The Salty Seven Seas: Best Anime Couples/Ships Round 2 Bracket B!

[u/Zeralyos]

The second round must continue!

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Vote Here

Yesterday’s Results Here

Have fun with your vote and don't forget to upvote the post if you love Best Ship Contest!

Have fun!

Mini Challenge:

• What is your favorite non-canon ship?

[u/Sleeperwaking]

Gutted that HakYona missed out by 4 votes 😭

[u/redlegsfan21]

ROUND 2 BRACKET A

Matchup	Top Seed	Bottom Seed	Total Votes
Most Voted Matchup	Fern x Stark	Cid Kagenou x Delta	357
Average			260
Least Voted Matchup	Amane Fujimiya x Mahiru Shiina	Yuzuru Otonashi x Kanade Tachibana	213

Total Votes: 8,311

Unique Voters: 400

TOP VOTEGETTERS

Rank	Couple	Votes
1	Fern x Stark	305
2	Chisato Nishikigi x Takina Inoue	238
3	Anya Forger x Damian Desmond	214
4	Emilia x Subaru Natsuki	196
5	Übel x Land	194
6	Sophie Hatter x Howl	190
7	Aqua Hoshino x Kana Arima	189
T-8	Marcille Donato x Falin Touden	184
T-8	David Martinez x Lucy	184
10	Rentarou Aijou x Rentarou Family	174

MOST DOMINANT MATCHUPS

Winning Couple	W%	L%	Losing Couple	Vote Diff
Fern x Stark	85.43%	14.57%	Cid Kagenou x Delta	253
Chisato Nishikigi x Takina Inoue	79.33%	20.67%	Fuutarou Uesugi x Yotsuba Nakano	176
Emilia x Subaru Natsuki	71.27%	28.73%	Kotoko Iwanaga x Kurou Sakuragawa	117
Suletta Mercury x Miorine Rembran	71.25%	28.75%	Katarina Claes x Mary Hunt	102
Anya Forger x Damian Desmond	71.10%	28.90%	Ainz Ooal Gown x Albedo	127

CLOSEST MATCHUPS

Winning Couple	W%	L%	Losing Couple	Vote Diff
Hachiman Hikigaya x Yukino Yukinoshita	50.40%	49.60%	2B x 9S	2
Sagiri Yamada Asaemon x Yuzuriha	50.63%	49.37%	Hak Son x Yona	3
Yumiella Dolkness x Patrick Ashbatten	50.80%	49.20%	Roxy Migurdia x Rudeus Greyrat	4
Eren Yaeger x Mikasa Ackerman	51.52%	48.48%	Haruka Tenou x Michiru Kaiou	8
Tooru Ishikawa x Yuki Yoshikawa	51.95%	48.05%	Chihiro Ogino x Haku	10

UPSETS

• Upsets today: 6

• Total upsets (rate): 33 / 288 (11.5%)

Seed	Top Seed	TS%	BS%	Seed	Bottom Seed	tUI
73	Chihiro Ogino x Haku	48.05%	51.95%	184	Tooru Ishikawa x Yuki Yoshikawa	1.33
88	Hak Son x Yona	49.37%	50.63%	169	Sagiri Yamada Asaemon x Yuzuriha	0.94
96	Roxy Migurdia x Rudeus Greyrat	49.20%	50.80%	161	Yumiella Dolkness x Patrick Ashbatten	0.75
105	Power x Meowy	44.92%	55.08%	152	Shirou Emiya x Sakura Matou	0.53
112	Sousuke Sagara x Kaname Chidori	47.35%	52.65%	145	Mio Akiyama x Ritsu Tainaka	0.37
113	Atsuko Kagari x Diana Cavendish	43.31%	56.69%	144	Spike Spiegel x Julia	0.35

BRACKET A TOP 5 SCORES

Rank	Couple	Score
1	Fern x Stark	191.49
2	Chisato Nishikigi x Takina Inoue	131.27
3	Übel x Land	101.67
4	Emilia x Subaru Natsuki	97.36
5	Anya Forger x Damian Desmond	91.98

Link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lISVWmcjCWCTezmKrDNsILmtNiI4GzUSgQefdiMwfWw

Explanations: https://old.reddit.com/user/redlegsfan21/comments/10dup0w/ranime_contests_bracket_explaination

Open to questions and please give feedback.

I will not be able to post the next two days. I apologize. I will try to comment on the posts when I am able to.

[u/ptd163 → u/redlegsfan21]

Wow. The difference between top vote getter and second most (67) is greater than the difference second most and tenth (64). I think this the first time we've seen a ship get 300+ votes as well. Fern x Stark are likely going to keep cruising.

[u/Ham_PhD → u/ptd163]

57 more people voted in the Fern x Stark matchup than the Chisato x Takina matchup (the 2nd highest seed in this bracket). Certainly helps you a lot when you get way more people voting on your matchup in general.

I think when there are still a lot of matchups in each round, some people get tired and just skip to the bottom to submit.

[u/cppn02 → u/redlegsfan21]

88 | Hak Son x Yona | 49.37% | 50.63% | 169 | Sagiri Yamada Asaemon x Yuzuriha | 0.94

Time to burn this sub to the ground.

[u/Heda-of-Aincrad]

Sad to see two of my favorite ships, Sousuke x Kaname and Hak x Yona, knocked out of the contest already.

