Now that theofficial DualShockers GOTY 2020 results have been published, we Weebs/Otaku/Nerds/Whatever appellation floats your Nice Boat, still have one more battlefield we must face, a Saimoe to decide the Best Girl and Best Boy of 2020 in Japanese games. However this is a high-level, special Saimoe vote, geared towards those built different, where we will be discussing two of the best elements of Japanese-stylized chara design: DualShockers presents Saimoe GOTY 2020 Special - Best Girl THICC Eyebrows And Best Boy Armpits Glimpse Popularity Poll - Dream Match.Long story short, through a Saimoe reader’s vote, you can elect the Best Girl THICC Eyebrows and Best Boy Armpits Glimpse of 2020. You can vote through the comments, through a google form, or through Twitter polls. We’ll have the Twitter polls in Japanese as well, so even the weebest who only allows their eyes to set upon the legendary language, along with our Japanese peers, will be able to vote.Click here to vote.As you can see, four characters in each award have been nominated through a rigorous nomination process. We’ve detailed the characters further below.Moe is a word that became popularized in 90s and early 2000s in Japan. It basically describes all types of love you feel for 2D/anime stylized characters as an otaku, though the word is used differently depending on the person. Saimoe was a popular early 2000s fan-organized poll on Japanese message boards. Each year, anime fans would vote for Saimoe to determine the saimoe, or “most moe” characters, with various subcategories and rankings. Multiple English versions of Saimoe launched in the 2000s, some of which are still ongoing like International Saimoe League.
Moreover, note that we purposefully aren’t calling the characters “waifus” and “husbandos” here.
Those two words lost their meanings over the years, and are now simply used to designate any female/male character. Like, when a new game comes out with its characters, and everyone goes “Check out the new waifus”. Initially, your waifu and/or husbando meant the characters you loved the most, ever, not the first cute or cool character you came across. Nowadays in Japan, the word “Oshi” has replaced waifu/husbando when mentioning your favorite characters, but the concept never went away. We’re not joking around here and highly respect etymology and history. Don’t make me repeat myself, Saimoe is Serious. Fucking. Business.
Last but not least, we’ve included comments on the seiyuu of each of the characters. As voice acting is an incredibly important element when it comes to loving Japanese stylized/2D characters. Anyways, here are the nominations.
DualShockers Saimoe GOTY 2020 Special - Best Girl THICC Eyebrows Award Nominations
Called 太ç in Japanese, futomayu or THICC eyebrows are a common characteristic in anime. Though relatively unpopular when compared to other elements. We’ve been blessed with a handful of Best Girl THICC eyebrows last year. However, now that 2020 ended, There Can Be Only One. Here are the four characters nominated for the Best Girl THICC Eyebrows Award.
Breath of the WildZelda -Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Breath of the WildZelda is one of the cutest Zelda in series history, all thanks to her THICC eyebrows. This pair of eyebrows is the real reason whyHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitybecame the highest sellingMusouof all time so fast.With 3 million copies. Moreover, Zelda’s eyebrows are the reason why theBOTWsequelwill definitely be a masterpiece. Let’s hope we’ll get to see them in 2021.
Seiyuu point:BOTWZelda is voiced by Yu Shimamura. She also voicedSkyward SwordZelda, and did several princess roles in the past: Aida inGundam G no Reconguista, and Haruno Haruka inGo! Princess Pretty Cure.Yu Shimamura’s voice has a royal feel to it, a perfect match for royal THICC eyebrows.
Medina Orthinanos - Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris
Sword Art Online Alicization Lycorisis the biggest rival ofCyberpunk 2077. When it comes tobuggy 2020 launches that is. However, the firstSword Art Onlineconsole game to adapt part of the longAlicizationarc still had an incredibly strong selling point at launch: its original character Medina and her THICC eyebrows. Producer Yousuke Futami is the one who decidedMedina’s chara design, and to give her THICC eyebrows. Be sure to giveFutamiP a follow on Twitter. Over the months after release, he kept doing his best to fix the game. Despite the incredibly harsh comments he kept receiving on Twitter, he never quit either. I’m sure most would have downright closed down their Twitter if they found themselves in a similar situation. However, FutamiP like Souther inHokuto no Ken, didn’t give up or retreat. A true defender of THICC eyebrows.
Seiyuu point:Medina Orthinanos is voiced by Miho Okasaki. She’s a relatively new seiyuu and only did a handful of main roles so far. She was most notably Rimuru inTenSura. One thing sure though, by voicing a character with THICC eyebrows as good as Medina’s, Miho Okasaki’s future career looks bright.
Sam -Â N1RV Ann-A
Sukeban Games, the developer of the best Cyberpunk game of these past few years,VA-11 Hall-A, is currently working on a sequel titledN1RV Ann-A. The protagonist, Sam, has a beautiful pair of long, flat, and yet THICC eyebrows. Flat, but THICC. It’s very important. Sam is also a mom, and the game will be about relationships, among other things.
While we don’t know much aboutN1RV Ann-Aor when it’ll release, we do know Sukeban Games has been going through hard times. Drop some thoughts and prayers for the developers.Wishlist the game on Steam as a demo will come around at some point. And thank Sukeban Games for understanding the greatness of anime girls with THICC eyebrows. Sukeban Games might not be based in Japan, it’s a Japanese studio thorough. Lastly, note that Sam still counts as a 2020 character.N1RV Ann-Awas first scheduled for 2020 on Switch, PS4, Steam, before its delay. As such, the THICC anime eyebrows committee decided Sam is still eligible. These meetings ares super secret, online only, voice only, and we only discuss THICC eyebrows while Gendoposing.
