[2012.06.06] The 4th Senbatsu Election - *Results on page 10!*

[Kid_Alpha]

This is the best I can give you since I kept zoning out even though by the end of it, I felt so wide awake from the excitement.

This was my first time participating in the election though not as hardcore as some as those wotas and well it was really intense; it almost felt like I was watching a sporting event. lol All I can say is that Nishishi being ranked was the best highlight of my night/morning, I was a mess really and it didn't help that I had a morning class later on.

Plus Undergirls is basically SKE Domination like jeebus.

Also Umechan getting into Senbatsu was just ;w;

Yukko not ranking was a huge disappointment for me, she made it to the preliminary ranks which made me so happy and from the looks of it, I expected her to keep it. I was waiting for her name to be called for FG but then :| I thought she probably got a higher rank but as the as things progressed, I eventually figured what happened.

Y U NO LIKE REBEL YUKKO?

All in all, a very intense event that I was happy to witness and it was totally worth waking up at 3 just for the livestream, except I was smart enough to sleep early beforehand otherwise I would be dead on my toes by the time it ended.

[muppet]

Didn't have time to go through everyone's comments yet, but....

Congratulations to everyone who made top 64, and to the other members who didn't- keep going for it!! The effort to keep going strong is why fans look to you for inspiration.

Saw some remarks about how SKE48 has dominated the second team, combine that with some very experienced AKB48 members led by Akicha, and two top aces from NMB48, I think this team has the potential to be a Juggernaut team............Hopefully, Management will see what a fantastic lineup they have in the Undergirls, and let's get some rivalry going with the Senbatsu!

[z3144228]

The live broadcast on Fuji TV

average rating 18.7%

highest period is Sashihara position 28%

[yukofan]

28%??! that was amazing..sasshi's star is shining so bright nowdays..

[gekikarabuACE]

A little late to the party, but who cares? 

Highlights/Lowlights/General WTFuckery that made my heart stop:

- Nishishi actually holds on to her 63rd position. Proof that hard work does pay-off. It's not that she barely made it. Rather, she finally made it. I almost lost it when they showed Sasshi and Kitarie crying for her.

- Lovetan, Ranran, Minarun, Lemon and Shiichan ranking as low as they did. I did not expect the AKB girls to drop like flies in the rankings.

- Kanon making it in all thanks to the Team E wotas. Represent! 

- I know diddly-squat about KKS Muto Tomu other than being the KKS with the funny name. Her centering the FG will be interesting.

- Tano Yuka making it in instead of Takahashi Juri, Kawaei Rina or Kato Rena. Really surprising because I thought those 3 had the more solid fanbases, plus they had the advantage of getting a push.

- Ainyan outranking Nana. Isn't Sayanee/Milky/Nana the big 3 of NMB? 

- Again, AKB girls losing ranks.Aamin, Reinyan, Harugon, Myao. What a drop.

- Mukaida Manatsu no sounds good! 

- BBQ!  Almost had another breakdown when Kaotan was called. Another proof that hard work really does pay off. She made it to that position through her own efforts alone. Her speech was simply amazing. It's like Churi's 2011 speech v2.0. Even more amazing was how she ended it: "BBQ Matsumura Kaori no Konya mo..." and then Budokan loudly answered with, "ICHI KOME DA!" 

- Wasamin getting NG center. Mujin Eki power!

- Natsumii being the only Team A girl not to get ranked. OUCH. 

- Under Girls: best section of the entire election!!!  I didn't think it would be possible but the SKE wotas really did it this time. Half of SKE's senbatsu is here! It's beyond amazing really. 6 SKE members being called one after the other. Yuttan will be forever be remembered as the combo breaker.  This is probably the group I am most excited about. Yuttan, Sayaka, Mocchi, Sayanee, and Airin singing together, plus the dancing prowess of SKE's senbatsu members, and with Akicha at the center.  It has the perfect formula for a great UG song that may rival the popularity of Kimi no koto ga suki dakara.