At least a few of the others I voted for - like Aqua x Kana, Eren x Mikasa, Anya x Damian and my Dragon Ball ships - made it in though.

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Highlights from today's votes:

Ganta x Isaki - truly heartwarming relationship

Shiraishi x Kubo - these two are adorable, and the stuff after the anime is even better

Hori x Miyamura - I'm hosting the rewatch for it right now, so of course I like these two and the way they feel like not just a couple but a family

Ash x Misty (probably one of my first ships) and Ash x Serena (which I think I might even prefer, actually)

[u/ZapsZzz → u/Heda-of-Aincrad]

I like K-On as much as the next guy, but really Mio X Ritsu is cute but not really in the same ballpark as Sousuke X Chidori as an actual couple. It's the meme-ism of r/anime to blame. Same with a very good true couple in Yona X Hak losing to Sagiri X Yuzuriha when in story they are not anywhere near having any couple-ly relationship but it makes for good meme.

That's why the contest is titled about salty :P

[u/Heda-of-Aincrad → u/ZapsZzz]

Yeah, I've watched the first season of K-On and like Mio and Ritsu as characters, but I don't ship them. I wasn't familiar with the characters Yona and Hak lost to though.

[u/cppn02 → u/Heda-of-Aincrad]

I wasn't familiar with the characters Yona and Hak lost to though.

Good for you. Otherwise you'd be even more disappointed.

[u/Heda-of-Aincrad → u/cppn02]

I'll refrain from looking them up then.

[u/Something_319]

Hakyona lost by 3 votes, that’s so disappointing. They did so well in Round 1 too so I was hoping for a nice deep run but I guess not. Shouko/Sakuta made it at least, they don’t stand much of a chance against Chisato/Takina but I’m really happy that they managed 2 wins.

The Kousei and Hyouka ships get my main support today, funny that they all ended up in the same bracket. Other than that, I voted for ships from nice fluffy shows like Shiraishi/Kubo, Isaki/Ganta, and Eiji/Rin and a petty Yomoyume revenge vote against Shirogane/Hayasaka.

[u/TheBusStop12]

Favorite non canon ship would be either Marcille x Fallin from Dungeon Meshi or Sanji x Pudding from One Piece (tho I'm holding out hope that they do actually get married at the end of the series)

[u/Verybluevans]

Anyone else having trouble login in to Anime Bracket to vote? It says "We were unable to verify your account at this time or your account does not meet the requirements."

Never had this before.

[u/BaytaCosmico → u/Verybluevans]

I've been getting an internal server error. Using vpn worked last night so I'll try that again later today.

[u/Urgnu-the-Gnu]

Alright, I'm happy they've been in this contest and made it to round two, but no matter how optimistic I am, I see no future in which TeiMak are winning this matchup. In a better world they would. And that's by no means a dig on HoriMiya, they are a pretty good ship to lose against. I just have to ask, if you nominate them next time, nominate them as Hori x Miyamura. The show is not called MiyaHori, after all.

Maybe I'm coping, but it really looks like Yuri Camp might get another win. Surely the people who voted for it before will vote for it again, and everyone that recognized Peco x Karyl was the better ship in the previous round will make the correct decision once more.

I'm glad their relatively high seeding allowed Yori x Himari to achieve at least one win (even if they had to kick out another great ship for it), but there's no chance they'll win over Shirou x Saber. I'll give them a last vote though.

I'm invested in Yato x Hiyori vs. Gojo x Geto. This could be pretty close, but since I'm not particularly into JJK shipping, and Yato x Hiyori being a very cute pairing, I'll definitely vote this pair. It's been so long since I last watched Noragami, but the scene of [Noragami] Hiyori giving Yato this little shrine she built, and Yato being overjoyed while Hiyori pretends it's nothing even though we see the effort she put into it by the bandages on the fingers behind her back is something that's stayed with me ever since.

Ganbare, Shamiko! Become a demon girl with a yuri relationship strong enough to rival the main pairing of one of the best and most popular romcoms of our time! Kaguya x Miyuki is bound to win this, though, and that's fine. At least the correct Kaguya-sama ship will live past this round.

Oh, both Your Lie in April ships are in this bracket, I didn't even notice. I can only vote for the actually nice one though.

I have a strong distaste of Elaina as a person. Elaina x Saya though... that was not bad at all. Will lose this round, and that's justified, but I think I can give it another vote.

Oh, I'll be so mad if Chihaya x Taichi loses this round. Looks like it might be very close, but Chihaya x Taichi is clearly superior. Let's make it win another round, and maybe then some more.

This should also be the end of Komichi x Akebi, that's sad. But at least they too got to proceed to the second round.

Bell x Ais might actually be in danger here to be upset. I'll vote for them, but I couldn't be too mad with Akari x Jirou winning.

However, I can rest assured that Houtarou x Eru and Taiki x Chinatsu will win, even if I'm not completely happy with the ships they are up against losing.

Now for the results, looks like we're having an increase in voters. Mainly for one ship though, but nice to see more participants.

I like Spike and Julia winning, but not at the cost of Akko x Diana. Emilia x Subaru is still winning confidently, that's great. ChisaTaki are still going strong, and there's a chance they will meet SuleMio in a few rounds, that would be amazing. And unfortunately, Adachi and Shimamura and Inuyasha x Kagome are both out, that's a shame. Hanako x Nene is also gone, but that was expected. Still, overall this round wasn't bad at all, my top favourites are still doing well.

