Event / Concert 37th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo (2014/06/07)

It's not terrible but for a highly ranked member as Yuki it's strange. Sorry about Tiny T-shirt, I was thinking that Kojiharu popped up first.

 

there goes the Mariko, Tomochin , Yuko graduate, AKB is finished argument.

 

This was actually more exicting than I expected it would be. Senbatsu takes too long for me though.

Upcoming Girls

First of all I was very happy Piichan and especially Aanya ranked. It would have been very hard on her if she turned out to be the only HKT 1st gen frontgirl not to rank this year. Good to see Saho and Ryoka make it. Saho would probably someone I could really get into if I had any interest in following AKB.
Yagi's drop was unexpected because I thought she was a little bit more visible in the past 12 months than before. Sick drops for Madoka, Akarin, Koami and Makiko.

Future Girls

Great to see Natsu rank but I wonder how she really feels, since she wasn't too satisfied with her prelim rank. As one of the more prominent HKT girls since their debut, she might have wanted to rank a little bit closer to her first gen friends. But it's a start. Happy with Miki's position. I never understand why people consider her a failed push just because she sells out her handshake slots a round later than Nana and Mako. Maybe I expected Nao to rank a little bit higher, but this is her first time after all.

Next Girls

Chihiro! Thought her goal to rank in Next Girls was completely unrealistic but she/her fans actually made her wish come true. Probably a complete unknown to most here because not that visible in HKT stuff but she is really starting to come out of her shell recently and I'm glad she's my oshi.

So many of my faves in this line up; Chihiro, Aoitan, Lovetan, Tanochan, Yukko, Mako, Harutamu, Reinyan. Especially Yukko making it, after so much heartbreak in the previous years was a great surprise. Please give this line up an amazing song, it has so many decent performers.

Undergirls

Haruppi increased her rank again. Great!. Madoka coming from absolutely nowhere to clinch #25 unbelievable. Renacchi is a very pretty girl so satisfied with her in UG too. Milky's drop was sort of expected in my opinion. They didn't really handle her scandal very well.

Senbatsu

Sakura! Amazing! Very happy for Ayachan too.

HKT 1st gen doing really well . They've come such a long way. From being the laughing stock of the 48 family to being a force to be reckoned with at the election.

 

Is this the first time in AKB history when original 1st gen kami7 girls vote count actually decreased?

And I'm happy for Kawaei position. That girl deserves to have some positive emotions after all she's been trough.

 

This comes from a fairly new fan of AKB48...

This was my first Senbatsu election experience and here is few notes.

Firstly, atmosphere and whole experience was really great. Live stream and production worked well too, little rain didn't seem to bother too much.

Congratulations to Watanabe Mayu and all her fans! I had a feeling this could be her year
Sasshi was strong again and great that Yukirin was 3rd Yamamoto Sayaka and Paruru, both that I like very much did well too! Miyawaki Sakura magnificent, she'll be a star Special mention to Ikoma Rina ('cause I'm a Nogifan). That was awesome, straight to 14th!
Maybe best and most emotional moment for me was Kawaei Rina's appearance, that warmed my and I believe other people's hearts very much.
I would liked that Miichan and Umechan would have ranked little better, but no complaining.

Maybe next year I'll vote too, but I'll only give a single vote to someone. Kind of hard to me put someone above others, 'cause they all work so much and give their best. I love all the members and think that AKB48 is a whole big family Of course this election is neccessary, to measure which members fans want to see the most.

 

Whew, got a little bit of sleep after staying up all night for the event.

For those that were in the group chat last night, thank you for all your thank yous! I saw many of them during the night but didn't really have time to respond. I don't usually do a lot of interpretation, but the goal is usually not to have a word for word translation, but the general feeling of what they are saying. I know there are places where I couldn't catch what they were saying and missed things cause I was busy typing out the previous lines, etc, but I hope it was enough to express the general things girls were saying at that time. This was my first time staying up for the event and although I'm paying for it today (so tired) I think it was worth it. (Though, I wish I had more time just to chat like normal with everyone! I really had no idea what other people were talking about and feel I missed out on that part of the experience.)

After watching some of the event again, etc, here are my thoughts:

Spoiler

Ryoka! Glad to see her rank and be happy on stage.
My Saho! I think I'm the only one from S48 that voted for her, but I hope more people start to follow her. I'm so glad she ranked, even if I was surprised how early her name was called. She'll probably get a lot of screen time in their group video though, so that's a plus!

