AKB48 veteran Mayu Watanabe has snatched victory from the jaws of reigning champion and notorious man-eater Rino Sashihara in the AKB General Election.
It is Mayu Watanabe’s first time to be number one and she was no doubt helped to her victory by being the main singer in the group’s current single. By default she is now one of the most senior singers in the idol group, which has seen the departure of most of its popular girls graduate onto the outside world (Sashihara has not been an official member of the main group since she was sent into exile for her sexual proclivities).
After storming the election last year to secure an astounding comeback, Rino Sashihara had to settle for being runner-up this year, with third place taken by Yuki Kashiwagi. Fourth was the slinky Jurina Matsui, fifth was Rena Matsui (no relation), sixth was Aya Yamamoto, seventh was Haruka Shimazaki, and eighth was the frequently near-nude Haruna Kojima.
16th place was taken by Rina Kawaei, who recently survived an saw attack by a mad fan. Another idol was hurt in the attack, along with a male member of staff.
The winners will all perform in AKB’s 37th single, to be released in August.
The election results event was a total wash-out as Tokyo has been hit by torrential weather at the start of the annual rainy season. Here we can see fans “enjoying” the spectacle in the wet weather.
Due to the recent attack, the 70,000 fans who attended the event had to pass through metal sensors to check for weapons and security was increased in the stadium.
There were a bizarrely large number of candidates this year (296) as the “AKB” election technically now includes all the sister groups. Votes were collected by fan club members and through purchasing copies of the AKB single Labrador Retrieve that was released in May. This encourages crazy fans to buy in bulk, propping up the single’s apparent 1.7 million sales.
