God... where do I begin? What an amazing event. Seeing this live was truly awesome. MAD props to AKB48 management for deciding to stream this to the world. I feel so connected to AKB48 and company right now in a way I've never felt before. Being able to witness this event in this way was insanely awesome.
Incoming wall-of-text. Bear with me.
-The first edge of my seat moment for me was hearing Nakanishi Yuka's name. For her to make it even if just barely, was so well deserved and awesome. I still remember her impressive kenkyuusei days with AKB48. She deserves to be there.
-Fuck yeah Miki! Another well-deserved SKE member gets in!
-Maachun!!!!! I knew more NMB members would get in, but I wasn't too sure about her. Was thrilled to hear her name.
-Was happy to see Moeno's name.
-Suzuran ranked WAY lower than I expected. I thought for sure she's be at least top 25.
-Kikuchi Ayaka makes it. Awesome!
-Huge upset for Future Girls with Muto Tomo taking the top spot of that group. I definitely didn't see it coming, but good for her!
-Haachan gets lucky 48! AWESOME!
-I'm surprised that of all the HKT48 girls to rank, it's Miyawaki Sakura! I thought it would be Kodama Haruka or Matsuoka Natsumi for sure. I'm happy for her though, she's a cutie and pretty good from what I've seen of her on random TV appearances!
-Nana and Ainyan making it into Next Girls is awesome. Nana is just pure sexy awesome fun, and Ainyan is so fun and engaging both on stage and, from what I hear, at events to the fans. Very cool.
-Tano Yuka is pretty cool, glad she's in too!
-Aamin, thrilled to hear your name!
-Matsumura Kaori's hard work FINALLY pays off. BBQ getting #2 in next girls is a HUGE win and I hope this is the final straw for her getting promoted into a team.
Just fucking do it, AkiP. She's been around so long and never gave up, she deserves it ten times over. Thank God the Google+ project happened, if for no other reason, so that this amazing girl didn't go unnoticed by the general fandom.
-Wasamin getting center in Next Girls is great. I hope this will convey to her that she does have value as an idol. I've always been a little nervous that she might graduate to fully focus on Enka. I think she should do that eventually, but stay with us a bit longer, girl. <3
-SKE48 dominating the Under Girls was easily the most exciting part of the election for me. Hearing that announcer say "SKE48" over and
over and
over again was simply fantastic. SKE48 is such a fun, charismatic group and I'm glad fans have taken to them so much this year. It's great. Awesome to see Airin in there. Akarin really can smile through anything, such a sweet girl. Kuumin making a huge comeback! Love it. And of course... you know where I'm going next.
-Hata Sawako. As she walked up to stage, and every time I saw her after, she was smiling in a way I've never seen her smile before. I'm not even sure how to describe it but it moves me emotionally even now to think about it. It was like, it finally clicked in her head that people support her and it seemed to make her
so happy. It was really a magical moment for me, as her fan. It's something I won't ever forget, and I'm glad to be a part of making that happen. And her speech was just... so precious. What a woman.
-And right above her, another girl I love dearly, the one and only Churi. Terrific!
-Very cool to see Milky and Sayaka rank closely together. First of all, I have to say it: Milky is hot. Milky is always hot. Milky was
especially hot tonight. I really liked her speech and attitude about ranking. I knew she would make it this time, but it still thrilled me. Same for Sayanee, what a great captain! <3 NMB48 really is fantastic. Glad their representation is risen and increased in number.
-Akicha getting center of undergirls would have been a lot cooler if she acted happy about it. I'm not sure if she was pissed or just on emotional autopilot at the time, but she didn't seem enthusiastic. And her speech was kind of... weird. And pretty much every other time we saw her, she just looked blank. I'm not sure what to really make of it, but good for her.
-Umechan made it to senabtsu! Woohoo!! She more than deserves it, awesome surprise.
-Yui was about where I expected here, in all honesty. She's popular no doubt, but I think her super hype has kinda settled down.
-Good to see Miichan in about the same spot. She's awesome.
-Same for Rie. I was worried she'd lose major ground, so I'm glad she kept lucky thirteen.
-Look at Kasai gaining some ground this year! I'm happy to see it. She's sexy and stuff.
-Sae seems to be another unshakeable pillar. Deservingly so.
-Rena keeping #10 is cool. And her vote count did get an impressive boost. Nothing to be sad about here.
