On June 9th, ‘Ariyoshi AKB Republic’ aired a special live episode showing footage from the ‘3rd AKB48 Senbatsu General Election’.Hosts Ariyoshi Hiroyuki and AKB48’s Kojima Haruna were joined by comedians Tsuchida Teruyuki, Yamasato Ryota, and announcer Tokumitsu Kazuo, who hosted both this year and last year’s results. The crew reviewed the top 21 members, as the results cut down the list one-by-one.
We’ve got videos below from the special, and since there was a lot of drama surrounding whether it would be Oshima Yuko or Maeda Atsuko who would get 1st place this year, we’ve also included translations of their acceptance speeches and messages to each other.
Oshima Yuko’s acceptance speech:
“These vote numbers, where one person gets many votes… can it really be called an election? Shouldn’t an election be one vote per person? People around AKB say a lot of things, but for us, votes means everyone’s love. We are loved, and so are able to hold an event like this on such a large stage, in such a large budokan. Last year, I was #1 and sang a song called ‘Heavy Rotation‘ in the center position. For me, it’s a very dear song. In the next single, I’ll be #2 but I won’t feel resigned, and I will dance and sing with all my power. Thank you for all the love.”
Maeda Atsuko’s acceptance speech:
“Everyone, thank you so much. I was really able to feel encouragement and support from many people. Of course, I know there are people who don’t like me. There’s just one thing I’d like to ask: even if you dislike me, please don’t disklike AKB! This year, I want to deliver smiles to everyone with AKB48. Please take care of me.”
Maeda to Oshima:
“To Yuko…this entire year… not just this year, I have thought, that it was Yuko, and not me, that always, always pulled everyone forward. I would be very happy if you could continue to support AKB48 together with me. Thank you!”
Oshima to Maeda:
“Acchan is the face of AKB. As long as Acchan is smiling and looking forward, everything will be fine. Let’s continue looking forward together.”
source: tokyohive