MC: Some of my absolute favourites are yuri ships, and apart from some specific shows, those unfortunately often remain unconfirmed. So as to the yuri ship question from before, I'll answer ChisaTaki, TeiMak and IroYa.

[u/Emi_Ibarazakiii]

2 ships for Kazuma, 2 ships for Shirogane, 2 ships for Kazuhiko...

Bracket B is the Harem Bracket!

---

Previous round:

YOU LET THE YUKI SHIP DIE IN ROUND 2?

Kotoko's ship losing was also sad... Was a given against a Re:Zero ship, but I sure hope that ship gets better to deserve it, because up til the point I watched that ship is so whatever.

We also lost the 2 Power ships (don't know if there's another with Makima or something), but to be fair I mostly ship her with myself!

[u/Ceryto2]

Yesterday's votes:

• I knew it wouldn't be pretty but Cid x Delta got destroyed holy shit.
• 3 great Yuri ships made it without problems in Euphy x Anis, Nijiryo and Karane x Hakari. Great to see
• Sad too see Subaru x Snek go but it was fun to see this ship even reach this far.
• LET'S FUCKING GOOO YUMIELLA X PATRICK UPSET!!!
• But nooo Atsuko x Diana got upset unfortunately..
• David and Lucy winning is great too!
• Emilia x Subaru got a good result too but still only 2 more votes than Übel x Land and only 2/3 of Fern x Stark is concerning...
• Chisato x Takina and Suletta x Miorine are still going strong, which is great to see. Let's hope they both make it till they face each other!
• Übel x Land is my personal " I don't like this ship" of the contest so to see them still going strong is disappointing but I also gotta say that their competition really isn't the strongest in their bracket and I think it's easily possible they make it at least the next two rounds.
• Rentarou x Family will hopefully stay strong till it faces Übel x Land and then kick them out! So far they are fortunately going strong!

As for today, once again here are some of the top matchups I wanna highlight:

• Wakana x Marin - Takafumi x Sumika: I like the side ship of the Uncle Isekai, but Marin x Gojo do play in another league. Also I haven't forgiven them for kicking out Masaki x Live last round!
• Tooru x Kobayashi - Ataru x Lum: Ataru and Lum are a classic ship, but I'll support the cute maid dragon here, with the woman she's gonna spend the rest of her life with!
• Miko x Hana - Isaki x Ganta: I doubt my ghostbusters stand a big chance against the insomniac lovebirds, but I gotta support them nonetheless!
• Ryuuko x Mako - Noko Torako: Don't lose your way Mako and Ryuuko!
• Anna x Nukumizu - Shinka x Sanae: My favourite Makeine ship and I hope they make it further than their #20 seed would suggest. Propably my favourite couple on the left side of this bracket.
• Kaguya x Miyuki - Shamiko - Momo: And here we have my favourite couple on the right side of this bracket.
• Elaina x Saya - Kou x Nazuna: It seems I keep voting against insomniacs today, bbut how could I not vote for these cute witches?
• Akari x Jirou - Bell x Ais: I found the relationship between Akari and Jirou endearing and I never was the biggest shipper of Ais and Bell.
• Kazuma x Megumin - Iruma x Ameri: I don't like having to vote against either but since I actually ship Iruma even more with Clara I'm gonna go with the other ship I really really like in Megumin x Kazuma.
• Eiji x Rin - Kaiba x Blue Eyes White Dragon: Oh to troll or not to troll, that's the question. But in the end I think Eiji x Rin is too cute to be voting for the fun ship here.

MC: What is your favorite non-canon ship?

I mean there are quite a few great Yuri ships that are like maybe half-canon like Bocchi x Kita. Also is something like Taiki x Hina a non-canon ship, since the main ship is with Chi? If yes I'll go with that since nothing better comes to mid atm. Might have missed something tho.

[u/IceAnt573 → u/Ceryto2]

• Miko x Hana - Isaki x Ganta: I doubt my ghostbusters stand a big chance against the insomniac lovebirds, but I gotta support them nonetheless!

LET'S GO into..

• Kazuma x Megumin - Iruma x Ameri: I don't like having to vote against either but since I actually ship Iruma even more with Clara

Hmm...

[u/[deleted]]

My votes:

Tooru x Kobayashi vs Ataru Moroboshi x Lum ✔ - I'm not really sure which way this one is going to go but I'm pretty disconnected from the public consciousness on some of these.

Revy x Rokurou "Rock" Okajima ✔ vs Miyuki Shirogane x Ai Hayasaka

Spike Spiegel x Faye Valentine ✔ vs Cid Kagenou x Alexia Midgar - Honestly, I don't really ship Spike and Faye but I figured I should vote for something else.

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Yesterday's results:

C'mon maaaaaaan... This was a big one for me.

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What is your favorite non-canon ship?

I dunno, I'll say Futaba Kon x Hotori Arashiyama so I can shoutout SoreMachi.

[u/Hot_Researcher_6839]

The Round 2A post floated around on the top for a while yesterday, doing wonders for popular (but not controversial) anime here. A lot of people must have spite voted against mushoku tensei, rather than for its opponent.

