ISML 2009: Suiseiseki claims her first-ever necklace as Haruhi's streak ends

ISML 2009: Suiseiseki claims her first-ever necklace as Haruhi's streak ends

July 11, 2009

For the second time this season, a Rozen Maiden Alice Doll wins an International Saimoe League necklace.

Suiseiseki, the celebrated doll known for her "Desu" ending to her sentences, clinched the ISML 2009 Emerald necklace with a 1552-1433 victory over C.C. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Outside the Rogers Center, where a certain football team donning green-the Saskatchewan Roughriders-was crushing the Toronto Argonauts, she was surrounded by Suigintou (who defeated Nanoha Takamachi 1828-1301 to finish unbeaten in Mexico City), Shinku (who wrapped up her campaign with a Rozen Maiden sweep, defeating Hanyuu Furude in Bogota 1581-1335), Kanaria, Kirakishou, Hina-Ichigo, her twin sister Souseiseki, Jun and Nori Sakurada, and Tomoe Kashiwaba in a victory rally.

"Hello everyo~~~ne desu!" she said, to the roars of the crowd, many rasing banners that said, "DESU!" and "She's back DESU!" and "DESU is just the beginning DESU!" as well as flag that had the Rozen Maiden logo, Suiseiseki's face and green maple leaves.

She continued on. "Well, I got my necklace desu. What have you ever got desu ka?" she said to Shinku with a wry grin.

"Hmmmph, as long as I got a victory to finish this campaign off, I don't care," she said, drinking her cup of tea to the laughter of the crowd.

"ohhhh? I have a necklace too," said Suigintou with an evil laugh.

With a sigh, Shinku said, "Mercy me, you two are so full of it today."

"Yare yare desu. Any way desu," Suiseiseki said, turning to the crowd, "I want to thank every one of you for believe in me and us here on this stage desu. You made it happen desu. Give yourseves a big hand desu!"

"DE-SU! DE-SU! DE-SU!" chanted the crowd.

"I love you Suiseiseki!" said one fan from the top of his lungs.

"Stay away from my sister," said Souseiseki, brandishing her shears.

"Mou, come on, you know you're not competing this season desu. Lighten up desu," she said, hugging Souseiseki.

The angry scowl turned into a smile, then a wink. "I was only kidding," she said. "On behalf of all of us," she said to the crowd, "we want to thank the people here standing with us: Shinku, Suigintou, Hina, Kanaria, Kirakishou, myself, Jun, Nori and Tomoe, and of course, all of you for your continuing support."

"That's right desu," Suiseiseki added, grabbing the microphone. "We are the Rozen Maiden Alice Dolls, and when you believe in us desu, we will never die desu! We love you desu! Now let's play some more in the Ruby stage desu!!!"

The crowd roared one more time as ALI PROJECT's "Seishoujo Ryouiki" and "Kinjirareta Asobi" blared through the speakers.

A few curious Saskatchewan Roughriders took photos of the event.

"I guess it was no surprise that my team won, she [Suiseiseki] won, so everybody that likes green won today," said an anonymous Roughriders fan from Moose Jaw, SK. "It's a great feeling."

Defending champion Fate Testarossa Harlaown dropped her last match in the Emerald stage to Shana in Tokyo, 1879-1401.

Meanwhile, in Kinshasa, Congo DR, Haruhi Suzumiya's unbeaten streak ended with a 1853-1412 loss to Tomoyo Sakagami.

"I knew that if I didn't get a good turnout, everyone would have at least defeat heading into the Ruby stage," Suzumiya said after the match. "I think Fate's tenure as the defending champions could end this year at the hands of a worthy challenger like Tomoyo or Yuki. But I hope I can bounce back on Ruby match day 1."

In fact, it was a rare clean sweep for CLANNAD.

Kyou Fujibayashi defeated Kagami Hiiragi 1492-1259 in Milan, Nagisa Furukawa took down Rena Ryuuguu 1696-1366 in Istanbul, Fuuko Ibuki chalked up an easy 1871-760 victory over Shiori Misaka in Santiago, Kotomi Ichinose sounded off Sakura Kinomoto 1790-1299 in Buenos Aires, and even Mei Sunohara got a win-a 1881-830 destruction of Remilia Scarlet in Sao Paulo.