- Speaking of Akicha... yes I was majorly bummed at the drop, but at least she gets to be center.

- Umechan making it to senbatsu was such a pleasant surprise! Congrats!

- Yuihan provided the greatest entertainment of the night. Up until her speech, everyone looked tense, with faces as rigid as a rock. But when she started losing it (again!) on stage, they were laughing and cheering her on. Thank you for easing the tension, Yuihan!

- WMatsui in Top 10. Oh yeah!  I admit I wanted Rena to rank higher than that, but at this point, who cares? Both are in the Top 10, something which they failed to achieve for the past 2 years, being ranked 10th and 11th in 2010 and then 10th & 14th in 2011.

- Sasshi appearing as Team A's ace is... something I did not expect. 

- Mayu beating Yukirin! I initially felt bad for Yukirin when she was called in the 3rd position, but she looked genuinely happy for Mayu that I can't bring myself to feel bad anymore.

- Acchan's appearance at the end was a nice ending touch to the Yuko/Acchan 'rivalry'. It was really heartwarming.


Over all, I enjoyed this election even if there seemed to me more tears shed here than the last time. Quite a few girls had their Yuihan moment (you can cry, Jurina), and definitely more than a handful had their Tomorage face on (Akicha, you're on TV).  One thing for sure, some of these girls will be back with a vengeance, one way or another (I'm looking at you, Rena wotas). 

[MaxMcKay]

- Sayaka A. forever underrated

THIS.
And I just noticed there's only 38 votes between her and the NMB girl 

Yes, some girl like Sayaka and Moeno are always underrated 
They merit a higher position on the ranking.

Maybe it's time for her to consider greener pastures where can better utilise her?
If Acchan can move on, what's stopping her?

[boykun]

It was fun watching the event live with a bunch of AKBros

There were four girls I was concerned about coming into the Sosenkyo: Nito, Maeda Ami, Kuramochi, and of course Yuko.
 
- Nito's name wasn't in the preliminary ranks. I was worried she wasn't gonna rank since she hasn't done much lately. Many fist pumps were had when they announced her name.

- I bought copies of Managuu and gave some votes to Maeda Ami. Glad to see her in the Next Girls, though I was hoping she'd be at least at the bottom of the Undergirls.

- Mocchi really can't get a break, can she? Up and down the same three ranks since the first Sosenkyo. She'll add more singing power to an already stacked vocal talent list in the Undergirls, though.

- There was no doubt Yuko wasn't gonna win, just glad to have seen it happen. I thought, if she wins this I don't care who wins the next one, it should be someone else even. It feels kind of like a send-off, I think she'll leave not too long after Acchan and that's fine with me. But for now, though I'm pretty excited for the single. It should be pretty damn good. Let's get dat 2 million!


Other notables and surprises:
- A huge chunk of AKB Undergirls falling 20 spots.
- Akicha dropping out of Senbatsu. She looked like she died inside, but hey at least it's center.
- J beating Rena. I like Rena quite a bit more and never thought she'd be lower than J.
- Mariko's come at me bro speech was the best of the night.
- Nakata Chisato lol where'd she come from Also Kana, who started the long string of surprises.
- Umechan great victory getting in Senbatsu.
- Kasai at 12. Was funny going "Okay Kasai is next for sure" and being wrong four times.
- Acchan's spotlight cockblock on Yuko a lot more drama than needed.
- Idol tears should be made into salt.


Content with the results. Some girls could be higher but Yuko won, not gonna complain.

[maliciel]

Real winner of Sousenkyo. I liked Chiichan before she was cool.

[MaxMcKay]

Anyone else suspect that Sashi's rise is due to votes from H!P members? She has, after all, been in shows with Dream MoMusu, fangirling H!P products

[winner]

Watching it live together was really fun.
BarrieV YT stream disconnecting every 10 minutes and asking for a link.

- Yukko 'n Shimada Haruka not making it. specially weird for Haru. better luck next time. Same to the girls that didn't get in the list.