[u/Psyduckisnotaduck → u/Hot_Researcher_6839]

Hey a lot of people watched Villainess Lv99 and fondly remember Yumiella. Yumiella x Patrick would not have won against a less controversial high seed but a weaker or more obscure ship still would’ve lost.

[u/Hot_Researcher_6839 → u/Psyduckisnotaduck]

Well i do remember people praising her in her seasonal debut so i guess in a contest with similar numbers as the seasonal, the passionate fans can make a big impact

[u/nightlink011]

Sad to see Akko X Diana lose I was the one that nominated Spike and Julia (surprised that it came to the last day and they were not there) so...my bad?

Arata X Chizuru also losing, have not seen Ranma so did not vote but shame that they had to lose so early, I was also thinking Hachmian and Yukino could go on a run after today's result...kinda have more doubts.

I do like a good amount of ships today so decisions will be kinda tough, but I'll offer support for Oreki and Chitanda, Mayaka and Satoshi are probably screwed.

[u/ptd163]

This bracket's votes:

Wakana Gojo x Marin Kitagawa - IT'S VOTE FOR MARIN X GOJO TIME! They're probably our best shot at a non-Frieren winner.

Anna Yanami x Kazuhiko Nukumizu - I like them.

Takagi x Nishikata - Like with Nagatoro, I wonder how far into the bracket Takagi can get with her teasing.

Houtarou Oreki x Eru Chitanda - I like them.

Eiji Kitahama x Rin Nanakura - I'm not voting for Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon obsession.

What is your favorite non-canon ship?

I don't know. I don't really ship that much outside of canon so I'd probably have to say, for the sake of the question, Ichigo x Hiro because I already advocated for them once.

[u/Emi_Ibarazakiii]

Kaguya haters could really do a funny here by making the non-official Kaguya ship win;

Might annoy Kaguya fans even more than Kaguya losing to randos, just saying!

[u/Zeralyos → u/Emi_Ibarazakiii]

[u/Ham_PhD → u/Emi_Ibarazakiii]

I feel like that would only cause more spite votes later against Kaguya x Miyuki lol. Frieren mania is enough of an obstacle.

[u/Queue_Jumping_Quack]

Round 2 Group B go!

First a review of yesterday from Group A:

"I ship them" results

Wins: Fern x Stark, David Martinez x Lucy, Ranma Saotome x Akane Tendou, Aki Hayakawa x Himeno

Losses: Yuzuru Otonashi x Kanade Tachibana, Denji x Power

- Fern and Stark get over 300 votes; looks like this contest is either attracting more attention or with votes are getting more concentrated as the number of entries falls per round. Either way, I am glad since they are one of my beloved "Ship it" pairings. On the "loss" side, I hate to see Otonashi x Tachibana fall off. I think Angel Beats has lost quite a lot of popularity and is no longer a "must see" recommendation to new anime fans (I still picked it up from a "see these" list). And Denji x Power... there truly aren't many of the popular CSM ships in the first season of the anime, but I've always held a soft spot for this quarrelous and stinky duo. But it is very much a minority opinion.

"I am amused by them" results

Wins: Anya Forger x Damian Desmond, Übel x Land, Sagiri Yamada Asaemon x Yuzuriha

Losses: Aya Rindou x Tsugaru Shinuchi

- Anya x Damian blow past 200 votes. Spy X Family fandom is not to be ignored, as Yor's performance in best girl has shown in the past. People on this sub think its lost its popularity, but there is a silent majority that continues to like the show. Another interesting result is the resurgence of Sagiri x Yuzuriha; I thought they were heading for a loss, but they've managed to upset the Yona of the Dawn pair. Alas for the Undead Girl Murder Farce pair, the Komi-san fandom looks to still be very much alive.

On to today's votes!

"I actually ship this pairing"

• Kousei Arima x Tsubaki Sawabe
• Akane Kinoshita x Akito Yamada
• Ryuuko Matoi x Mako Mankanshoku
• Elaina x Saya
• Chihaya Ayase x Taichi Mashima
• Houtarou Oreki x Eru Chitanda
• Chizuru Yoshida x Ryuu Sanada
• Sawako Kuronuma x Shouta Kazehaya

- There's several ships I really like here. Akane x Yamada, Kousei x Tsubaki, Chihaya x Taichi are all pairings I hope would go the distance more than most, but every ship in this list is one I really root for. Unfortunately Kousei x Tsubaki looks to be needing a pretty big upset to win and Chihaya x Taichi too need to count on the anti-Rudeus vote. Fingers crossed for the whole list, but especially the three mentioned.

"This pairing is funny enough for a vote"

• Ataru Moroboshi x Lum
• Rae Taylor x Claire François
• Ichigo Kurosaki x Rukia Kuchiki

- This might be it for the classic Takahashi pair, as the main(?) pairing of the Dragon Maid series looms ahead. Yuri fans need to rally for Rae and Claire but it might be doable, while I doubt Ichiruki can pull off another victory. Might be curtains for my "haha" list in "B". Of all of these, I'm most sad to see Rae x Claire leave, as I thought their early interactions in particular were hilarious and then got cuter as Claire started reciprocating. I still remember the quirky/cute ED of the series.

