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 ValliereHow 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
Nagi Sanzenin 1499
Rika Furude 1521
