first year of high school. They were in different classes so the two did not know each other at first. One day, there was a dog scaring some people in front of the school and Mai managed to scare it away with a shovel. Later, Sayuri found Mai feeding the dog her lunch and Sayuri offered to give her lunch to the dog as well. After that point, Sayuri and Mai started to hang out and soon became best friends. Sayuri believes that Mai saved her and has been a much larger help in her life than what Sayuri has been able to do for Mai since they met.


Sayuri's main involvement is during her best friend Mai's arc. Yuichi first meets her the day after he ran into Mai at the school at night for the first time. Sayuri asks Yuichi if he would like to have lunch with them, and Yuichi agrees. Upon discovering that Sayuri's food is very delicious, and because now Mai will have one more friend, Yuichi starts to eat lunch with the two third year girls every day for the rest of Mai's story. For the dance party, Sayuri lends Mai an expensive dress that she got from a friend; Sayuri also lends Yuichi a tuxedo for the event. When the demons attack the party, Sayuri is one of the people that get hurt which sets Mai's temper off, leading her to wield her sword in front of everyone, an event which almost gets her expelled.


When Sayuri begins to notice that Yuichi and Mai are spending more time alone, Sayuri starts to suspect something is going and tries to prove herself to Mai that she is able to help too. This attempt fails miserably, and Mai attempts to drive her away by telling her she is in the way in order to protect her from subsequent attacks from the demons. A few days before Mai's birthday, Sayuri meets with Yuichi where they decide what they are going to go for her birthday. They decide that a small party between the three of them and Mai's mother would be sufficient. The night of Mai's birthday, Sayuri phones the Minase house to discover that Yuichi is not there. Knowing that he and Mai were most likely at school, Sayuri heads there with the food and presents she brought for Mai's birthday. Unfortunately, soon after entering the school, Sayuri is seriously attacked by one of the demons which gets her admitted into the hospital with a head injury. This event causes Mai to attempt suicide, but Yuichi saves her before she can go on with it, convincing her that if she wants to end this, then they should go back to the school and destroy the rest of the demons. At the end of the story, Sayuri graduates high school with Mai.




In Saimoe 2007, you don’t need to be a protagonist to make it to the next round. You just need the most votes; that’s all. But you also need to have the attributes that warrant the support you get. Sayuri Kurata from Kanon is an example of a secondary character being able to rub shoulders with the other heavy hitters. A great figure, combined with a great personality, compassion and companionship are the things that gave Sayuri the nod into this group final.


Sayuri's seiyuu, Tomoko Kawakami, is famous for doing the roles of notable characters like Utena Tenjou from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Chrono Crusade’s Rosete Christopher, AIR’s Misuzu Kamio, Chiriki from Fushigi Yuugi, Hikaru Shindo from Hikaru no GO, Bleach’s Softon, and Fuyuki Hinata from Sergeant Frog.



Rika Furude



How she got here:


1st Round: Defeated Nia 786-371

2nd Round: Defeated Nono Ichinose 714-287

3rd Round: Defeated Mion Sonozaki 932-571



(from Wikipedia)

In Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, Rika is the main character in Minagoroshi-hen. She is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school, and is in the same grade level as Satoko. Naturally, she is great friends with her, as they live together in the same house. She is revered by the villagers as the heir of the local shrine, and plays the role of a miko in the annual Watanagashi Festival. She has been the head of the Furude house since her parents died, but rarely attends town meetings due to her young age. While she does not speak a lot, she likes to say nonsense words such as "mi~" and "nipa~", which inflame Rena's passion for cute things. She also likes to describe events using sound effects, such as "The cat was going 'nya nya' and 'scritch scritch'. In fact, she is one of the main components of the eternally repeating June 1983, and is the only one who is consistently able to remember the past repetitions. She believes she has lived over 100 years by the time of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, but continues to act like a child in order not to alarm her friends. Prior to Matsuribayashi-hen, she is the only one able to see Hanyū, who has been an 'imaginary friend' to her all her life. Despite her young appearance, she seems to be quite fond of sake.






A number of factors have placed Rika Furude into the round of 16: a miko garb, sound effect descriptions, and the use of nonsensical vocabulary. Add a fetish for sake, and it seems that it was only proper for the voters to give the nod to Rika, at the expense of Mion Sonozaki.

A note: The seiyuu of Rika is also the seiyuu of Nanoha Takamachi, Ms. Yukari Tamura. She also is the seiyuu for a number of other well-known characters, including Galaxy Angel’s Ranpha Franboise, Da Capo’s Sakura Yoshino, and Kanami Yuta of s-CRY-ed.



What to expect:

A tight contest. It’s a tantalizing, yet intriguing match: Sayuri Kurata of Kanon vs. Rika Furude of Higurashi. I am calling for Sayuri to pull off another one here.


BoBA predicts:

Sayuri Kurata by less than 100 votes