“It’s called a miracle because it has a chance of happening … right?” (image source: kabocha)

Wait, perhaps that is the wrong girl. For today. But that thought still stands. For this final stand.

Bounded Field “Boundary of Life and Death”

This is, beyond anything, Minori Kushieda standing at the precipice between success and failure in the International Saimoe League; for those who she has fallen before, and those who she has triumphed over, none matter more than the one standing before her.

“Don’t underestimate us! We don’t care about time or space or multi-dimensional whatevers. We don’t give a damn about that.”

Surely, it seems daunting.
Perhaps, it might be better to say that surely, it -seemed- daunting.

9 rounds ago, it was calculated that Minori needed to win 75% of her final 12 matches in order to clear the .500 bar that seemed so far away.

And now, with just three to go, it seems harder, in that she must be absolutely flawless in her final three in order to achieve a mere record of 32-31.

“Even messiahs need to perform miracles if they are to be acknowledged. Therefore, we have to produce our own miracle, don’t we?” (image source: takahara akiji)

But, it’s not impossible.

Minori’s final two opponents, whether I like them or not, have been performing rather poorly in ISML, so they should be fairly easy to clear.

Which means, that it really does just come down to this match.

“There is no such thing as a coincidence in this world. There is only the inevitable.”

I don’t know if a match between Minori and Sakura Kinomoto can be called something like ‘inevitable’ – maybe just the placing of this quote was inevitable – but it’s an inscrutable match in so many different ways, in that it’s nearly impossible to predict.

Of course, many fans will hold Sakura dear as the girl from their youths, whether in terms of physical youth or in terms of anime-fandom youth, and so asking them to vote for Minori is a tough choice.

Plus, Sakura and Minori are both girls of similar feather – while perhaps one may have a more complicated outlook than the other, on the exterior both of them are still very happy-go-lucky, confident, always-smiling girls that can’t help but warm your heart.

In the end, for me, it’s one that is influenced slightly by numbers, in that while Sakura and Minori, on the stage of ISML, are of equal caliber, Sakura is slightly above the .500 line, already with 32 wins, while Minori is slightly below, needing these 3 wins in these last 3 matches.

“But because the slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing … it can overthrow the emperor!” (image source: kyoku tou)

Maybe Sakura can’t be called an empress (even if a lot of us hold her to that esteem), nor Minori the slave, but definitely, Minori here, is the one who has had nothing all along, whether in the canon of Toradora or in the last 12 matches here, clawing for votes to stay afloat above the .500 line.

But, like in any gamble, it’s not hopeless.

That door of opportunity hasn’t shut yet for our genki girl. But it’s closing fast. She’s been trying to pry it open for the longest period of matches; accepting victory over Rena, attempting to overthrow Kagami, all the tough matches, the tough choices, all for that small chance of being able to achieve that milestone, that so many before her have fallen before.

Ami and Taiga are waiting on the bright side of .500. You won’t keep them waiting, will you?

One shot.
One goal.
One vote.

Will you help make it happen?

-CCY
(image source: mani)
(tip: click that last link to vote)