Why is Akimoto Sayaka part of my two top-oshis?
Sayaka was my first oshimen and has since then shared the top place with Sae, which I've gotten to know better after getting a little more into AKB. What caught my attention was her strong and fierce appearance, which could be quickly reversed in terms of personality in certain cases. As I've gotten to know her more after a while, it was then simply impossible for me to not love her and I felt really happy for having chosed her as my first oshimen.
She is that kind of person that does her best since the very beginning. Her fanbase is considered low when compared to many members of the senbatsu; she's not the cutest one, not the innocent and defenseless type that pleases the wotas so much, but her twisted tsundere personality hits a bullseye in many fans' hearts. She can be scarily serious yet she can also be ridiculously dorky and then immediately dwell and regret it or feel embarassed about the whole thing. Despite her sports-type and masculine reputation, most of Sayaka's fans know that she can be a really emotive crybaby in some situations. Having a really good voice and still improving steadily, always making the best of herself, Sayaka is fully conscient of the treasure that she holds in her hands, not ony being the captain of Team K, but also being part of the wonderful AKB world.
Sayaka has many reasons to be disliked. Being irresponsible to the point of letting scandals like 2010's one out, weird attitudes and an awkward sense of humour that simply doesn't suit everyone's tastes, being seemingly disconnected from most of the AKB groups sometimes, a manly/sporty appearance that doesn't suit the typical idol image, or just being overly "martyred" by a part of her fanbase. None of those make me love Sayaka less. In some cases, they even make me lover her more, like when it comes to her quirky attitudes and humour. And beside that, I also feel that, even though she has a considerable number of antis, I consider that the general 48 groups (well, at least AKB since I don't really know the others, sorry...) have quite a lot of respect towards her and some are really true fans of her. That should be a strong reason to believe she trully has something to be loved for, or at least reconsider your thoughts if you dislike her so much.
So, unlike Sae, Sayaka is more prone to cause negative first-impressions which can be decisive in either you being an unconditional fan or disliking her, sometimes to the point of being an anti. I am proud to say I belong to the first group and will support her until my very last possible effort for it.
