My Pure·Delight – NMB48 in the AKB48 32th Single Senbatsu Election

About a week late, but the results for AKB48′s 32th Single Senbatsu Election were announced last Saturday. I’m happy that my kami oshi Minegishi Minami (Miichan) managed to increase her votes by about 13,000 and grab the 18th position. She might have dropped from Senbatsu to Undergirls, but considering evertyhing that’s happened, that’s a pretty happy result for me as a Miichan oshi. We have a new center in Sashihara Rino (Sasshi) and after years of fans speculating about Shinoda Mariko’s (Mariko) graduation from AKB, Mariko finally announced it.

But of course, this post is going to be about how NMB fared in the election. The preliminary results was less than desirable, but I think the final results should be one that should please NMB fans. Former NMB48 Team N member Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan) received 53,903 votes, ranking #13 and making senbatsu. As for current NMB members, the group managed to get 9 members to rank in the Top 64.

14. Yamamoto Sayaka (51,798 votes)
15. Watanabe Miyuki (44,116 votes)
28. Yamada Nana (23,950 votes)
40. Jonishi Kei (17,381 votes)
44. Yagura Fuuko (16,281 votes)
49. Yabushita Shu (14,745 votes)
50. Yoshida Akari (14,684 votes)
54. Ogasawara Mayu (13,460 votes)
57. Ichikawa Miori (12,616 votes)

Four NMB members ranked in the election for the first time. Team N’s Yoshida Akari (Akarin) and Team BII’s Yabushita Shu (Shuu) will accompany concurrent NMB member Ichikawa Miori (Miorin) and Team N member Ogasawara Mayu (Maachun) in Future Girls. And Team M ace Yagura Fuuko (Fuuchan) and Team N member Jonishi Kei (Keicchi) made their election debuts in Next Girls.

As for the five members who ranked last year (not including Fukumoto Aina), all the members managed to increase their votes and move up the rankings. Maachun jumped 6 spots from her ranking last year, after not ranking in the preliminary results. Miorin moved up a spot to the #57 position. Transferred Team M member Yamada Nana (Nana) nearly tripled the votes she received last year, leaping from Next Girls to Undergirls. And both Watanabe Miyuki (Milky) and Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayanee) moved from Undergirls to finally achieve Senbatsu status in the election.

Nice to see the NMB members ranking and moving up the election boards. Also, I’m quite pleased that Team M and BII were able to get some representation with Fuuchan and Shuu ranking. I’m hoping the following elections bring even more good results for NMB, like more members rankings and Milky and Sayanee jumping into higher (hopefully single-digit) senbatsu positions

Congratulations to all the Top 64 members in the AKB48 32th Single Senbatsu Election!

My Pure·Hopes – NMB in AKB48’s 32th Single Senbatsu Election

In just under two months from now, on August 8th, 2013, AKB48’s 32th Single Senbatsu Election will be taking place. The election will determine the Senbatsu (Rank #1-16), Undergirls (Rank #17-32), Next Girls (Rank #33-48), and Future Girls (Rank #49-64) for the 32th AKB48 single. It will be the 5th General AKB election overall, my 3rd election since I’ve joined the 48 fandom. And for the most part, I’m feeling a little apathetic towards the whole election. I don’t know if I can bring myself to care as much for this year’s election as I have for the previous two years. That said, when the election comes around, I’ll probably be my same anxious self awaiting the results, hopeful for favorable results.

Of course, as a Minegishi Minami (Miichan) oshi, I hope she does well in the election. I don’t expect her to keep her senbatsu position, but I don’t see her falling any lower than Undergirls. No matter where she ranks, I’ll be proud of her and I hope we’ll be able to see her smile when she gives her acceptance speech. And yes, she will be getting some votes from me.

Also, as a NMB fan, I’ll be rooting for them to rank up and rank often in this election. Among the NMB members, Team N member Kishino Rika (Rika-nyan) and Team M members Koyanagi Arisa (Arii) and Yamamoto Hitomi (Hitomin) will not participate in the election, along with Team N graduates in the near-future Fukumoto Aina (Ai-nyan) and Shinohara Kanna (Kanchiru).

It seems pretty secure for me that the five NMB members (I’m including Yuihan here and excluding Ai-nyan here) who ranked last year will do so again. I see Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan) holding down her position in senbatsu. I expect both Watanabe Miyuki (Milky) and Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayanee) to challnege for senbatsu and ultimately I think Sayanee will make join Yuihan in senbatsu. I think Yamada Nana (Nana) will jump from Next Girls up to a Undergirls position and  Ogasawara Mayu (Maachun) will take her Next Girls spot, moving up form her Future Girls ranking last year.

