Paul Thomas and his mad coding skills have struck again, and of course, I had to, had to take the poll, which this year came as a two-parter – one for individual members and one for groups. Some of the results as I filled them out should be of no surprise, others should not:

My fandom hasn’t changed very much. Reina is still on top for me, Takitty is right behind, but for whatever reason JunJun and LinLin have moved up in the ranks. Much of this ranking of individuals from #3 on down could change from day to day, though, so this is just what I was feeling tonight.

The group fandom was less hard to figure out. Morning Musume are still my favorite band, Buono! still rock, and I still like Berryz and C-ute even though I still can’t recognize some of the members on sight (obviously picking Miyabi, Momoko and Airi out thanks to their Buono! work isn’t hard, and I can recognize Risako and Chinami, but that’s about it at the moment) and C-ute’s new album hasn’t completely grabbed me yet like 10 My Me and We Are Buono! did.

I try never to let a day go by without playing some MoMusu music, no matter how many other musical mood swings I go through from day to day and week to week (In one example, for whatever reason, I went on quite the Minutemen/fIREHOSE jag the past week, as my last.fm page will attest). But, my listening habits have always been that way and that’s not likely to change, ever.

The bottom rows of both polls stayed the way they were from how Paul organized the default selections for a good reason: Erina Mano’s music hasn’t exactly grabbed me, and I’ve never listened to Guardians 4 or S/mileage so I can’t comment on them.

Other than that, I get married in 89 days (yikes – time’s flyin’!), which means that as that day looms forward I need my favorite band and their compatriots to keep me sane. That also means I have to cram in a lot of activity on here before then… and then cram in some more after the nuptials.

Major news breaking this morning as AKB48, the outsized J-pop unit that even has its own theater in Tokyo, has fired Ayaka Kikuchi from their lineup. I’m not a fan (actually, I’ve never heard a note of their music and I’m sure some folks would say I’m missing out) but this news still made me say whoa (as did the fact that Tokyograph, a frequent news source for J-Pop bloggers, actually linked to IntlWota and one of its member sites – nice job, guys!).

With such a large lineup (albeit often split into three smaller groups), I have to wonder if the departure, forced or otherwise (six members have already graduated from the group), actually affects the makeup of the band in any way. When someone graduates from Morning Musume, the effect is obvious at first with the next single to come out after the member’s departure, but the band adapts relatively quickly and continues to make high-quality music. I wonder if someone separating from AKB48 would be as noticeable as a member or two leaving a symphony orchestra – again, though, I’m not familiar with AKB48′s music so I personally don’t know for sure. I am sure, however, that like with Morning Musume, when a favorite member departs it’s a sad day for their fans. I’m sure that Cat at the AKB48 blog Aitakatta! is taking it hard – the news that Kikuchi had been caught had already upset her before today’s news broke. Being a longtime MoMusu fan, I can’t help but sympathize with AKB48 fans in an instance such as this.

Whether AKB48′s handlers are looking to be more hardcore than Up-Front Works regarding the personal lives of their contracted talent is up for debate – members have already stated in interviews long before today’s news broke that having boyfriends while being a member of the band is prohibited. It will be interesting to see if (god forbid) any of the older members gets in worse trouble for following an Aibon-esque path in their offstage lives.

ETA: Ouch. They sure moved fast. Her picture’s been ripped off of the wall at their theatre (thanks to Julia for the pic):