Nakki! For all the hardwork she does, she really does deserve some recognition like this. Hopefully this leads to more activities for her and a little push?
Mikichan! After seeing the early results, I didn't think she would rank, so I'm glad to see her smiling on stage. Her interactions with Saho make me laugh sometimes and cringe others, but I appreciate her all the same. I think she can become a leader for the group in the future.

Mako's rank feels just right to me. Not too low, not too high.

I expected a lower rank for Milky, so 18 is still high to me. Despite the ups and downs, I think she's an important member and I want to see her be successful in the future.

Kaotan's speech got me teary-eyed. Her position as eternal-KKS gives her freedom, but it also limits her activities on tv and in concerts, like she mentioned. However, I hope she can continue to be a force for showing off KKS activities. Her 1komeda post was also really sad. She filmed herself saying she is ranked 17 and the center of UG, but the cameras all went to Milky and Miichan instead.

Ikoma's comment about how the rest of her group was performing so they probably weren't watching right now cracked me up. It was like the pure deer in the headlights, say what comes naturally moment.

Sakura in senbatsu!! I know she already has a lot of fans here, but I think she'd have even more if more fans understood just how articulate she is. I admit she's won me over the past few months and I find myself with two girls to root for now.

Mayuyu was my original favorite years and years ago, and a lot of the character I loved back then has faded away as she's grown older. That said, I was still very happy to see her rank #1. You could tell she was really taking in the view from the top.

 

I wonder why Jurina cry and somehow look upset?
Her rank is high, does she expect more than that?
Sorry cuz im not Jurina's fan so idk much abt her

 

She aims for the 1st thats why, Sayanee also wasnt very pleased with 6th either. These girls should take it slowly tbh

 

Personally I'm sure the management very heavily influenced the girls to aim for #1 (to fit according to their AKBvsSKEvsNMBvsHKT plan), especially for Sayanee. There's no way one would just simply want #1 after just entering low senbatsu at #14 after struggling for 2 years, AND furthermore express disappointment after ranking up again 8 positions. This is just to hype up future elections.

I'm sure the girls don't mind aiming for #1, but it's still mainly influenced by management. Without management, they wouldn't have such thoughts, at least not so fast. I think Sayanee is more than satisfied with her rank for now, but to keep the hype going, she can't be saying so.

 

is the concert of yuko`s grad going to have livestream?

 

Their dreams weren't too realistic, tbh. Sasshi's the only one who went from 4th to 1st... and these girls want to do something even greater.

No.

 

Still recovering from staying up to 5AM to watch this....well worth it. FINALLY! There is hope for AKB48....arguably the best Election in years. Thank god for Mayuyu...the cape is a nice touch. I like how it really emphasizes the whole "Queen of AKB48" thing

Highlights:
01. Kawaei Rina - She will be remembered for her immense bravery on this night, which I'm glad for because previously, she was just the baka girl or something. She looks beautiful, and hopefully she'll make a quick recovery. Shades of Maeda throughout her inspiring speech. I think in her we see the true future of the group.

02. Ikomachan storming Senbatsu. Hope this will open doors....Ikuta Erika for AKB48 center 2015 plz.

03. Sakura makes it in Senbatsu. Ah, the true HKT48 representative.

04. Katorena gets into Undergirls. She is like the most under appreciated member ever. Finally she gets to rank

05. Mayuyu crushes um...whats-her-face-again?

06. Tomonaga>Kodama>fake-Jurina

Low-points:
01. Watanabe Miyuki and how crushed she seems. Not even her biggest fan but that's just so awful.

02. That stoned SKE48 girl with the titan-teeth who just could not stop speaking ughhhh.

03. Takamina.... She should graduate. She does not have to take this indignity -_-

 

What a rollercoaster this year's sousenkyo has been. I've got to say, these results were everything I could have asked for and more.

HKT48's triumph
After last year's unexciting top4+Sasshi rank, I was thrilled to see other, less popular HKT girls rank in, in particular Piichan and Aanya, at the prelim result. I was overjoyed to see pretty much everyone held onto their rank from prelim to final result. HKT needs a change in structure clearly, with pleasant surprises like Morippo comfortably outranking the 'ace' Meru. Let's not even mention Sakura just yet.