- The girl with ten dreams, Tomu coming out of nowhere~

- Aamin getting low. 

- SKE Underworldgirls domination. Takoyaki Girl co-co-combo-break~

- Akicha was...
That moment at the end when they called each name one by one...
When Akicha bowed and stood back up, she glared straight into the camera. i felt like my life was in danger for a second there...
- Umechan Senbatsu Yeah!

- Yui was awesome again! Thank you Yuihan!
And everybody on Earth wishing: "Ganbare Yuihan. You can do it!~" like she was Son Goku doing a Genki-dama~

- Kasai is still here. Sigh of relief~

- Mariko going all Sado in her speech. Kakoii~~

- Top 3 turned out exactly how I hoped. Yuko repping the 48 flag. Mayu confirmed popularity and getting ready for center next year.
Yuki staying 3rd and looking beautiful. Great spot with less stress than the top, while having room for improvement.
Now Yuko is surrounded by Team B's. Better step up your game~
-Leaving with what I said at chat. Hebi Rote part 2!

[maliciel]

Highlights/Lowlights

It's pretty interesting that AKB girls still ended up getting the captain spots for the * girls. A lot of people were saying how the sister groups were gonna dominate the lower rung. It was almost certainty that hotshots like Kodama and Eriko were gonna rank because of the new expanded rankings, but it seems the hard push doesn't work for everyone. And some girls like Mutou pretty much came out of the blue.

Amina getting in was great. I've always had a soft spot for her (maybe it's her soft thighs), but she's always great on the stage addressing the fans. One of the few I noticed that didn't have any bitterness in her voice. Of course, then there are the girls who were genuinely pleased to be on stage at all, like Nakayan, Chiichan, Maachun. It's really great to see that the new system is also letting some of the other girls have chances (even if not the ones I wanted..lol). Greatest moment of last night, in my opinion:

I went back to watch some of the ones where people noticed that the girls were not exactly looking very happy, and it's a little disappointing to see that some of them really were kind of pissed off. Paruru, Sayanee, Harukyan, Kumi, to name a few. I guess it's a fine line to tread between showing that you're disappointed you didn't do well and coming off as being disappointed because you didn't get what you felt you deserved.

The number of votes at the lower levels (future girls) was really low, and it's ridiculous how close some of the fights were. For example, Yamauchi Suzuran was only 2 votes away from being one rank lower. This is pretty cool, and also shows just how much one or two single purchases could help. At the same time, comparing the votes numbers you can kind of imagine just how unpopular some of the girls are, relatively. The vote numbers barely reached 30k even through the middle of the pack, before shooting up to ridiculous numbers by the Kami7.

Acchan coming out was a 'what the fuck' moment for me. It felt really out of place, and it certainly didn't fit in with the rest of the ceremony. We were all betting that she'd even get a few lines on the mic (which she did) despite not even taking part in the damn thing, so we laughed a bit at that. Nevertheless, she's supercute as always, so it's alright. Just wish they'd work her in a little better, they had to put her in the same frame as Yuko just so they wouldn't waste any Acchan screentime.

Sashihara Rino getting #4 was great, although I sorta wanted her to get an even higher spot. It wasn't really possible I suppose, even with the ridiculous publicity blitzes that she went on for her solo single. Ridiculous that she got to nearly beat Nogizaka and still get enough votes to take her to #4 position, while Mayuyu's #2 position pretty much killed the sales for WH7's Shounen. If anyone deserves a high spot for hard work over the past year, it's gotta go to Sashihara, and of course Takamina.

Takahashi Minami moving up was great! She really deserves it for all the work she's put in, and her general likeableness. Act or not, you always feel like you can read her like a book, and that's what endears her to most people. It's weird though, everyone likes her but they just don't like her enough to throw in some votes for her over their oshimen. Understandable I suppose, but still kinda sad. I did though! Woo. Hope this means she gets even more mainstream gigs, she needs an out for post-AKB before she runs out of time.