Fate/Stay Night also had a clean sweep.

Rin Tosaka prevailed over Rika Furude 1723-1370 in London. Saber sliced down Alice Carroll 1982-802 in Moscow and Illyasviel von Einzbern edged Sayuri Kurata 1603-1368 in Los Angeles.

Yet another group that also held its own were the Toradora! representatives. Minori Kushieda blasted Tamaki Kawazoe 1611-915 in Paris, Ami Kawashima took out Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere 1448-1242 in Lima and Taiga Aisaka rolled past Reimu Hakurei 1816-1170 in Katowice.

In other action...Chii defeated Aya Shameimaru 1407-926 in Mumbai, Vita won a 1154-1138 thriller over Evangeline MCDowell in New York City, Mikuru Asahina wiped out Mikoto Misaka 1967-973 in Shanghai, Nagi Sanzen'in defeated Konata Izumi in an impressive 1743-1474 victory in Lagos, Maria rolled past Shiki Ryogi 1976-90 in Seoul and Nayuki Minase defeated Nagi 1578-1013 in Karachi.

Ami Hinamori tallied up a 1187-1105 victory over Anya Earlstreim in Dhaka, Yuuhi Katagiri thumped Akari Mizunashi 1624-834 in Manila, Yuki Nagato scored a thrilling 1436-1426 nail-biter over Hinagiku Katsura in Jakarta, Mai Kawasumi rolled past Index L. Prohibitorum in Tehran and Ayu Tsukimiya defeated Kallen Kozuki (stadtfeld) in an easy 1625-980 decision in Bangkok.

Wrapping up action in the Emarald phase...Horo chomped up Tsukasa Hiiragi and her balsamic vinegar 1738-1341 in Algiers, Hayate Yagami tore down Kirino Chiba 1643-769 in Madrid, Konjiki no Yami (Golden Darkness) whipped Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga 2070-684 in Sydney and Marisa Kirisame took out Patchouli Knowledge 1261-674 in Santo Domingo.

Shana's victory also moves her to number one in the overall ISML rankings. Chii, Katarigi, McDowell and Kirisame are eliminated from the competition.

TOP 16 through Emerald

1. Shana 132 pts (44-0-1) (SAP)
2. Haruhi Suzumiya 132 pts (44-0-1)
3. Tomoyo Sakagami 129 pts (43-0-2) (AQ)
4. Kyou Fujibayashi 126 pts (42-0-3)
5. Fate Testarossa Harlaown 120 pts (40-0-5) (C)
6. Yuki Nagato 120 pts (40-0-5) (TOP)
7. Suigintou 117 points (39-0-6) (AM)
8. Kagami Hiiragi 114 points (38-0-7)
9. Rin Tosaka 114 points (38-0-7)
10. Taiga Aisaka 111 points (37-0-8)
11. Suiseiseki 108 points (36-0-9) (EM)
12. Saber 105 points (35-0-10)
13. Mikuru Asahina 105 points (35-0-10)
14. Nanoha Takamachi 105 points (35-0-10)
15. Konata Izumi 105 points (35-0-10)
16. Nagisa Furukawa 102 points (34-0-11)

(C) = Defending Champion

(AQ) = Aquamarine Necklace winner
(TOP) = Topaz Necklace winner
(AM) = Amethyst Necklace winner
(SAP) = Sapphire Necklace winner
(EM) = Emerald Necklace winner

Anime Expo 2009, Day 3 continued

So, I continue on with more thoughts on Day 3. You know, one of the biggest gripes with attendees at any public gathering is that some of them are unprepared. I ask someone, "Hey, do you have the time?" and they look at me as if (a) they don't know English (in which I wonder what the fuck are they doing here in America if they don't know how to speak the language) or (b) they say, "I don't know."

Seriously, come prepared to help. I literally had to ask an attendee in her 50's the time. "10:45 a.m." she said.

AX Idol seating draws nears. And so, after blowing $200 dollars on doujin work, I waited for a while to get my seat in the front.