Iwatate Saho and Kato Rena rank
Damn, my AKB #2 and #3 made it. Saho placed at a wonderful #66. When Renacchi's name wasn't called up until the ~50th rank I started to believe she hadn't made it. You can imagine the rush I got when she placed in UG. A splendid result.

Miyawaki Sakura in senbatsu
I set out with the expectation of seeing Sakura at roughly UG centre. People called for her to make senbatsu which I thought was nice, but unrealistic. Well I was wrong. This girl is unstoppable. She has proven to us that HKT (sans Sasshi) is still a force to be reckoned with and I would now expect her to be a regular senbatsu member for AKB A-sides. I would not be at all surprised if, in a few years time, this girl was gunning for the top spot.

Watanabe Mayu is centre
We did it. Finally, the top spot has been secured and I couldn't be happier. I have no words for the moment Tokumitsu read out "2. HKT48...". I jumped out of my chair at my desk and screamed at the top of my voice. I'm so so proud of my oshi and I hope we can make it two years in a row.

 

I just saw Sasshi's first reaction to being called second.... she looked like she swallowed a lemon :'D
@polyrhythm Ikoma's speech seemed to be quite interesting(from the short fragment I just saw), a true deer in headlights indeed. Is it just me or she did not expect to be that high after the prelim results?

 

But that's the theatre performance, not the concert tomorrow.

Sashihara Rino. The one who had previouly crushed Mayu's dreams.

But I agree with you in the Ricchan thing. Hopefully this will give her the opportunity to show a different side of her, and not just the BKA gimmick.

 

Yeah she seemed shocked....but honestly, she held it together quite well considering what she's normally like....she's such a crybaby in Nogizaka46....I thought she would just loose it but I guess she's been working on that a lot. She's not my favorite....but at least she can bring more attention to Nogizaka....the group that is currently owning AKB in all aspects other than sales.....

 

Ah, my bad. I removed the link^^'

 

I have to find the whole speech of Sasshi's
It felt like that speech ended up in some tension between Mayu and Sasshi, because Mayu didn't see glad about what she was saying.
The way she started didn't really seem like she was granting/accepting (not the right word, but I dunno) Mayu her victory.

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

The 2nd part isn't really true. She says at the end, that she'll support the next center wholeheartedly. Even in tough or sad times, AKB won't lose.

 

@plomeplome That has to be one of the saddest sigs I have ever seen. Poor Milky... T_T

It's hard to gather all of my thoughts right now, but here are a few things that stood out:

First of all, CONGRATS TO MAYUYU! Her smile when she was delivering her speech reminded me of watching your little sibling when they're growing up and then before you know it, they're graduating from high school with flying colors. We're all there with you, Mayuyu!

Sasshi did well taking her #2 rank with grace too, even though she seemed a bit sour about it for a while.

Glad to see the drive in Jurina and Sayanee, but at the same time I don't want them to push themselves too hard. (ESPECIALLY Jurina.)

I'm a bit sad that Takamina dropped in ranking, but at the same time I'm still happy that she's still in the top 10. I was expecting Kojiharu to pull a Mariko and mention something about graduation (which she did), but at the same time, I'm happy she decided not to announce her graduation. Not only is it bad timing, it seemed too predictable for her to do so for my liking. I mean even right now, I'm expecting her (or any girls from the 1st-3rd gen for that matter) to announce a graduation soon.

Ikomachan's rank was a surprise, but her reaction made it even MORE of a surprise. XD

My respect for Ricchan grew when she came onto the stage to accept her award. Glad to see that she (and Annin) have stayed strong after the incident. Also, it was a bit endearing to see her with just casual clothes and a poncho compared to everyone else who was dressed up in their colorful outfits. It felt like you can relate to her a lot more than usual, since she's not dressed as a famous celebrity you look up to.

Everyone in Undergirls were so cute. Kaotan was just awesome as usual.

For the rest of the girls, I didn't have that many thoughts, except I was a bit disappointed that members like Mocchi, Umechan, and Aamin went down in ranking. At the same time, everyone's reactions when Tanamin ranked were PRICELESS! Congrats Tanamin!

Last of all, Hillary didn't rank at all this year... T_T Hopefully next year.