Member of the Year in the gaijin world -Sayaka ranks 2; Sae ranks 6-

First of all: gaijin = foreigner.

Every year since its creation, the AKB48 international forum Stage48 does the Member of the Year elections. This voting works by giving + points to your favorite members and - points to your disliked members.

Also, since 2008, the other international AKB48 centered board, Nihongogo, was also included in the voting.

Today, the results for the 2009 election are out and the results really surprised me.


STAGE48 results:
Sayaka ranked SECOND (+253/-18 = 235)
Sae ranked FOURTH (+171/-3 = 168)


NIHONGOGO results:
Sayaka ranked SECOND, sharing the place with Yuko (+87/-5 = 82) [Sayaka got less + points than Yuko, but also less - points]
Sae ranked EIGHTEENTH (+30/-5 = 25)


OVERALL results:
Sayaka ranked SECOND (+340/-23 = 317)
Sae ranked SIXTH (+201/-8 = 193)

So well, what can I say?


I'm really surprised, I don't remember exactly the results from 2008 but I remember they weren't that high for Sayaka, at least. That's why i didn't expect this for 2009. SO THIS IS A GREAT SURPRISE!

You may say these results are not important because they represent the opinion of people outside Japan, but since we live overseas, we have to deal with overseas fans all the time and want it or not, this is the world where we live.

I want to point out that the OVERALL winner was Yuko, who got +340 points, the same amount of + points Sayaka got. So Sayaka ranked in second place because she got much more negative points. This confirms the truth Cat pointed in her Aitakatta blog: "Sayaka is one of those girls that people either ADORE or dislike."

I still don't understand why disliking her, but... No matter how many negative points she got this time, people who appreciate Sayaka and supported her through 2009 are much more. And that makes me happy, happy ^___^

Thank you everyone for supporting Sayaka and Sae!

I'll let Sayaka know these results in my next fan letter ;)