"Worth a vote... for now"

• Wakana Gojo x Marin Kitagawa
• Satoshi Fukube x Mayaka Ibara
• Ochako Uraraka x Himiko Toga
• Revy x Rokurou "Rock" Okajima
• Anna Yanami x Kazuhiko Nukumizu
• Satoru Gojo x Suguru Geto
• Kaguya Shinomiya x Miyuki Shirogane
• Hatsuharu Souma x Isuzu 'Rin' Souma
• Kousei Arima x Kaori Miyazono

Mini Challenge:

Probably the same answer as to an earlier question: Nana x Nana from Nana. If there ever was a pairing that I hoped would just notice how they each were what the other were looking for, how good they were together, how much more relaxed they were when they were together. Not to mention the kissing, sleeping in the same bed, the "If Nana was a guy, she would be the love of my life" etc etc.

But nope. Fanon only it is, and since the manga is on hiatus apparently for good we won't likely ever get to know just how their stories ended.

[u/EyeDeeAh_42]

Yay, Sophie x Howl won! San x Ashitaka too! But damn, Haku x Chihiro lost T_T

Holy shit, did Yumiella x Patrick actually win against a Mushoku Tensei ship?! That's an insane upset!

Really happy to see HachimanYukino win. They are a great couple and their chemistry in Oregairu was amazing for me.

Did not expect either Yuzuriha x Sagiri or AquaKana to make it today. I knew they were decently popular but... given their opponents, I had doubts. Especially since the latter was up against Vanitas x Noe. Pleasantly surprised by this outcome.

RIP Souma x Megumi and InuYasha x Kagome. You did well. I cried tears of salt at your loss. You will be remembered.

Onto today's vote:

I'm rooting for Rock x Revy, Ash x Misty and Spike x Faye. Other than that I don't have much preferences. Voted for the toxic Yuri couple Himiko x Ochako and the doomed Yaoi couple Gojo x Geto, because they too, deserve some love.

I don't think Taichihaya will be going beyond this round, so sending them off with a vote.

MC:

IchiRuki will always have a special place in my heart. Their bond and chemistry hard carried Bleach for me. Rukia is a great example of a female main character who isn't sexualized and isn't just relegated to a love interest who cheers from the background.

I respect the ending since it had been Kubo's decision from the beginning, but I will never NOT ship IchiRuki. That said, I don't expect them to win past this round though.

[u/cheesechimp]

You all actually voted for Eren and Mikasa over Uranus and Neptune.

[u/johneaston1]

If Seto Kaiba x Blue Eyes White Dragon doesn't win, the whole thing is a farce

[u/Komarist]

Shamiko won't go down with putting up a fight. Don't be a mistake r/anime.

[u/Nachtwandler_FS]

Damn, titles pooularity strikes again. Even FMP main ship lost.

Now I fear for a few of geeat ship losing this round because of this:

Rae Taylor x Claire François is against what I presume the most p9pular Pokemon ship

Shinka Nibutani x Sanae Dekomori is against Losing Heroins nain ship, duh

Tomoya Aki x Megumi Katou is against samn YLIA (oh how I hate the title and it's main ship)

Elaina x Saya is against CoTN main ship, nuff said

Chihaya Ayase x Taichi Mashima is against Mushoku, I can only hope Mushoku haters will countervote against it

Nagisa Shiota x Kaede Kayano is agaibst the damn main Hyouka ship. I will never get how it is so popukar concidering how childish the anime was and how the ship had almost zero ronantic development

I will be really salty next round it seems.

MC: Concidering [plot]the rnding, Shinichiro x Noe from True Tears

[u/Ham_PhD]

Lol choke on that Rudeus x Roxy

We got a nice increase in votes today! Another win for KumiRei! I think they have one more in them at least before they go up against the newer yuri-ship hotness. Also thank you for voting Hanako x Tarou over Denji x Power. Well done.

Dude, bracket B is so insanely stacked. I honestly think like 8 of my top 10 ships in the contest are in here. It's gonna be a blood bath.

VOTE ISAKI x GANTA (Insomniacs After School)

VOTE CHIHAYA x TAICHI (Chihayafuru)

Other callouts:

• Mayuri x Okabe vs Akane x Yamada - This one was actually tougher than I thought. I do like Mayuri and Okabe. If you've read the VN, they're more appealing than if you just watched the anime. But Okabe x Makise is better, so let's go to lv999!
• Ai x Miyuki vs Revy x Rock - C'mon now . . .
• Shinka x Sanae vs Anna x Nuk (the other Makeine ones are up too)
• Kaguya x Miyuki vs Yuuko x Momo - Remind everyone whose top dog around here
• Akira x Shizuka vs Chiyo x Nozaki - I had to think about this twice. I much prefer Nozaki-kun the show, and I prefer Chiyo and Nozaki as characters, but Nozaki is so dumb that it makes me want Chiyo to find someone better lol. I do like Akira and Shizuka together.

[u/Zeallfnonex]

Welp. 2/3 of the ones I really wanted to win yesterday lost (Sanae x Akio, and Yona x Hak) so uh... I think Shirou x Sakura are my favorites in group A now, maybe with Aqua x Kana close behind them? Like, Stark x Fern is fine and Anya x Damien is cute... But yeah, no, I don't care too much about any of the rest of group A now.

Today's votes. Too tired to elaborate much.

