ISML 2013: "I don't have any use for this thing," Oreki says
By Jo-Ryan Salazar
The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
December 13, 2013
After defeating Accelerator 5145-4857 to win the Male Exhibition Tournament, Houtarou Oreki shrugged his shoulders as he was awarded the International Saimoe League Laris Scepter. However, Oreki was indifferent when he was awarded the prize and handed it to the Kamiyama High School staff to have it encased in the main administration building.
"I don't have any use for this thing, I don't need it," Oreki said at a press conference at the campus quad. "You know, I still don't understand the point of these contests. Even though people still vote in these tournaments, there's really no point because it's not a celebration of moe.
"This whole tournament is just a series of survey poll to determine which ice cream flavor they prefer. You have X amount of people take strawberry, X amount chocolate, X amount vanilla...you get the point. The point here is that the winner of the main tournament is not the most moe. She's just the more popular between the two, but not the most moe.
"The ISML was never about the moe. It's about popularity and survey voting. That's all it is. So while I accept this scepter, it's not something I care about. I'm more concerned...about Chitanda Eru."
However, don't tell that to Reimu Hakurei, who defeated her good friend Marisa Kirisame 4845-2990 to win the Touhou Tournament of the Bonus Exhibition.
"The only think really holding me back is Mr. Zun, a.k.a. Oota Junji," Hakurei said from her shrine. "He's actually holding all of us back because we're due an anime series but he won't allow it to happen. Once it does happen, we plan to lay an all-out assault on 2channel's Anime Saimoe Tournament, and the ISML will be ours. Once ZUN gives us the green light, the Saimoe race will be over before it even begins."
The 2014 International Saimoe League Preliminaries begin next month. Summon your favorites at InternationalSaimoe.com in January, and follow up on the Bedlam on Baltic Avenue for continuing coverage of the ISML.