Shinoda Mariko's speech was great, although I guess one could interpret it as an excuse to never leave (lol). Hopefully, the new system of Sousenkyo shows some actual results instead of leaving the juniors that Mariko speaks of feeling entrenched in their positions with nowhere to go. That is pretty much the reason why some people said that Mariko had to leave and leave the spot open for new members. Maybe it will fire up the juniors for real though, and that would be a great way for her to go.

[CtrlZee]

A little late to the party, but who cares? 

I feel so guilty for not even making a single post about the Sousenkyo until now Watched the whole thing live though The results and speeches and simply the WHOLE DAMN THING was EPIC

- Aishiteraburu as the opening song. Kinda surprised by this 

- Manatsu no SG performance with Jurina center. I felt this was a sign about Jurina's rank.

- Future Girls = old Undergirls

  - Cheered for Kanon so much when she was called for the fact that we're both 14 years old

  - MASSIVE aura of "Why the hell am I this low?" from Harukyan xD

  - I never expected KKS to actually place in the Sousenkyo. Mutou Tomu's Future Girls center place surprised me

  - Saw Shimada Haruka smiling in the seats, thinking that since she hasn't been called, she must've gotten a higher place. Really sucks that she didn't place at all

  - Next Girls = Underrated members

  - Only one HKT member who ranked in the Sousenkyo, Miyawaki Sakura, and she ranked relatively high. Gonna check her out

  - DADADADADADADADADADANNNN!!!! Best catchphrase ever

  - I SHIP KANA x SAYAKA 

  - Wasamin as Next Girls center. Her Enka awesomeness should be showed off more

- Under Girls = SKE Domination

  - Most of the girls here pretty much placed around where they were expected to be

  - Masanya's no mic scream. I bet you guys everyone in the whole venue heard it

  - KUUMINNNN!!! Gratz on the 28! Also MILKYYYY for the 19th!

  - Every AKB girl in there stepped down some ranks from the previous election

  - Paruru doesn't seem too satisfied

  - SAYAKA!!!! FILIPINO PRIDE

-Senbatsu = The usual (but actually felt damn intense )

  - Umecchan's 16 is a big surprise. Recently she's sparked interest in me

  - Yuihan's speech. Just as emotional as the previous one

  - Honestly I expected Miichan and Kasai to be lower. Gratz to them

  - Always though Rena would be at the top of SKE. Went "WTF?" when Jurina got 1 RANK HIGHER than Rena! Massive highlight here

  - Daym, Tomochin didn't make Kami 7

  - Takamina went up! The SPIRIT of AKB48
 
  - Mariko-sama's speech. Someone give her a gold medal. Seriously, it hit me too.

  - Sasshi 4th. HETARE POWAAAAAHHHHHHH

  - Then. MA. YU. YU. 2ND. THIS. IS. CG REVOLUTIONNNN

  - As expected. Yuko, the new AKB's ace. No need for words to express the epicness of this moment.

  - TBH, I don't feel that Acchan's appearance was well placed. And she could have said stuff to all the girls as AKB's one true ace instead of praising and praising Yuko's 1st xD

Although I wasn't able to vote even one time (scumbag parents won't buy me a CD), I really sympathized with all the girls. I've had moments of truths also, so I know that feel. This is the product of their efforts in the world of media. This is also the product of how dedicated the fans of the 48 world are. And for the girls to express their gratitude wholeheartedly. This is why the 48 world is great.


But through all this we all know that the real Number 1 is Aki-P

 

[Amplifier]

Some related English language news:

• http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/06/07/picture-japan-akb48-election-food-for-thought-oe-against-oi/#slide/1
• AFP Google
• http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20120607p2a00m0et013000c.html

[YKT]

This should hopefully stay up

[allihx]

I don't pretend to actually upset anyone over this but...

