What Ota are thinking about the result of AKB48 4th General Election (Mariko Shinoda’s Uekara (and Shitakara) Atitude)

  June 6, 2012

What Ota are thinking about the result of AKB48 4th General Election


I know you guys have plenty of things to say.

FujiTV is shit.
(Fuji’s election live coverage ended in the middle of Yuko’s speech.)

Mariko and Takamina’s speech had something touches my heart.

The number of votes for top ranking positions decreased….

Those who couldn’t rank in top64 were so miserable…

I was expecting huge surprises…. It was a bit boring… (´・ω・`)

I think this election saw a lot of petit oil billionaires
(an oil billionaire: those who vote hundreds of votes for their Oshi-men)

SKE fans voted in really clever way. (because it’s as if they already knew how many votes they need to make members rank in certain positions and teamed up to achieve that votes.)

Sashihara in 4th? Come on, Ota went way too far…..
Shinoda’s speech was nice.
Nakanishi ranked in!! I was moved so much!!
SKE got spotlight in a good way!
After all, I enjoyed it so much.

Rankings of top members are almost exactly what we’ve expected, 
except Chuu and Akicha.

Why the number of votes decreased when they sold record-breaking over 1.7 million???
Can I answer seriously? It’s because votes were scattered among middle to bottom ranking members.
Because the number of participants has increased, votes are scattered among all members.
I thought…. they are seriously not cheating.
Except Tomo~mi, everyone deserves their positions.
Shinoda’s comments gave me goosebumps….
She is such a reliable member.
Masana Ohya was being God.
I’m a newbie fan and know nothing about idols. But I came here only to say what you just said.
She is nice!
Jurina won over Rena, Mayuyu won over Yukirin, Sashihara joins 神7.
These are the biggest surprises of this election.
I agree with you.

As a result of increasing winner’s slot, votes were scattered too much.

Sashihara was featured too much on TV.
I realized that they must do live broadcasting in theaters.
I failed to be moved at all when I watched it on TV….
MC Tokumitsu-san was less witty than in the previous elections.

Maybe he has his own errands and a bit tired…
Next event will be AKB48 3rd Janken Senbatsu tournament with Yama-chan as a referee?

Certainly it’s because several new teams were created and many more members participated in this election than in the last one, but I had a mixed feeling that top positions (top 3) decreased the number of votes…..

Last year, the election was about the battle for the center position.
This year, it was about expansion of top members.

Akicha! As you ranked in 17th, are you going to get back your strength you had back when KimiSuki??
I’m kind of expecting it.


Akicha looked so scary after she sat on the chair…

I couldn’t focus on listening to speeches because she drew my attention…
(Akicha was so shocked that she couldn’t even talk right Japanese…. she repeated same words as if she lost her memory or something….)

Akichan was crying, as her shoulders were trembling….

It made me cry, too….
Akicha is shy to reveal her emotion or desperation in front of people, and that’s why she ended up creating her character which is very hard to see her inner feeling.
That’s what I was thinking as I watched this election.
She kept trembling til the end…. it seemed that she suffered a severe setback…


Kojiharu forgot her character and began shedding tears seriously…

Actually GUGUTASU had decent influence on the election results.
Tano-chan, congrats(・∀・)

Umechan made it into Senbatsu which has become highly competitive!

This was a satisfying election for Ume-Oshi.

I was thinking that he would say “team K” after he said “team S”, but he said “Rena Matsui“….
I was like “Eeeeeee???”

Me, too. What I was surprised the most today was the reverse of W-Matsui.

It was disappointing that Rena ended up with 10th, but as a team, a lot of SKE members ranked in, and I’m happy with that.

Surprises were Tomu and Sakura.
The rest were more or less expected.

MVP is Mariko-sama.
Her word ignited fighting spirits of members!


I had a feeling that Mayu Watanabe will be a center in the near future.

It was nice that overall mood was more cheerful than last year.

What left me strong impressions:
-Kojiharu was crying, which is very usual for her, who is always chilly.
Takamina’s word “Maybe effort won’t be always rewarded (but…)”
-Sashihara: “I’ll never whine.”
-Both Sayanee and Milky ranked in top 20


It was not Mittsu but Tomu!!

Afterall…. AKB is Acchan, and Acchan is AKB….
Yes… and battle between this ultimate Ace vs Yuko was what made the election so captivating…

It was absolutely a right choice to have increased winner’s slot from 40 to 64.
Mostly because of this, the mood of the election got exciting.
Management was really clever.
What will they do for next year?
Mass graduation?

Even 64th got over 5,000 votes!!
It’s more than 40th in the last election.
Top members had similar of less votes compared to last year, but still ranked in similar positions,
while most of low ranking members increased their votes, but ranked down severely.
It was a tough election for members who has ranked low in the previous elections.

Sae’s family will be joked around tomorrow at office.

Without Atsuko vs Yuko, the election lacks climax.
Mayuyu and Yukirin may not be able to increase their votes anymore, and the only member who can receive as many votes as Yuko is Acchan….