This Western Michigan man named Seth Chiplock pulled off a great rendition of Kenshin Himura; you swore he already was a professional and he was cheating.

But it sure was a great show. And this was his first-ever convention, so it was all the more sweeter.

So the main itinerary was like this. 12:45: head to Exhibit Hall for drawing. 1:10, return to AX Idol for Tsunku's scrutiny, 3:05 head to Lindsay Plaza to break out the camera, 3:30 K-ON! photo shoot, 4:00 Bag Check, 7:30 Masquerade, 10:00 more bag checking.

And as I took my seat, I wondered who would topple Orange County for best of show. I liked where I sat. I had a side view of the action, while seeing the entire crowd. It's like Spring Sing.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.

The performers looked like they were struggling, the intermissions was woefully out of sync, and just about all the attendees left the place, bored out of their shoes.

Without ado, here were the entries, and my thoughts.

Entry 1: "Supah Kaizoku." (One Piece) Not bad stuff to start.

Entry 3: "Princess Ash.," Glamorous. Love it.

Entry 4: "I'm At A Con!" by Godly Productions and Soy Sauce Cosplay. Get down! Keepin' it real. Not sure this has a place at AX, but they represented everything Chicago is good for apparently.

Entry 5: "Shin Musha Gundam" by Zeonic Corps, celebrating 30 years of excellence. Look out, he's gonna fall apart! That went well...

Entry 6: "Inquisition: The Lady of Death." Fashionista.

Entry 7: "Street Fighter IV: Let's Get Ready To Rumble!" Ken Masters vs. Ryu...and then it turns into a dance number, with Dan Hibiki wrecking it beyond recognition. Brilliant.

Entry 9: "Buddha: The Boisterous Ball of Spiral Power." 8 skipped? Hmmm...Rickrolled. Cheap.

Entry 10: "Pandora Hearts: Oz Bezarius's Excellent Adventures In Wonderland." Conversation. Love those suits. Yes, your Majesty.

Entry 11: "King of Fighters." This guy pacing around in the back is made of win. Some good rapping. Saturday night fun. Zzzzzz...

Entry 12: "Dr. Stein Knows Where Chaos Will Ensue." (Soul Eater) Some good sketch comedy.

Entry 13: "Sephiroth." That was it? Only 10 fucking seconds!? For shame!

Entry 14: "The Exorcists: Street Performing." True. Hilarious. They're doing [sic] it wrong.

Entry 16: "The Debilitating Effects of OTP-One True Pairing." Comedy and signs full of pairs. Left and right...but I am not sure why Brangelina is still talked about. Didn't those two break up already?

Entry 17: "Uniting Forces Through Song and Dance...What R P Go Golies!" Not a fan of the skit name, but definitely a fan of the dance. The Caramelldansen by Final Fantasy Cosplayers. On Day 4, they would form a Caramell chain with others.

Entry 18: "The Gala Malicious Squad. Hai!" So much for direction.

Entry 19: "Guns of the Righteous." Nicholas Wolfwood from Trigun and Lady from Devil May Cry flashing their guns. The exhibition of artillery and courtesy.

Entry 21: "Final Fantasy VII: Not That Much, save for Sephiroth" Him again. He's gonna need to fill himself up; he looks quite malnourished.

Entry 22: "Anything Pokemon Can Do..." Pikachu vs. Charizard. Nice musical number.

Entry 24: Zone Zero presents: "Bishamon & Kiyouyomi get it on." Stalemate? No, Bishamon wins.

Entry 25: "Shaman King" by Toddler Boy Cosplay. Big number here. A dance number. Good contender. Using "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior. Brilliant.

Entry 26: "Sessho as Suigintou." The old lady has left the building...

Entry 27: "Last Call for Galaxy Express 39: All Aboard!" Go, Maetel. Good angle.

Entry 28: "Sakura on the Run" by That's What She Said Cosplay. That went well...

Entry 29: "Let's Fresh! Concert" by Cure Peach, Berry and Pine. (Yes! Precure 5) Fat ladies...but they are devoted. I'll give them that.

Entry 30: "Ears That Fluff." Comedy between Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru. Don't like Sessh's accent...but that cell phone...

