Tsundere Taiga Aisaka of Fall 2008's Toradora has crushed dojikko Yui Hirasawa in the finals of Saimoe 2009. Congratulations to Taiga and condolences to all those who didn't make it as far...

The news made its rounds early this morning as the final thread of Saimoe 2009 came to a deafening close. When all was said and done, Taiga rose from the ashes to become victress, topping Yui by a meager 54 votes and cementing her title as Saimoe championess for ages to come.

Lest we forget, it took much effort to arrive at this zenith. In the beginning, Mio Akiyama's premature and wholly unexpected defeat left K-ON! fans griping. No sooner had they comforted their loss than were they met with another scar when Tsumugi, Ui, and Ritsu were also stricken from the boards. Yui's almost messianic ascendancy lead her to the finals despite the state of her fallen tea-time comrades. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough to secure a win against Taiga, who had been silently pillaging her opponents until the finals when her true strength was made known.

Interestingly enough, every-single-Saki-character-lost. I had been rooting for Nodoka in the finals but the penultimate match between Taiga and her left me numb and bereft of where or if I should redirect my votes. I decided Taiga was the fitting vehicle in which to place my trust, having already defeated mai waifu. I hold no grudge though. Both Yui and Taiga's moe is palpable and either would have made a fitting championess. I'd like to thanks pKJD and moetron.com for the always excellent Saimoe coverage. Looking forward to 2010!