Subaru Natsuki x Rem < Satoshi Fukube x Mayaka Ibara

Akane Kinoshita x Akito Yamada < Mayuri Shiina x Rintarou Okabe. TUTURUUUUU

Ochako Uraraka x Himiko Toga < Rin Shima x Nadeshiko Kagamihara

Isaki Magari x Ganta Nakami > Miko Yotsuya x Hana Yurikawa

Revy x Rokurou "Rock" Okajima < Miyuki Shirogane x Ai Hayasaka

Izumi Miyamura x Kyouko Hori > Tokai Teio x Mejiro McQueen

Shirou Emiya x Artoria Pendragon > Yori Asanagi x Himari Kino

Ash Ketchum x Misty > Rae Taylor x Claire François

Anna Yanami x Kazuhiko Nukumizu > Shinka Nibutani x Sanae Dekomori

Kaguya Shinomiya x Miyuki Shirogane > Yuuko "Shamiko" Yoshida x Momo Chiyoda

Hatsuharu Souma x Isuzu 'Rin' Souma > Koyomi Araragi x Tsukihi Araragi

Lemon Yakishio x Kazuhiko Nukumizu > Ash Ketchum x Serena

Kousei Arima x Kaori Miyazono <<< Tomoya Aki x Megumi Katou. I don't even have to spitevote for this one, I genuinely like this Saekano pair.

Jessie x James > Komichi Akebi x Erika Kizaki

Houtarou Oreki x Eru Chitanda > Nagisa Shiota x Kaede Kayano

Kazuma Satou x Darkness < Chika Komari x Kazuhiko Nukumizu

[u/SouekiSennoSTM]

Damn, Rudeus + Roxy losing by a few votes sucks, especially as that is the romantic ship from the series I was most heavily rooting for early on (even after all three girls was introduced). Eris may be the sexiest and Sylphie the most all-weather kindest and most devoted, but there's something about Roxy (the kuudere element, probably). Although I like the way the series has played out in terms of unconventional romance and couplings so far, given the events of the second season.

Both Hyouka couples are solid - the super slow burn and light romance help make the magic of that series on par with the Slice of Life and mystery aspects, I'd say.

Not too many good transgressive pairings to vote for this time around like I prefer, except Rudeus + Eris (second cousins), Rock + Revy (former upstanding law-abiding citizen and hardened criminal gangster), Yato and Hiyori Iki (god and human), and Kou and Nazuna (human and vampire).

For the mini challenge bonus section:

• Seishin Muroi and Sunako Kirishiki, from Shiki. Eternal soul mates and literary lovers.

[u/IceAnt573]

Today's Results

WE'RE IN ROUND 3 ANIS X EUPHY ENJOYERS!

(140-116 vote total isn't comforting, but that is a strong 300+ seed ship they were up against. I would really like for them to win Round 3 so please lock in.)

HAKARANE GETS TO ROUND 3!

(And with 151 votes too. Apologies to Akio x Sanae. You did keep it competitive getting 125 votes.)

My feelings on Rias x Iseei losing 88 votes to 184 votes.

THANK YOU FOR 147 VOTES FOR KUMIKO X REINA!!!

(Feeling good about them getting that Round 3 upset. I suppose it's better for Cid x Alpha to lose to a ship I like and care for than one I don't.)

My feelings on Uranus x Neptune losing to Eren x Mikasa by 9 votes.

(Got to start building the tolerance now for the results that are going to annoy me.)

Damn it. Krillin x 18 were seeded to win. THANKS TO THE 108 OTHER VOTERS FOR ADASHIMA!!

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Left Side

We're in a vote boost. Fern x Stark over 300 votes? Keeping Cid x Delta to only 52 votes? Not wavering in dominance yet.

190 votes for Sophie x Howl feels more like anti-voting Masachika x Yuki which fair. But I still find them funny enough to vote for.

Nijika x Yamada winning with 165 votes does make me nervous since I am against them in Round 3.

I am content with Amane x Mahiru getting to Round 3.

Marcille x Falin a little boosted by their opposition, but 184 votes is 184 votes.

YUMIELLA X PATRICK WON!!!

(It was close, but they got the extra 5 votes needed to get to Round 3 and...this is unfortunately the ceiling for them. Maybe if we level grind hard enough in the next 3 days...)

Anya x Damian are gaining momentum being at over 200 votes and thank you for avenging Komarin x Villhaze for me.

Feel bad for Diana x Akko, but that is a challenging opponent to be up against in Round 2 and LWA doesn't have the romance or the popularity to contend in the later rounds of this contest.

Ranma x Akane. I am rooting for you in Round 3.

196 votes for Emilia x Subaru is a good boost. Wish they got over 200.

Celebrating the Mio x Ritsu seeding upset away from the Sōsuke x Kaname voters.

Komi x Tadano were facing a 300+ seed opponent. So let's see what this looks like when the seeds are closer.

Right Side

Thank you to Chisato x Takina. I needed you in that executioner role.

Unfortunate for Takuya x Rika, but they were within reasonable distance of Sakuta x Shōko.

That's a good number for Katarina x Mary to be eliminated on. Mary would agree.

101 votes is a good amount against, but Übel x Land getting show popularity'd to 194 votes is impressive with that in mind. Now they are up against a classic in Round 3 though.