I don't want Sasshi to be the new Center.
Any of our original Kami7 deserves spot no.4

Why Aki-P? We know Sasshi was an 'Wota/Ota' -- so what? Seriously?
Stop promoting Sasshi to get her into our nerves...
You might bring AKB48 down the hill if you push back the other members just to bring your 'miracle' to the front.

Didn't you all get the feeling of Tomocchin saying 'Goodbye' and asking her fans to actually support her when she leaves AKB48. She has been pushed back slowly and this time...our girl looked different, she truly has given up on Senbatsu.
I'm scared.

I know she'd make a good career but still, I'd miss her so much.

[Rust]

^Good day:

I understand your frustration & desire that more talented members be recognized instead. Personally, I also prefer a lot of members over Sasshi. Nonetheless, there are people who like Sasshi & support her, & there's no right & wrong to it. One can like a member that I find absolutely unappealing, but that doesn't make it wrong, just as it is no one's right to say it is wrong that I like Mayu & Jurina. It doesn't matter if they start liking Sasshi just because of heavy promotion, there is no wrong in supporting her, much like liking tomatoes.

As for the heavy promotion, I think is unfair to lay all the blame on Aki-P. I personally think most of the Sasshi promoting comes from her agency, Ohto Pro (which happens to be the agency for Acchan & Yuko, & might be desperate to quickly develop a new ace in case their top two in AKB graduate soon.)

I like Tomochin, & wish that she faired better in the senbatsu. I also wished that Natsumi, Yukiko, Ishida Anna, Kato Rena & many others could have ranked, & that Sumire & Komori ranked much higher. I find the entrance of many Team A member whom I have the faintest idea of who they are yet not Natsumi most bizarre & frustrating. However, I don't believe these girls who ranked work any less hard then those who did not, & deserve ranking any less too.

There will probably always be people who are unhappy or happy about the result, but in the end no one is right or wrong. Despite not being exactly satisfied about the result, I am grateful that an senbatsu system exist, not because I enjoy my wallet getting ripped, but because it offer fans some degree of power to influence the promotion of member. Management still hold overwhelming power, but there are example of success resulting from the senbatsu (Umechan being an excellent example.) There are downside to the senbastu however, such as a voting system that can be improved on or the fierce competition & confidence attached to it. These I do hope can be improved upon.

In the end, sorry for ranting, but I wish that the spirit of this forum remains uplifting & positive, since this is why I participate in this forum instead of the others. There's nothing wrong with being frustrated, but I think it can be expressed without hard feelings. Let continue to support our girls, & hope that they make us proud in the next senbatsu!

[Amplifier]

^I certify this as JPHiP Post of the Day™

YUKKO FC REPORT IN

We gotta step up our game next year

* Amplifier air guitars

[Datalanche]

Dear Rust,



Love,
Data

[z3144228]

In western media




AFP

[Ishtar]

It's been a while since I spent a whole night without sleeping in order to watch an event and I don't regret it at all!! Considering the PST, it started around 1:30 am (after the extra hour we had to wait those watching on Google+ and YouTube).

Once 'Overture' started to play, I almost spazzed! I had to contain a shriek because my mother was sleeping but ahhh, it was very exciting! Then the performances came and every girl seemed to shine with their own light. It was magical, very different than watching the recorded videos, because it was...live. I don't know if it sounds too silly, but it was like that.

Now, my personal highlights:

Future Girls.

• Komorin and Sumire ranked after all! I was surprised to not seeing them in the preliminars, so I'm glad to seeing them (even if it's on lower positions).
• Congratulations Nishi! She looked so thrilled and despite she's not one of my biases of SKE, I like her quite much.
• Little Non! I think she has potential to be bigger, thus I'm happy to see her around as well.
• Fresh Lemon and Lovetan lower positions! Miori still has time to recover because she hasn't been around for a long time, but Aika keeps going lower and lower.[/i]
  Ayarin! Finally showing up the 'Comeback'!
• Tomu Muto is a face I didn't know from before (Hilary and Kaoru are the only KKS I can remember, considering Ricchan and Juri are already part of Team 4). Looking forward to see more from her.

