Aniplus Character Tournament 2018

Aniplus Character Tournament 2018 was the 6th edition of the annual mixed-gender tournament organized by South Korean anime distributor Aniplus, and ran from 2018 November 30 until the release of the final results on Dec 26.

Scehdule
All rounds begin and end at 16:00 KST (UTC+9). (07:00 UTC, 03:00 New York, 15:00 Beijing)


 * Qualifying R1 (All eligible anime): Nov 30 - Dec
 * Qualifying R2 (Top 312) : Dec
 * Qualifying R3 (Top 96) : Dec
 * Top 32: Dec
 * Top 16: Dec
 * Quarter-finals: Dec
 * Semi-finals: Dec
 * Final & 3rd place: Dec

All group match-ups are decided by lottery (i.e. drawn at random).

Round 1 / Qualified characters
Format:


 * All anime shows  distributed by Aniplus  and released within 2018 will be grouped by season. Theatrical releases, specials, and OVAs are combined together in a separate section.
 * Vote 3 characters from each anime
 * Top 3 from each anime will advance to next round

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Theatrical films, specials, & OVAs

Round 2
Format:


 * All qualified characters will be split into 24 groups of 12-13 members each (309 players total)
 * Vote 3 characters from each group
 * Top 4 will advance to next round

Part 1

Part 2

Round 3
Format:


 * 16 x 6 groups (96 players)
 * Vote 2 characters per group
 * Top 2 will advance to next round

Part 1

Part 2

Top 32
Format:


 * Contestants are split into 8 groups of 4 members each
 * Vote 2 contestants per group
 * Top 2 advance to next round
 * Although the Namu wiki describes Aketo's finals format as "similar to FIFA World Cup", Aketo does not use single-round robin in its groups, which is an important part in the soccer tournament.

Top 16
Format:


 * 4x4 groups
 * Vote 1 contestant per group
 * Top 2 advance to Elite Eight

Elite Eight
Single-elimination bracket.


 * Bracket order: A1-B2, C1-D2, B1-A2, D1-C2
 * Semi-final losers will play a consolation match to decide who gets third place