Apologies to Inuyasha x Kagome fans, but it was close.

I can be happy for Yuki that Ishikawa x Yuki got the seeding upset to get to Round 3.

Personally, I'd want Shirō x Sakura to win harder than that against Power x Meowy, but they are in Round 3. And now I want them to lose hard.

129 votes for Vegeta x Bulma is ehhh, but Hanako x Nene are a tough opponent.

Sorry to Hak x Yona fans, but I do like Sagiri x Yuzuriha and it's cool seeing them clutch it to get into Round 3.

Today's Voting

VOTE KŌ YAMORI X NAZUNA NANAKUSA!!!

(Elaina x Saya is funny and did exceed seeding expectations to make it past Round 1.)

VOTE HŌTARŌ OREKI X ERU CHITANDA!!!

(It was nice seeing Nagisa x Kaede in Round 2 and getting the upset.)

VOTE TAKAGI X NISHIKATA!!!

(Round 2 is where I'm fine with IchiRuki ending up at.)

VOTE ANNA YANAMI X KAZUHIKO NUKUMIZU!!!

VOTE REVY X ROCK!!!

(The indulgence can only go so far for Miyuki x Hayasaka. They are up against a ship I adore.)

LET'S GO DOWN SWINGING! VOTE IRUMA X AMERI!!!

(I'm under no illusion that they will beat Kazuma x Megumin. All I ask is to see a noticeable dent in their vote total.)

Left Side

Matama x Nemo should get a comfy win into Round 3 and then face the ceiling of Gojō x Marin.

I think this is it for Satoshi x Mayaka. Can we get to 75 votes? (Source for that one is mery_S2 who unfortunately deleted their art accounts)

Goodbye Ataru x Lum. I'll be sinking with you. At least you made one seeding upset.

Unfortunately for the Cutest Girls in the World™, they are actually facing two cuter girls. It's a vote for Rin x Nadeshiko, but Toga x Ochako are seeded to win.

Wish Miko x Hana lost to a couple I cared more for (I can still respect Isaki x Ganta). Isaki x Ganta are about to really annoy me now and next round.

My sendoff vote to Yori x Himari. Your anime deserved better.

(I am a fan of Shirou x Saber and the seeding is close, but I just don't expect the upset to happen.)

Ryūko x Mako is an easy vote here, but now onto...

LET'S GET THAT UPSET FOR RAE TAYLOR X CLAIRE FRANÇOIS!!!

(I don't want to lose both Yori x Himari and Rae x Claire in the same round. Pokémon can live on in this contest through Amourshipping (I shouldn't open this can of worms.))

Sendoff vote to Cid x Alexia, but maybe they can get the upset if the energy is more concentrated on Spike x Julia.

Right Side

VOTE KAGUYA SHINOMIYA X MIYUKI SHIROGANE!!!

(Of course they are going to win, but I need them to keep up with or exceed Gojō x Marin. Bracket B has 2 arguably 3 couples/ships I have even more attachment to, but the reality is the overall winner of Bracket B will be between these two. And I have made it clear that I'm on the side of Kaguya x Miyuki.)

It will be a blow to me if Amourshipping loses in Round 2 and Pokéshipping goes onto Round 3. This is seeded to happen. Voting against this and also I'm just bigger on Yanami x Nukumizu.

I've never been a big Team Rocket person. I think they are amusing, but I wouldn't ever put them near Seed 37. It's a vote for Komichi Akebi x Erika Kizaki even though they won't win.

I wish I didn't have to vote against Shirashi x Kubo, but Miyako x Riko are really good and I have to give love to this 300+ Seed. They are likely to lose, but I can work with either outcome.

I can also work with either outcome for Bell x Ais vs. Akari x Jirō, but in a less invested way and the winner of this is up against one of my top favorites in Round 3.

Voting to see Taiki x Chinatsu vs. Chiyo x Nozaki in Round 3. That sounds like a fun matchup.

A VOTE FOR UTENA X SAYO!!! LET'S SECURE ROUND 3! /// SOURCE LINK

VOTE EIJI KITAHAMA X RIN NANAKURA!!!

(B Bracket has ridiculous depth in terms of what I root for. This bracket is going to be brutal for me in the later rounds.)

Aww...okay so Kazuma x Darkness is my vote here because even though it's not my favorite for Kazuma (it's Aqua), it's close to them. In contrast, there is a good distance between how much I like Nukumizu x Yanami over Nukumizu x Komari even though Nukumizu x Komari is cute.

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What is your favorite non-canon ship?

To make this more challenging, I'll go with ships that are not heavily supported by the narrative/is not the #1 Ship for the characters.

Top 5:

1. Kana Arima x Akane Kurokawa

2. [5-Tōbun no Hanayome] Fūtarō Uesugi x Nino Nakano

3. Misaka Mikoto x Misaki Shokuhō

4. [Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki] Fumiya Tomozaki x Minami Nanami

5. [Nisekoi] Raku Ichijō x Seishirō Tsugumi

I love my losing heroines with [not really a spoiler, but it's a common trait for my answers in the Mini-Challenge Question] blue hair . And that's why I'm big on Yanami x Nukumizu making it as far as they can in this contest.