Entry 31: "Fly on the Wings of Chaos." A Ragnarok Online skit. Go Lag. I have lost the game.

Entry 33: "Iji as Emperor Lelouch" by XDCosplayXD. Don't Die, Hooch! Spoilers!!! XD

Entry 34: "Abel in the Final Battle." (Trinity Blood). Elaborate outfits. Good drama.

Entry 35: "Sex. Money. Sex. Money. Cat. Gay? I'm not sure. Curious and Curious presents: Are You Curious Yet?" An Avenue Q rendition.

Entry 36: "Phoenix Wright: Time Travel Turnabout" by Combo Breakers. Using "The Cake Is A Lie." Hungry now for McDs.

Entry 37: "Dirge of Cerberus. Final Fantasy VII Deleted Scene." Pretty good acting.

Entry 38: "Before there was Yu-Gi-Oh!...before there was Pokemon...there was another monster-catching game: Jade Cocoon." Yes, these outfits are good.

Entry 39: "The Midday Tea Party." A Kuroshitsuji skit. I believe this won Best of Show. Good musical number. Definitely "The Most Wonderful Show Of The Year."

Entry 40: "Eternal Dream." Hey, it's Sailor Cosmos. And it's the music the Orlando Magic used in the 2009 NBA Finals! Yeah!

Entry 41: "Across the Frontier" by Coconut Bubble Sex Cosplay. Too bad this group got shafted by bad audio.

Entry 43: "Hakaida Squad." Advertisement. Also used in "The Humans Are Dead" music video.

Entry 44: "The Young Samurai...It Is Her Idea That He Is Nominated For...Ooooh!" Hatsukashi~~~yo~~~...

Entry 45: "Puppets Tutu" by Tipping Hat Productions. The magic cometh...

Entry 46: "Hitsugaya Itoshiro." Bloody fangirls...

Entry 47: "Pokeball Z" Satoshi turning into a Super Saiyan...*shudder*

Entry 49: "Brawl Babes." Samus. Zelda. Peach. The Pink Ice Climber. They sure can't dance. But they sure can fight.

Entry 50: "Tira." She lmows how to use her thing-er, ring.

Entry 51: "Designers...Make It Work!" by Project Cosplay. Here we have the fashion show, in which Tifa Lockhart wins yet again.

Entry 54: "Abershiro Blames Chrono For The Entire Thing." Naruto Again? Ms. Really Really really Bad Dancer.

Intermission: South Hills High School (West Covina), Ross Middle School (Artesia), Pamela Moss, Fujiko-Chan.

Anime Expo 2009 thoughts, Day 3

On a day where America celebrated its independence and Steve McNair committed suicide (son of a bitch, another one?), I was busy getting some K-ON! doujins and some shots of the K-ON! girls. I was on a K-ON binge, I couldn't even begin to tell you.

Masquerade was a disappointement. Unimaginaive, drab, and the intermission music was so off-key. Send in the K-ON! band to perform next year, please!

"You sick bastard!" said Jeff, a member of the Main Events team, and a K-ON! fan, as he looked through the crapload of K-ON! doujinshi I purchased at the exhibit hall. I had a smug expression on my face. "You just about bought all the remaining K-ON! doujins out there!"

Well, save for one. I ran out of money by the time I did my run. But I do concur that I bought up a storm. And I took some photos of the K-ON! cosplayers at Lindsay Plaza that day. Pretty well done. What other convention do you have the opportunity to cross into six Mio Akiyamas donning identical outfits and makeup? AX, of course!

Anime Expo 2009 thoughts, Day 2

This day was pretty nice to me, save for the fact that my battery died. So I had to spend my money buying a few disposable cameras to continue my cosplay photo shoot. But this was a day of first. First autographed board. First doujin purchased. First dakimakura purchased. First shots of Mio, Azusa, Rimi and Yoshika taken, along with some Lucky Star shots. First full set of K-ON! albums purchased. Heck, we had to move a boulder into Bag Check.

Also took some shots of Michael Jackson tribute, ate some ice cream, sipped on some Monster, got thrown back to the Midwest with some meatloaf, shot the Higurashi caravan....mother of God, couldn't it get any better. As the Quakers say, "I hope so."

