Ulti's Analysis[]
This match was never going to be in doubt, but that was not the purpose of this match. Sora's entire job in this match was proving he was worthy of a 1 seed and was capable of beating Pokemon Trainer Red in a highly pro-Nintendo contest. He failed, spectacularly, on both counts right off the bat.
Ryo Hazuki is pretty much a step up from bottom of the barrel sludge. He's the last good drop or two in the barrel before you hit the indigestible cesspit, meaning he'll never be at the bottom in strength, but he always comes really close. This is a guy whose only win is against Guybrush Threepwood, an all time useless piece of trash comparable to Dirk the Daring. This guy let Dante and Yoshi separately almost get 80% on him, and is so irrelevant he's only made 4 of the 10 character battles -- none since 2004 and he only made this one to pad out the roster. He's fodder. No other way to put it. I will say however that his fanbase is awesome. You can tell they legit just love the dude, and never try to force an opinion on anyone. Persona fans, Deus Ex fans, and Shantae fans could do well to learn from Shenmue fans.
Sora couldn't even break 70% on the guy. We've seen a similar omen from a bad 1 seed before against Ryo. Remember this turd of a match? https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/976-east-division-round-2-lara-croft-vs-ryo-hazuki
We've seen this story from Sora before. In 2006, Sora was a 1 seed. He underperformed against Tingle and Gordon Freeman before getting demolished by Mega Man. In 2010, Sora was a 1 seed. He underperformed against Midna and Laharl before getting demolished by Bowser. And then 2018 happens, which we'll get to next round. There were some turds laid as a 2 seed in there, too.
Sora is always able to get high seeding, but he never does anything with it. Did you know Sora has never won a division with all these high seeds he always gets? Not once. The closest he came was when he came 500 votes short in the Rivalry Rumble. I'd love to call 2013 a close call, but failing to advance in a poll against Pikachu and a Pokemon Trainer is just an embarrassment. I don't care how close that poll actually was. Sora should have steamrolled it. Crono lost early and that division was right there. He still couldn't get the job done.
But hey, congrats on getting 69% against Ryo Hazuki in your one win as a 1 seed this year. And I know I'm being hard on the guy, but when you regularly get high seeds, you are held to that standard.
Lightning Strikes' Analysis[]
What happened?: This is probably the most interesting 1/16 match so far. Square has been consistently underperforming (almost, more on that tomorrow) throughout this contest but KH has always been fairly separate. The two series in question here are in very similar situations (Allen likely knew what he was doing on this one) After being dormant for a long time KH hype is starting to gear back up with the rereleases and III finally, finally, being only a couple of months away. Ryo was near ultra-fodder in the early contests then vanished. However, since then Shenmue 3 got a very high profile announcement and is releasing next year, with the first two games getting a rerelease on modern systems just recently. So Ryo may be much stronger. For reference, in 2004 Sora would have gotten 78% in this match, and 2013 Sora would have gotten 81%. And Sora did come sprinting out the gate with nearly 72%, but then that gradually declined to 69%. Sora looked a lot like Pokemon characters here, and that speaks to how the new start time has suppressed the day vote, instead making the traditional "day" characters very front loaded. Ryo didn't look like trash here, but then Sora didn't exactly impress.
What could this mean?: Either Kingdom Hearts has weakened as the wait for III has become more and more of a joke, or Shenmue has strengthened significantly. In this case, it's most likely both. A reasonable performance for Sora would have been near a tripling, but I just can't see Ryo making up 12% on Sora from Shenmue 3 hype and 1/2 HD. This was a fairly poor performance from Sora and he't looking great to take the division. Then again who is?
Safer777's Analysis[]
KH 3 boost confirmed! Yeah sure. Sora always does good againts weak opponents but man he hasn't a victory against a strong opponent. As for Ryo he is here because of the upcoming title as the time of writing called Shenmue 3. Shenmue games were amazing back in the day but they didn't good financially. Anyways for here to Sora not even break 70% I consider it a bad result. Should there be a KH 3 boost or something? It was coming soon as the time on the writing. I believe at least he should have done better. Or is Shenmue 3 hype boost too? Don't know.
But man Sora did good in the start of the contests but after that he get's his ass kicked. But he is always a high seed. Don't understand why. Also he has never won a division too! Seriously? I guess when KH 3 comes he will finally be able to do it? Also his prediction percentages are always high. Guess people expect him always to do good but he never does!
Tsunami's Analysis[]
Is there any bigger contest underachiever than Sora? Let's ignore Rivalry Rumble, because it doesn't count. Without looking, name the last time that Sora didn't have the absolute highest seed possible. A 2-seed in 2013, because the 1-seeds were prereserved for the Noble Nine, or a 1-seed otherwise.
Remember, there were no seeds in the fourway contests.
It was 2005. He was indeed a 2 in 2013, and a 1 in 2006, 2010, and 2018.
Now remember that all nine Noble Niners were in the main field in 2010, and there were indeed 4 Noble Niners in the male half of the 2006 bracket.
He wasn't the only one in this match with a long-awaited "3", but Shenmue has always been cult and this is not how a 1-seed should perform.