Last thursday, the AKB48 Taiwan Audition took place in Taipei, Taiwan. At first, only one person was supposed to be selected, however that number was raised to a whopping 17.

With their group photo published, “48” fans and critics alike shared their opinions online.

Check out their reactions after the jump!

“Those you could say look like idols are like… 2 or 3 of them, right?!”

“I bet they wanted to let a large quantity in from the beginning!”

“Akimoto lowered the hurdle to become an idol once again, huh”

Even accustomed fans expressed their doubts on the web.

“When it comes to importing a large quantity of members from Taiwan even though the Japanese idol market is largely saturated, you know that the demise of the idol boom has come. If they don’t sell well, they’re out. It’s such a greedy business. It’s not like they’re going on forever.” (Idol critic)

What turned into a topic betwen fans was the “favorite member survey” that was carried out with the 17 that passed the audition. In first place came Mayu Watanabe, followed by Haruka Kojima and Minami Takahashi but Rino Sashihara, who won this year’s general election was not elected.

“Someone take care and put at least 1 ballot in there”

“There’s a saying in Japan that says ‘Make a senior’s face’!”

“If it’s a country that doesn’t understand our language, the person’s character doesn’t matter for the results of this ranking, huh”

With comments like these, people expressed their sympathy (?) for Sashihara.

However, Sashihara’s reign at the top isn’t just because of the quality of her face but because she’s a good leader who earns a lot of trust from even Akimoto himself.

It is planned that the 17 Taiwanese girls are going to be official AKB48 members after a final judgement when the end of this year draws closer. If there is going to be another “favorite member survey” among them, how high will the possibility of Sashihara ranking at #1 be at that time? Tell us in the comments!

(via Netallica)

Note: This article is a loose translation. There are some changes and some passages that I left out on purpose.