Next Girls.

• Wasamin as center. That's enough to consider their song might be awesome!
• Haachan is one of my favorite voices as well, and one of the members I started to like a lot recently! Glad to see her!
• Harugon Haruka Nakagawa stating she doesn't want to be her previous self anymore. She's growing up, I'd like to see her mature side.
• The whole Kana's incident. It was one of the most touching events of the night.

Undergirls.

• Or should I call it 'SKE feat. AKB & NMB'? No offense, the girls I like the most of SKE are here, but...seriously, it was dominated by them!
• As Amina's fan, this was kind of sad, yet expected considering the reduced senbatsu. But I'm happy to seeing her more mature and calm, she seems comfortable and happier than years ago. She is more confident and knows that the senbatsu is not the end of the world, specially after her first ranking in 2009, when she had zero promotion and now? She has the NND show and has AKB0048 and Sakamichi no Apollon.
• Sayaka's ranking also upsetted me, but considering she's getting more famous as herself than for being part of AKB48, it's understandable.
• NMB's rankings were expected in my opinion. I was almost sure that neither of them would reach senbatsu status yet. Maybe next year (specially Sayanee).
• Akicha seemed really confused and upset. That's a high drop of position! But I think this might be positive for her. I miss her spark she showed years ago.

Senbatsu.

• Umeda Ayaka. The best thing ever!! I couldn't contain a happy shriek when her name was mentioned, and it seemed like she couldn't believe it either. It's the bottom of senbatsu, yes, but this is a signal! I sincerly hope she can keep her senbatsu position.
• Seems like Yui didn't practice her speech skills...oh dear, but I'm glad she had increased her ranking. When she joined at first, I thought she was overpushed and found it annoying, but I grew to like her. She's a good child and has a sweet voice.
• Chiyuu entering senbatsu after the preliminars!! I'm so glad for this as well.
• Jurina winning over Rena. I think it has to be in part of her recent performance with Team K; personally, she has more star charm than Rena and it's fair being higher (and I like Rena a lot, don't take me wrong).
• Tomochin's ambiguous speech. As many others, I think this might her her last election. Calm, and not upset as the last year. She knows she's loved and supported, but her time as an idol might come to an end soon as she's growing up and interested in going higher (just like Acchan, maybe her graduation is inspiring Tomo to move forward).
• Mariko's encouraging speech, and an indirect message to those who are trying to earn a place within the group without working hard or having things easily. AKB48 is a group of fighters and if you want to be recognized, you must earn said recognition doing your best. You go, queen.
• No, I don't like much the idea of Sasshi being part of Kami7. She's funny, crazy and quirky. YES. Actually, I kinda like her at times, but you need more than that. Claiming to be good at nothing is not something to be proud of. She's heavily promoted and the idea of having a plain Jane reaching as high as possible might sound romantic. But this is more than that: there are girls who are actually talented and she's there with the 'hetare' role. Being high doesn't mean you have respect. Show you are worth to be there, girl. Practice, practice, practice and show you deserve to be called a 'miracle'.
• Oshiri Sisters!!! As the indiscutible queen of AKB48, Yuko has her throne and Mayu, the upcoming succesor is finally growing up into a gorgeous girl with lots of potential.

Post-results.

• Acchan showing up was so sweet!! It's like the crown was passed in a simbolical way. If this was tear-worthy, I can't imagine the Tokyo Dome + last performance in the theater.
• Matsubara being all by herself when the rest of team A hurts; sure, there are other talented girls left behind like Nacchi and Micha, but at least they counted with ther teammates there. And she was just there, unable to change a thing and having to watch. I sincerly hope this makes her work harder; I heard that some people dislike her for 'acting rude' but hey, have you considered she had reasons to doing so? That doesn't affect her quality as performer.
• All the minors leaving after they got asked to was so cute!! Poor babies.
• Yuko thanking in many languages. Stay awesome, Top Girl