Rejoice, Yuko wotaku! Your queen has returned to the throne! That is, it would be a throne if monarchies were democracies. Perhaps it's more apropos to say that Yuko "Yuuko" Oshima of Team K has carried the vote, taking the top spot in the latest AKB48 Election, which was streamed worldwide not a few hours ago.

Thanks to the votes of the hundred thousand-odd fans who bought her singles and hammered on their Google+ "Plus-1" buttons, Yuko will now take center position in the group's next single. Her name will become legend, synonymous with love, freedom, and live entertainment in the grim darkness of the far future.

This'll be the second time she's taken office, after winning it in 2010 and losing it again to Atsuko Maeda the following year. In second place came Mayu "Mayuyu" Watanabe, followed by Yuki "Yukirin" Kashiwagi. Tomomi "Tomochin" Itano came in a slightly more distant 8th place, but she can comfort herself in the fact that the next couple of centuries will be kind to her descendants.

Check out Yuko's victory speech (in Japanese) below, along with a list of the top ten vote-grabbers. Also pictures.