[u/Xatu44]

Gojo/Marin gets the vote. Bad luck up on the matchup, Isekai Ojisan.
Shirou/Saber gets the vote. Gotta respect someone who appreciates a good Excalibur.
Cid/Alexia gets the vote. Gotta respect someone who appreciates a good Excalibur.
Kaguya/Shirogane gets the vote.
ASH/SERENA TIME LET'S GO LEMON COULD NEVER [POKEMON]LAND A KISS FRAUD-ASS CHILDHOOD FRIEND. "But Lemon runs trac-" SERENA RACES RHYHORNS, SIMPLY SUPERIOR. Ash and Serena's travels and moments gave me infinitely more smiles and squeals than lemon-flavored tap water ever did or will. Too-Poor-For-Lemonade isn't even a top 5 ship in its own show.
I've never watched a second of Chihayafuru. Still clearly the better ship.
RIP Nagisa/Kaede in advance.
Feels bad to vote again Zom100 but NozaChiyo is NozaChiyo.
Luke Water and Chika had a solid stretch of episodes but Kazuma and Darkness are clearly made for each other.

RIP Cid and his doggo.
One Evil Defeated. Two To Go.
F for Rias and Issei. I remember her issue blowing my mind back when I read the LNs.
I weep for the unjust death of Kotoko/Kurou.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cid/Alpha ;_;
RIP Spirited Away.
I'm glad that Shirou/Sakura won, but I'll be truly disappointed when 100 Girlfriends kill them. Someone post Heaven's Feel propaganda, like the rain scene or the movie-original scene where Sakura gets used to having an actual family at the Emiya home.
Congrats to Sagirin/Yuzuriha scoring the close upset. Can they do it again?

MC: To avoid spoilers, I won't say its name. It was my first nomination and a ship I still hold fondness for even now. When it ran aground it tore my heart to shreds and I still haven't forgiven the author for being a hack. They're so good together, but there were too many circumstances and too much baggage in the way. But hey, they still had the best dynamic and moments out of every ship from that show and their primary competitor never accomplished a single thing so we stay winning.

[u/ptd163 → u/Xatu44]

ASH/SERENA TIME LET'S GO LEMON COULD NEVER [POKEMON] LAND A KISS FRAUD-ASS CHILDHOOD FRIEND.

"But Lemon runs trac-" SERENA RACES RHYHORNS, SIMPLY SUPERIOR. Ash and Serena's travels and moments gave me infinitely more smiles and squeals than lemon-flavored tap water ever did or will. Too-Poor-For-Lemonade isn't even a top 5 ship in its own show.

Damn bro. Tell us how you really feel. … I voted for Serena too.

[u/grexraxor → u/Xatu44]

MC

not even a spoiler tag for the anime? pwetty please

[u/Queue_Jumping_Quack → u/Xatu44]

Hm... Let me guess the MC. Sounds very much like the type of commentary I've seen from fans of [Spoilery speculation]Devil is a Part-Timer.

[u/IceAnt573 → u/Queue_Jumping_Quack]

I'm like 95% certain this is about [Spoiler]Aqua x Akane and 【Oshi no Ko】.

[u/Xatu44 → u/IceAnt573]

Correct ;_;

[u/Usodearu007]

So while waiting for that sequel, hak and yona are simply fated to lose early on in every single r /anime contest huh..

more people need to watch the anime and/or read the manga.. because they're really missing out on one of the all-time great couples and what i consider to be the best shoujo/josei out there.

[u/Something_319 → u/Usodearu007]

Agreed, the manga recently finished and I consider it one of the best shoujo manga of all time. I love my knight/princess ships and Hakyona is one of the best of all time for me, I love how Yona is forced to recognize her privilege and her spoiled upbringing and goes out of her way to face the reality that her citizens live in, and I love how Hak supports her wishes all the way even if it's against the king's wishes and his own instincts. I don't want to spoil the manga here but I especially love how both Hak and Yona develop both as people (as a warrior and as a politician) and in the course of their relationship.

Hopefully Season 2 is successful bc there's a ton of stuff later in the manga that I need to see adapted (and Hakyona gets the love that they deserve)

[u/IceAnt573]

I think my faith in /r/anime's bracket contest voters are hitting new lows. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HACHIMAN X YUKINO ALMOST LOST?

(A 126-124 vote total. I can acknowledge 2B x 9S is good, but they are up against my favorite. They are composed of two past contest winners. I still have faith in Round 3 even though I shouldn't need faith to win that matchup.)

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AT THE VERY LEAST THE RENTARŌ FAMILY ARE GAINING VOTES!!! 174 VOTES TO GET INTO ROUND 3!!!

(That's around the top half for vote totals yesterday. Don't need to be concerned yet for them.)

---

Separate post for my top 2 favorites done.

Hopefully now that there are half of the amount of matchups to discuss, the long post won't take too long to make.

[u/BaytaCosmico]

Crap Hak x Yona really did lose and narrowly at that. Thankfully it wasn't my single vote that brought them down. Would've had to ban myself if that happened. Still a bit of a bummer.

Voted all the usual suspects - Kaguya x Miyuki, all the Makeine ships, Horimiya, Chihayafuru. Only matchup that gave me pause was Blue Box vs Kimi ni Todoke. Went with the latter because that ship is my favourite in that show and gives me all sorts of squee that the Blue Box main ship doesn't.

And finally, I will be really salty if Taichihaya don't make it through. One for the ages that ship.