Seiyuu point:None, as Sukeban Games works aren’t voiced.
Xiangling - Genshin Impact
While technically made by miHoYo, a studio born in Shangai,Genshin Impact(PC,PS4,PS5, Mobile,SwitchTBD)is apure Japanese game. Its developers perfectly understood otaku culture. And the best example which proves this are the beautiful, small but THICC eyebrows of Xiangling. Small but THICC eyebrows is the most popular sub-category of THICC eyebrows. The most popular example of the last decade being Mugi fromK-on(pronounced “Kei-on”).
Seiyuu point:Xiangling is voiced by Ari Ozawa, a relatively new seiyuu. One of her first main roles was Chiyo Sakura, the protagonist ofGekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Ari Ozawa does a great job at voicing Xiangling and her work greatly contributes to the character’s charisma.
DualShockers Saimoe GOTY 2020 Special - Best Boy Armpits Glimpse Award Nominations
è ãã©ç·å - Wakichira danshi, anime boys showing glimpse of their armpits, was also a theme of 2020, with some pretty good representatives released this year. Note that we’re talking about glimpses here. This means characters who are half-naked or clearly always expose their armpits don’t qualify. Sleeveless and tank-top wearing characters are fine, however. It’s all about subtlety and Chirarism.
Zagreus - Hades
Hadesis definitely a Japanese game seeing you WILL fall in love with the characters as you play. A classic characteristic of remarkable Japanese games. As such, Zagreus passed our rigorous selection for our Saimoe GOTY 2020 Special. Supergiant games knew what it was doing, and it did it well. Beautiful armpits, refined through two years of Early Access. Moreover, this is also the real reason why some players take so much time picking their Boons. It’s not the Boons we’re looking at.
Seiyuu point:Needless to say,Hadesonly has an English dub. However, the voice actor of Zagreus, Darren Korb, did an awesome job. The voice-overs inHadesare so good it has the same qualities as a Japanese dub.
Hawkeye - Trials of Mana
Trials of Manais both a good and a badremake, in how it’s way too faithful when it comes to its script and screenplay. Back on SNES, we could use our imagination to fill in the blanks. Now that the game is in full 3D, it’s awkward to see absolutely no direction during the cutscenes. However, there is one thing we could only imagine for 25 years and we can finally get glimpses of now. And that is armpits. With Hawkeye sporting the best armpit Chirarism in the game. Compared to Duran and Kevin, who are always half naked.
Seiyuu point:Hawkeye is voiced by Yuuki Ono, a veteran seiyuu. He starred in multiple popular series: Gran and Lancelot inGranblue Fantasy, Josuke inJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, Kyosuke Kiryu inYugioh 5D’s, Zenkichi inMedaka Box, and Taiga Kagami inKuroko no Basuke.Yuuki Ono also voiced Chatelard, the dark-skinned bishie knight inYs IX: Monstrum Nox, coming February 2 in America on PS4.
Cloud - Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remakeis the other remake on this list. However, when it comes to Cloud, we had plenty of occasions to catch glimpses of his armpits withFinal Fantasy VII Advent Children orSuper Smash Bros. Square Enix always knew what the players wanted, and it delivered. You know how Cloud, in theRemake, always takes his battle stance at the end of an event cutscene leading to a fight? The way he lifts his sword, the camera pan, and how you may catch glimpses of his right armpit that way? That’s by far one of the best parts of theRemake. Tetsuya Nomura knew.
Seiyuu point:Cloud is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, a decades-long veteran, one of the most popular seiyuu of all time. And the most popular seiyuu on this list by far. Takahiro Sakurai voiced Suzaku inCode Geass, Crow in theKiseki/ Trailsseries. Or Makishima inPsycho-Pass. InFire EmblemHeroes, Takahiro Sakurai is also the voice of Julius fromFire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War / FE4. Which makes anyFEfan and otaku salivate at the idea of a full-voiced remake ofFE4. Don’t disappoint us Nintendo, announce that remake as the nextEchoesin 2021. Sakurai is also the current voice of Shiryu inSaint Seiya, and of Griffith inBerserk. That ice-cold and cool voice of his just fits perfectly with those ice-cold looking armpits of Cloud.
Xiao - Genshin Impact
As we previously explained, miHoYo has an elevated understanding of otaku culture and how to make beloved characters. As such, obviouslyGenshin Impactended up nominated in both the Best Girl THICC Eyebrows and Best Boy Armpits Glimpse Awards of our Saimoe 2020 special. Moreover, among boys armpits glimpse lovers playingGenshin Impact, Xiao is also known as the å¹»æ³è ãã© - Illusion Armpits. Because while he appears in the main story, Xiao isn’t playable yet. Players could use Xiao in some of the pre-release Beta Tests, but he’s only been teased to launch in February 2021 with Version 1.3. In short, there are only a few, missable occasions to catch glimpses of Xiao’s armpits at the moment. That’s why YouTubers keep uploading Xiao gameplay videos from old Beta Tests. As no one can resist Xiao’s armpits.
Seiyuu point:Xiao is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, best known for voicing Kirito inSAO,and protagonist-of-every-recent harem-anime-adaptation-by-a-production-committee-looking-to-advertise-the-original-novel-or-manga. A good example isThe Quintessential Quintuplets, which is getting a PS4, Switch adaptation in 2021.
There you have it. The nominations for our Saimoe GOTY 2020 Special - Best Girl THICC Eyebrows And Best Boy Armpits Glimpse Popularity Poll - Dream Match. Stay tuned as the results will be published soon.If you missed the link earlier, you can vote here.