That autograph was by chance. So I wandered into Petree Hall, where another panl was wrapping up. I asked Senji Mizushima about the one work that he had the most fun being a part of as wel as Takeshi Kuroda. Mizushma said "Generator Gawl" and Kuroda said "Trigun" (he wrote the script for it).

-Jo-Ryan Salazar, Bag Check, July 3, 2009

Anime Expo 2009 thoughts, Day 1

Much better day, in leaps and bounds.

"F--k AX," said a person from Axcess Control, disgruntled as he worked on his bacon, eggs and spuds. "We clamor for extra perks and we get shafted," he goes on, continuing his spiel. I listened, and soaked in the realities of some of the team who work hard, but aren't as recognized as the others.

We went back to th LACC on this school bus that was clearly refurbished. "We're going on this!?" I exclaimed for the longest time. As I got on the bus, I turned on my AC/DC. And as I got back to the place, I wandered, looking at some of the decor before stopping by for the Opening Ceremonies. And I took plenty of shots along the way.

Most of the day, outside of stamping tickets, checking bags and counting cash, I was taking photos of cosplayers posing. At the exhibit halls I got all these different magazines and visual books. I think the only downers were the early stumbles, forgetting to film the left daruma eye being filled, and the battery dying after shooting concluded. I realize that we have stuff to purchase.

Xeno, Kisegi and Mahoko are tucked nice and tight into their little backpack. On the agenda: buy remaining pins, K-ON shirt, batteries, and that other maazine I wanted, as well as some extra plushies. I love spending. And I thank my student loan disbursements for it.

I gotta get some sleep. Michael Jackson's funeral is tomorrow, and I gotta tune out all the madness. If I need to buy my baterries at the hotel, I don't mind it one fucking bit.

-JR Salazar, Bag Check, July 2, 2009

Anime Expo 2009 thoughts, Day 0

Not exactly one of the smoothest days I've had, as I began my new role with Frank Cheng's Bag Check team. The one positive I could take from this was that I was able to prepare our work space and run through the courses of action. That, however, was the only thing that went right. At my hotel, the Bonaventure, I ended up being served by incompetent people who did not know how to do their jobs, and a room key that did not work (which was later recoded to work).

But I think the worst part that happened was after the shift. Now, our staff had Yoshinoya bowls for dinner. I only took one from a bag. And that was it. It was a Beef Bowl. The other two were vegetable bowls, and I did not touch either of them. In fact, I offered one to another hungry staffer. He put that bowl in the box, while looking for a different bowl. The second bowl I ate was essentially out of the fact that if no one wants their bowl, what good is it to waste it? So I finished it, and disposed it. And then the managers there tell me that that was it.

There was no "Take One Bowl ONLY" sign. Where was that? And I don't even eat veggie bowls. The second was out of the fact that this would have been wasted. Just abut everyone else had their share. I offered to explain the situation to my div head, my good friend Liz Wang, but she didn't want to hear it. I mean, come on now. This bowl would have been thrown in the trash, if no one took it. Someone else could have taken it, and I would have been happy with that. I wanted the Beef Bowl anyway. Now, if that was reserved for someone, I can offer to pay for another on me. That's no problem. But the last thing I want is to have this frustration to boil over and set the tone for the con on the wrong foot.

I mean, get over it guys. This is not the biggest issue we have. We have four days to help people get to where they need to go and to help make AX 09 a success. I can help refurbsh the lost meal. This is nothing. I wasn't trying to be greedy or anything. No one told me when I came in to wait for someone to determine this and that. I can't be shouldering a great deal of the blame.

But at the same time, I can sympathize with Liz. She had to go up and down to look at the people at the Reg lines, look at the shuttle lines, look at other areas in her division and other divisions, and so on. I hope she gets over it, because I want Frank to tell her that I have done well with the Bag Check team.

The blunders and mistakes I had on Day 0 I know will be outweighed by bigger and better things to come. I'm not gonna let this get to me. This will be a spur for me to do some carpe diem in my new surroundings. It starts now.

-JR Salazar, Bag Check, July 1, 2009