[Poll] Senbatsu Election VS Janken Tournament

[SomethingWild]

In short:
- Senbatsu Election: fans vote for the girls and the top 40 is featured on the single
- Janken Tournament: the member line-up is decided by chance through playing rock-paper-scissors

Two ways of deciding the member line-up for a single, but which do you prefer?
More importantly, why? Please explain your reasons. 

[boykun]

I prefer the Janken Tournament simply because it is much less predictable. The Election has a few surprises, but in the end we can all expect who would take the top spots. Tournament is completely random. Plus, it is set up to give underdogs advantage, which is all fine with me because I love me my underdogs.

Although I think to make it better, it should be changed from the whole tournament being best of one to best of three until the round of 8, which would be best of five, then best of seven for the finals. Should make for some ssiiiiiiick matches

[LonelySoldier]

I prefer Janken over Sousenkyo... although in Sousenkyo, I'm having some fun predicting lineups for Undergirls and backrow senbatsu...

As for Janken, of course because I want some new flavour to the senbatsu lineup, especially from the the underrated ones. I'm an UnderKnight, after all...

I agree with what boykun said above. They should add more tense to the matches... :

[moekare]

I hate senbatsu sousenkyo and janken taikai.. 

but I think janken is fair.....

[SomethingWild]

I love the senbatsu election. It's exciting and some people can take it super seriously, which is entertaining.

[natme]

Assuming both are not rigged, I prefer the Janken Tournament since it gives everyone an equal opportunity to be featured, and helps the lesser known members become noticed.

Senbatsu is great since the "some" of the fans get what they want, but I view it as a thing where the largest fan base (not necessarily the majority) always wins type thing. It is almost always the same members that are chosen, and it is really hard for new members to be noticed. I also doubt that the overall fan base of AKB48 consider the top 5 consistently chosen members to be their favorite. It's just that with so many members, only having say 20% of the support can be considered a blowout since everyone else only has ~5% each, but that 20% is clearly in the minority.

[sakura_drop_]

I love Senbatsu a lot, because my Yuko-sama, Rena-sama, and Yukirin are going higher and higher every year 

But I voted for Janken, as it's more fair that way, nee? 

[XD_Monster_XD]

I chose Senbatsu election because it is so much better
forgot to mention but my oshi lost both her first round in janken 

And I love Senbatsu talk because everyone always gets hyped and I like seeing it. It's always so fun, this year will be my first time seeing the election
but I know it's fun!! Theres always some surprises so I'm sure this year there will be a surprise... Maybe my oshi comes first?

[hibachifinal]

I have no issues with the method itself, the janken tournement, But I would prefer it more if the single it is associated with was not released during the holiday/end of the year season. This timing, based from previous years, seems terrible because its kind of like they themselves force this filler mid-season release just for the sake of it, unlike say, the obviously more major and well planned Q2 / Summer releases. The main reason though is that there seems to be lackluster promotion efforts on releases during this time. The winners of the janken tourney didn't get as much coverage and publicity because of the somewhat smaller and unfriendly time frame. By the time the janken single comes out, everyone is already looking forward, rather, paying more attention to the following year's shenanigans. Maybe if they shift around to make the Q3/earlier single the Janken tourney single, it might have more lasting impact, equally for the fans, and the girls that end up in the Janken senbatsu.

As for the Election way, at this point, i think it is fair to say that it is somewhat "brutal". There is now an 'established' chunk of members that will obviously fill the initial 12-16 spots. Sure, there may be one-or-two yearly wildcards/breakouts who shoot up ranks out of nowhere within the year, but ultimately they might end up fighting for those last few spaces. As many say, it's really in Undergirls spots where battles happen. The voting seems to be pointless at this time, considering AKB's popularity, and the popularity of very specific girls. Even if you're a fan of these top girls, which i myself am, it's hard now to be convinced that voting will drastically freshen up the usual senbatsu. For the most part its all good though, popular girls are in place, a greater quantity of fans are happier. But you have to wonder how brutal it must be for the rest of the girls in AKB, who just know they won't ever end up in senbatsu as consistent as others, even with fan support like elections.

Doesn't really matter which though, just as long as my favorites end up doing SOMETHING

[winner]

Senbatsu. Sure the top spots are normally the same few girls, with Acchan and Yuko taking turns for #1. but there's always a few surprises.

And its strangely created the best sub-group in AKB. Undergirls!
They always seem to be awesome.

[yukofan]

i prefer senbatsu election..knowing who's member that gain popularity and member whose popularity decreasing..

[Pwoper48]

Janken tournament. It's more fair and..... Yeah, member's fate is on their own hand. They'll only fight with themselves not with our help.

Not saying that Sousenkyo is bad, but yeah, Janken is more interesting to see

[korisunyan]

I prefer Janken, senbatsu sousenkyo every year is the same in every ranking, almost all in the same positions, the same things in senbatsu and unders.
With Janken is a chance for those who have never participated in a senbatsu, take your time.
As in Chance no Junban was time for Sato Sumire, Tanabe Miku, Chikano Rina, Ishida Haruka, Uchida Mayumi, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Matsui Sakiko...

and also the chance of "forgotten" like Kobayashi Kana, Sato Natsuki...

i hate my translator

[Sasshii]

I prefer Janken. Janken's a bit more fair and it allows some of the lesser known members to get their time to shine, even if it's just for one single.   

Sure the Senbatsu elections are a little bit more exciting, but at times it can be a little predictable about who's going to get the top spot. Also, I can't help but feel bad for some of the girls, like Natsumii who don't get chosen. It must be tough watching all your friends and teammates get ranked while you're just watching them from the side.

Well, I'm not complaining either way. Mayuyu is pretty popular so even if she doesn't win in Janken, I still get to see her in the Senbatsu singles.