AKB48 45th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo ~Bokutachi wa Dare ni Tsuiteikeba ii~

The votes are in. The stage is set at the HARD OFF ECO Stadium Niigata. Fans sit in anticipation, soon to be joined by the girls vying for the elusive Senbatsu. It’s AKB48 Sousenkyo time.

The AKB48 45th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo ~Bokutachi wa Dare ni Tsuiteikeba ii~ (45thシングル 選抜総選挙～僕たちは誰について行けばいい？～) was held on June 18th, 2016. This was the 8th annual AKB48 Group members election, where fans vote for their favorite members. Fans could cast their votes through anyone of 20 different methods (including buying the 44th single, "Tubasa ​wa Iranai”). Out of the 271 girls who entered themselves into the running, 80 will participate on the single as one of 5 groupings which were distributed as follows:

1st-16th place: Senbatsu (A-side or main song)
17th-32nd place: Undergirls (B-side 1)
33rd-48th place: Next Girls (B-side 2)
49th-65th place: Future Girls (B-side 3)
65th-80th place: Upcoming Girls (B-side 4)

​(results and more after the break)

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This year's results were full of surprises, as always as well as a graduation announcement from Team A member Kojima Haruna. This announcement, however, was not one of the surprises as Kojima (known to fans as "Kojiharu" and "Harunyan") is currently the oldest member of the group as well as one of the two remaining members that were with the group when it debuted (the other being Minegishi Minami). Her entrance into the Sousenkyo this year was under the alias "Nyan Nyan Kamen" and included a skit with graduated member, Oshima Yuko. Graduation was also brought up by a few other members, but none were planning to announce in the near future.

The 80 rankings can be seen below 

Senbatsu

1. Sashihara Rino
2. Watanabe Mayu
3. Matsui Jurina
4. Yamamoto Sayaka
5. Kashiwagi Yuki
6. Miyawaki Sakura
7. Suda Akari
8. Shimazaki Haruka
9. Kodama Haruka
10. Muto Tomu
11. Yokoyama Yui
12. Kitahara Rie
13. Mukaichi Mion
14. Okada Nana
15. Takahashi Juri
16. Nyan Nyan Kamen*

*Actually Kojima Haruna

Undergirls

17. Minegishi Minami
18. Iriyama Anna
19. Kojima Mako
20. Takayanagi Akane
21. Komiyama Haruka
22. Oba Mina
23. Tomonaga MIo
24. Shiroma Miru
25. Okita Ayaka
26. Kato Rena
27. Kawamoto Saya
28. Yabuki Nako
29. Furuhata Nao
30. Souda Sarina
31. Takeuchi Saki
​32. Oshima Ryoka

Next Girls

33. Yagura Fuuko
34. Kuranoo Narumi
35. Ego Yuna
36. Motomura Aoi
37. Kizaki Yuria
38. Sasaki Yukari
39. Yabushita Shu
40. Fuchigami Mai
41. Fujie Reina
42. Tomiyoshi Asuka
43. Tashima Meru
44. Sutou Ririka
45. Tanaka Miku
46. Matsuoka Natsumi
47. Mogi Shinobu
​48. Inoue Yuriya

Future Girls

49. Futamura Haruka
50. Moriyasu Madoka
51. Iwatate Saho
52. Ota Yuuri
53. Kojina Yui
54. Takeuchi Mai
55. Tani Marika
56. Shibuya Nagisa
57. Okada Ayaka
58. Ueki Nao
59. Sakaguchi Riko
60. Komada Hiroka
61. Nishino Miki
62. Owada Nana
63. Sakai Mei
64. Kitagawa Ryoha

​

 Upcoming Girls

65. Miyamae Ami
66. Kishino Rika
67. Kumazaki Haruka
68. Kimoto Kanon
69. Taniguchi Megu
70. Sakaguchi Nagisa
71. Yamauchi Suzuran
72. Akiyoshi Yuka
73. Omori Miyu
74. Kamata Natsuki
75. Sato Sumire
76. Kato Minami
77. Yoshida Akari
78. Miyazaki Miho
79. Hidaka Yuzuki
​80. Murashige Anna

~Marisuga