Today we’re announcing Round Three of March Japan-ness with another face-off between the (seriously surprising) victors from the previous round. Our Elite Eight lineup appears in the chart below. Make sure you vote in all four polls!

Ramen vs Okonomiyaki
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Hayao Miyazaki vs Onigiri
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Ramen: Mama Mia, what an upset! Nintendo, the franchise of nostalgia completely succumbed to… a bowl of soup. Those are some mighty powerful noodles. |
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Hayao Miyazaki: You all must know something about Miyazaki’s combat prowess that we don’t, because it looks like Ninjas didn’t even put up a fight. The way Miyazaki is just powering through these rounds, I wouldn’t be surprised if he releases another film before this competition is over. |
Okonomiyaki: I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the most iconic image Japan has to offer, a literal mountain, was defeated by a pancake. It’s not even a national dish! Like I don’t?? understand??? |
Onigiri: Was everyone just really hungry when they voted last week? Food items have taken 3 of the 4 slots from Regions 1 and 2 to enter the new round. Maybe before you vote today, go eat a sandwich first. Restore your objectivity. You’re not you when you’re hungry. |
Pokemon vs Samurai
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Ukiyoe vs Onsen
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Pokemon: Collecting all the Pokemon leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. Collecting all the plates from an evening of kaitenzushi leaves you with indigestion and immediate regret. No surprise who the winner was there. |
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Ukiyo-e: In the time honored tradition of pitting anything classic against its modern equivalent, tradition tallied another victory today. In the end the flying boy was no match for the floating world. |
Samurai: Poor Matcha, you may be good for us, but we certainly weren’t good to you. Samurai won the last round by nearly two times the votes; let’s see how they match up against the equally dominating Pokemon. |
Onsen: Onsen has just been steaming through the competition thus far, managing to remain buoyant in a pool of fickle voters. It’s looking pretty hot right now, but will Onsen’s seemingly bottomless popularity cool off in the face of an opponent like Ukiyoe? |