MELOS no Michi: AKB48 24th Single Janken Tournament

Yesterday was the date for the AKB48 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Tournament, the 2nd such event after the first exactly 1 year ago. This time, the tournament will be deciding the senbatsu members for AKB48's 24th Single, to be released in December.

Last year's Janken Senbatsu center was Team K's Uchida Mayumi, who was a relatively unknown member until she won the tournament. Most of the members of the Janken Senbatsu, save for 4, were new to the senbatsu positions. Will the same happen for this year? Lets take a look at the tournament round by round.

ROUND 1 & 2
Not surprisingly, the first 2 rounds saw the removal of several key regular senbatsu members. The epic battle between Akimoto Sayaka and Maeda Atsuko drew to a close with Sayaka, dressed in full medieval armor inclusive of sword and shield, cutting through her opponent to advance to the next round. Team A and Team B's captain were not so lucky though and got booted by Kikuchi Ayaka and Kojima Haruna respectively.

Other notable movements include Yokoyama Yui beaten by SKE48's Kuwabara Mizuki, Takajo Aki advancing to the next round (and beating one of the smartest girls in AKB), Kitahara Rie removing Dear J from her sights, the same for Maeda Ami to butt-master Oshima Yuko, and last year's Janken Queen Uchida Mayumi getting shat on by "Chicken Shit" Sashihara Rino.

Regular senbatsu left: Kasai Tomomi, Watanabe Mayu, Takajo Aki, Kojima Haruna, Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami, Kitahara Rie, Sashihara Rino
SKE48's representative: Kuwabara Mizuki, Matsui Jurina
NMB48's representative: Hikawa Ayame, Yamaguchi Yuuki

ROUND 3
Round 3 determines the senbatsu members of the Janken Single.

Akimoto Sayaka's armor was strong enough to block the tsundere attack from Ota AIka, getting her a spot in the Senbatsu. Flying Get's undergirls center Umeda Ayaka also managed to secure a spot in the Senbatsu, her first since Baby! Baby! Baby! some 3 years ago. Oya Shizuka also secures her first spot in Senbatsu since joining the group 4 or 5 years ago.

A big shocker to many, Watanabe Mayu was beaten by SKE48's Kuwabara Mizuki. However this came at the cost of Matsui Jurina, who succumbed to the Miichan Virus. Acchan may have been knocked out on round 2, but A. Maeda still lives on in Senbatsu. (see what I did there?)

Other notable movements include AKB48 Kenkyuusei Kobayashi Marina getting a senbatsu spot, as well as NMB48 Kenkyuusei Hikawa Ayame. And lastly Fresh Lemon Ichikawa Miori got her juice squeezed dry by Sato Sumire.

And with that, the senbatsu members for the AKB48 24th Single are...
Top 16 (Senbatsu): Hikawa Ayame, Akimoto Sayaka, Kobayashi Marina, Umeda Ayaka, Fujie Reina, Kasai Tomomi, Sato Sumire, Kuwabara Mizuki, Oya Shizuka, Kojima Haruna, Yamaguchi Yuuki, Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami, Yamauchi Suzuran, Kitahara Rie, Maeda Ami

Regular senbatsu left: Kasai Tomomi, Kojima Haruna, Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami, Kitahara Rie
SKE48's representative: Kuwabara Mizuki
NMB48's representative: Hikawa Ayame, Yamaguchi Yuuki

ROUND 4 & 5
Round 4 selects the Top 8, and Round 5 selects the Top 4 members.

Akimoto Sayaka continues onward to face Kenkyuusei Kobayashi Marina, but lost. Fujie Reina manages to beat both Kasai Tomomi and Sato Sumire, getting this left-behind member her big break.

Kojima Haruna was beaten by sexy bunny Oya Shizuka but was avenged by Shinoda Mariko, one of two regular senbatsu still left in the game. The other one is Minegishi Minami, who managed to beat Maeda Ami.

Top 8: Akimoto Sayaka, Kobayashi Marina, Fujie Reina, Sato Sumire, Oya Shizuka, Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami, Maeda Ami
Top 4: Kobayashi Marina, Fujie Reina, Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami
Regular senbatsu left: Shinoda Mariko, Minegishi Minami
SKE48's representative: -
NMB48's representative: -

ROUND 6
The top 2 members! It is worth noting that each battle from now had many draws and the winner for the battle was found out in at least 3 tries. One of the battle (I can't remember which) took as many as 5 or 6 attempts. Proof of their luck I guess

FUJIE REINA vs KOBAYASHI MARINA

On one side, we have Fujie Reina versus Kobayashi Marina. Two not so famous members fighting for their chance at the spotlight. Who will win? Well Reinyan wins and proceeds to the Top 2!

SHINODA MARIKO vs MINEGiSHI MINAMI

And on the other side is Shinoda Mariko versus Minegishi Minami. "Miichan Virus" versus "Aren't-you-too-old-for-this-already-Mariko?". Two regular senbatsu members, each have had their own share of the spotlight and are protecting their position from invasion.