Wrap-up of the surprises in this election
・Mayuyu won 2nd place over Yukirin
・Mass SKE members in undergirls
・Tano-chan made a surprise as she ranked in from nowhere
・Mitsumune: out of ranking
・Lovetan severely ranked down
・Takajo severely ranked down
・Sakura Miyawaki won a seat as a only member from HKT
・Mousa’s (a name of agency) Nakayan and Chisato won their seats!
・Jurina beat Rena with a small lead.
・Shadow announcer was Souichiro Tahara.
・Tomu is a center of futuregirls, which means she will be a center in the future? lol

After all, what Yuko and Mariko was trying to say is….
                          ___ 
               /     \
             / ─    ─ \
            /  (●)  (●) \
              |     (__人__)     | <You wanna fight me? Come on!!
           ,.゙-‐- 、  `⌒´   ,/
        ┌、. /     ヽ ー‐  <.
         ヽ.X、- 、   ,ノi      ハ
      ⊂>'">┐ヽノ〃     / ヘ
       入 ´// ノ        } ,..,.._',.-ァ
      /   `ー''"´      ,'  c〈〈〈っ<
     /          __,,..ノ ,ノヽー'"ノ
      {          ´    /  ``¨´
    /´¨`'''‐、._        ,'\
     ∨´     `ヽ、     ノ   ゙ヽ
      ∨      ヽ _,,..-'"    `ヽ
     ∨       〈-=、.__       }
      ヽ、     }   ``7‐-.  /
          ヽ     リ    /′  ノ
          /′  , {     /   /
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          !    /  /   `‐-、
        !   ,/   ゙ー''' ー---'
          ',  /
        {   }
           ゙Y `ヽ、
            ゙ー--‐'


I am once again convinced that AKB is captivating,
and I love this idol group.


Practically, we saw the moment of the birth of team A’s new center, Sashihara.

I have no idea about the landscape of HKT.


Yeah, because they are still less than 1y/o.
I think Miyawaki is amazing because she won her position despite her group’s still short career,

Kojiharu showed outstanding last spurt as always.

I was thinking Itano won’t be top10

Honestly I was thinking she will lose to Jurina.
How can I say… maybe I was underestimating her that her popularity was on downhill…
 

Tomochin didn’t talk about dumplings.

The most stable member in an election is Minegishi

Kojima and Takamina leave solid results in every election, too.
No Sleeves has no surprise in an election.


Somehow Takamina increased votes more than 10K.

Total vote of 1-40th in this year and last year.
This year1151007votes
Last year 1076312votes

So it’s not that different… Though we can’t compare below 40.

I’m on my way to home from Budo-Kan.
Kaoru Mitsumune was crying as she was leaving the venue… She looked so mortified…

Juruna and Rena, Milky and Sayanee, 2top of the local groups are both ranked next to each other. Is this just a coincidence?(´-`).。oO


Mariko Shinoda “members who can’t forge their own path by themselves will never win others in AKB

こんなにも素敵な順位をありがとうございます
Thank you so much for your support and this amazing result.
こうやってみなさんの あたたかさや ありがたみを本当に
感じられるのもこの総選挙だと思ってます
I can feel your warmth and gratitude I hold to you… and I think that’s one of the important aspect of the election.
私はこの総選挙が嫌いではないです
Actually I don’t dislike the election.
自信があるからではありません 自信はないですし、今日まで
この日が来るまではすごい不安でした 眠れない日もありました
It’s not because I’m confident. I’m not confident, as I’d been uneasy until today. I had some sleepless nights, too.
だけど、こうやって皆さんのあたたかい声援とあたたかい気持ちがぶつかる
今日の日を この緊張感を味わえる今日の日を、自分にとっても成長出来る
日だと思っています。
But, this day, the day I can feel your warm cheers and feelings….
the day I can feel sense of tension… I think what I felt today will help me grow.

後輩に席を譲れと言う方もいるかも知れません
Some people might say “Give over your seat to junior members.”
でも私はせきを譲らないと上にあがれないメンバーはAKBでは勝てない
と思います
But I think members who can’t forge their own path unless someone hand over positions to them will never win others in AKB.
私はこうやって 皆さんと一緒に作り上げるAKB48というグループが大好きです
だからこそ 後輩には育って欲しいと思ってます。
I love this group which members and fans are creating together.
And that’s the reason why I want junior members to grow.
悔しい気持ちすごくあると思います。
I think a lot of you are feeling Kuyashii*.
正直、私も今びっくりして少し悔しいです。 
Honestly, I’m also surprised and a little Kuyashii.
でも、そうやって悔しい力をどんどん先輩、私たちにぶつけて来て下さい
潰すつもりで来て下さい。 
But turn that Kuyashisa* into power to move forward, and challenge us, your seniors with that power. Challenge us with determination to crush us.
私はいつでも待ってます。
I’m always waiting for your challenge.
そんな、こころつよい後輩がでてきたならば、私は笑顔で卒業したいと思ってます。
And, if such strong-willed and reliable junior members appears, I will graduate with smile.
最後に、この票数は、今日までの私の1年間の評価ではなく
今日から来年までの篠田麻里子への期待だと思ってます 
Last of all, I think the votes you voted for me is not your evaluation of what I’ve done in the last 12 months, but your expectation for Mariko Shinoda in next 12 months.
この、来年はもっともっと期待されたいと思ってますけど、この期待を胸に
今日から頑張っていきます よろしくお願いします
I am thinking that, next year, I want you to expect more and more from me, but,
I will move forward with your expectation in my heart from today. Thank you so much.

Kuyashii (Noun from: Kuyashisa): to feel a certain mixture of anger and frustration and bitter resentment (over a perceived injustice to oneself)


I’m Sassy Ota, but Mariko’s speech made me almost cry….
Sure, Sassy successfully managed to have her first win over Mariko.
But if you ask me if she really deserves this position, I would say no.
But I want her to grow this year and prove that she deserves No.4.

Okay so those who say “BBA gotta let young members through her.” can’t argue against her anymore.
No matter what you say, that only makes members ranked below her look miserable.
If you want to complain, then your Oshi-men just gotta do what Mayuyu, Yukirin and Sassy have done!

Her remark all the more resonates with me because she and we know that without Maeda and other oldies’s dedicated effort, AKB48 today wouldn’t exist.