-Look who's back... Back again... Jurina's back... tell a friend. It doesn't really hurt me that she beat Rena, but I will openly say I prefer Rena being the top SKE girl in this election. That being said, there's nothing wrong at all with Jurina, I love her a lot. She seemed thrilled with her spot and I'm thrilled for her. But still, there was just something about Rena being top SKE that I liked. Oh well, no big deal to me. Sorry Barrie!
Also, her number spike was HUUUUUUGE! I wonder what contributed to such a power up. Very impressive.
-Tomochin didn't really change rank or vote count, only 80 vote difference from last year. I'm a bit surprised her momentum didn't really change, but hey, she's still #8, good for her.
-Kojima dropped a spot but did get some more votes this year. Not bad. She's a power house and not going anywhere.
-Takamina gained quite a few votes and went up one spot, and it's more than deserved. She's the glue holding AKB48 together. She deserves to be up there. Way to go, Takamina!
-Mariko remaining in the top five is no surprise whatsoever. She has a very loyal following and I don't see that ever changing. Also, she had one of if not the best speech in the show. I like how she was all "come at me sis" to all the younger members. It's cool that she's willing to accept their challenge and motivate them in that way. Very awesome. Sasuga Mariko-sama.
-Sasshi fucking did it!
YES!!! Not only did she get in the top five, but she secured the fourth position! I was really hoping she would somehow pull off number three, but that really was just a silly fanboy dream.
Nonetheless, that HUGE jump in votes is incredible. Over 22,000 more votes this year for Sasshi! As far as I'm concerned, the Hetare Revolution was a huge success. Way to go, Sashiko!
-Yukirin at number 3... you know what, I'm surprised. I thought she'd stay under Yuko. But hey, it is what it is. She lost about 3000 votes and that small loss of traction was just enough to let Mayuyu sneak above her. I really don't know what to say about it other than it was a real surprise. I'm not sad, though. Third place out of 237 girls? I've said this southern expression several times today, but those aren't small potatoes.
Yukirin's great, and this result is still great.
-Mayuyu did it. I'm happy for her. She is a great idol and she's been doing an amazing job in Warota, Majisuka Gakuen 2, Sabadol, her gravure shoots, her solo debut, and everything else this past year. I'm also happy that she seems to have finally found the balance of being ambitious without sounding ungrateful. I really liked her speech. Good job, Mayuyu. Show us the power of your oshiri and other talent!
-Yuko getting #1, zero surprise. She deserves it 100%. Professional speech, as always. Acchan's arrival was a fun not-much-of-a-surprise.
I'm really happy about it. Last time she was center AKB48 dished out one of my favorite A-sides, so it'll be a lot of fun. It was interesting to see that she did lose votes. A
lot of votes. I think it does show that post-Acchan AKB48 is not set in stone. I think it'll be a while before the ground is rocked in a major way, but it is quite possible. I think it's a good thing. A little uncertainty generates hype and interest, which means our beloved group will be around longer.
So... whew.
What an event overall. Watching it live was a million times more fun and enthralling than I thought it would be. Waking up at 3AM with only a few hours of power nap behind me, I didn't know if I'd make it, but from the time I heard Nakanishi Yuka's name to the very end, I was nothing but immersed. Was not bored for a single damn second. Again, I am just so so grateful to AKB48's management for doing this. What a thrill ride. So glad I made it up to watch it.
And maybe the most badass part of it all was our watch party. MAJOR success, dudes! We had SO MANY PEOPLE show up!!
I think we really showed what the AKBar is capable of today. Major fun and insanity in the chat while we all gasped, laughed, and cheered together. I had an amazing time and I hope everyone else did, too. It gave me a much needed energy boost for the fandom and even the hobby itself. The AKB48 fandom is huge and it's easy to get lost in some negativity out there online, but knowing that there's still many good people around who just want to have fun, shoot the shit, and enjoy the hell out of AKB48 in a fun and
positive way makes me really happy. So, props.
I'm sure I probably missed a point or two, I'll edit them in if I think about them.
So I guess now, we wait for the next single.
Let's do it again next year!
Edit: I did forget something, and something kinda important no less. The celebration and the hooplah is fun and all, but at the same time, I feel for all the girls who didn't make it. No one really deserves to not get called in my opinion, but that's the way the industry works. Not everyone wins. Some don't even get a fair chance, if we're honest about it. I hope they don't take it too hard, but it has to be a bummer. There's plenty of awesome talent still on that floor. I think it's just a testament to how talent-filled AKB48 and company are more than anything else. The competition is fierce, so I hope they don't feel too bad.
Topic: [2012.06.06] The 4th Senbatsu Election - *Results on page 10!* (Read 107895 times)