As for new NMB entries in the election this year, I see Yoshida Akari (Akarin) and Yagura Fuuko (Fuuchan) as the most likely members to be added in. When Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo cames out, Akarin was originally a Top 5 NMB member, so I’m hoping to see her rank. And after Jo Eriko (Jo) and the rest of Team M didn’t rank last year, I can see the finally pushed once again Fuuchan grabbing a Future Girls spot. I’m also hopeful that maybe concurrent AKB and NMB member Kotani Riho (Ripopo) and Team BII ace Yabushita Shu (Shuu) can jump into the rankings. And lastly, I’m rooting for my NMB oshi, Shimada Rena (Shimarena). Like Miichan, Shimarena will be getting my votes as well.

Time to purchase some voting tickets (comes with a AKB single), I guess.

Pics of the participating NMB members after the jump.

My Pure·Delight – NMB48 in the AKB48 27th Single Senbatsu Election

This morning (last night in Japan) the results for AKB48’s 27th Single Senbatsu Election were finally announced and like many others from my timezone (US EST), I woke up early to watch every single on the live YouTube stream. Compared to last year, I really enjoyed this year’s election. There were many interesting moments to note from this year’s 64 member field from SKE48 dominating Undergirls to Umeda Ayaka (Ume-chan) finally making Senbatsu to Sashihara Rino (Sasshi) crashing the Top 4. And of course, I was happy to see my own kami-oshi Minegishi Minami (Miichan) move up a spot to #14 and make Senbatsu once again. Two of my votes to here. And I was thrilled to see NMB48 get 5 members into the Top 64.

18. Yamamoto Sayaka (23,020 votes)
19. Watanabe Miyuki (19,159 votes)
43. Fukumoto Aina (6,912 votes)
46. Yamada Nana (6,683 votes)
60. Ogasawara Mayu (5,919 votes)

Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayanee) and Watanabe Miyuki (Milky) in Undergirls, Fukumoto Aina (Ai-nyan) and Yamada Nana (Nana) in Next Girls, and Ogasawara Mayu (Maachun) in Future Girls. I’m a bit sad Maachun dropped so much from her #30 preliminary results ranking, but making Top 64 is still absolutely great for her. Ai-nyan managed to climb from her #55 ranking to past both Maachun and Nana to be the 3rd highest ranked NMB member. Still happy to see my NMB oshi Nana make Next Girls with Ai-nyan. It’s a great honor for both of them. And I’m slightly disappointed that Sayanee and Milky couldn’t crack senbatsu or lead Undergirls, but they both have high Undergirls positions, so I’m happy to see the two most popular members of NMB doing well.

As I said before, I’m also slightly concerned with the lack of a Team M or NMB KKS presence, but I expect their time to come later in any possible future elections. I really want Team M members Jo Eriko (Jo) and Shimada Rena (Shimarena) to rank in the election in the future.

Congratulations to all the Top 64 members for the AKB48 27th Single Senbatsu Election.

NMB members’ speeches from AKB48’s official YouTube channel after the jump. (Might be up for a limited time apparently)

My Pure·Intrigue – NMB48 in the 1st Day Preliminary Results

It’s been only a day since AKB48’s 26th single Manatsu no sounds good! was released and on its first day, the single has sold 1,170,554 copies. And with those copies come the voting tickets to determine the senbatsu for the 27th single. The preliminary results from the 1st day have been released. While some results, such as Oshima Yuko (Yuko) and Kashiwagi Yuki (Yukirin) being 1st and 2nd respectively, were pretty much expected, there were a few surprises. And among the preliminary Top 64 results, we have five NMB48 members making the list!

18. Yamamoto Sayaka (3,218 votes)
19. Watanabe Miyuki (2,976 votes)
31. Ogasawara Mayu (1,746 votes)
42. Yamada Nana (1,136 votes)
55. Fukumoto Aina (816 votes)

If this ranking were to hold (which it won’t because there are plenty of votes still out there), NMB48 would have three Undergirls (positions #17-32) in Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayanee), Watanabe Miyuki (Milky), and Ogasawara Mayu (Maachun). Yamada Nana (Nana) would be a Next Girl (#33-48) and Fukumoto Aina (Ai-nyan) would be a Future Girl (#49-64).

Sayanee and Milky seem certain to make the Top 64, but it’s nice to see five NMB members in position to hear their names announced during the election. I’m pleasantly surprised to Maachun up so high to #31 so early. If she can maintain her Undergirls position, I will be completely thrilled. The only disappointing thing about the results is that there are no Team M members or NMB KKS in the list so far. I expect Jo Eriko (Jo) to make a push towards making Future Girls.

It’s officially election time and I’m anxious but excited. I have yet to receive my singles, so I have not cast my votes in the election yet. Anyways, hoping for favorable results for NMB and all of my favorite girls. Have fun voting for your favorites, people!