Week 7 (2014)

In these weekly posts, I gather all the variety appearances of AKB members and briefly summarize what happened.

AKBingo (11.2)

Members: Aigasa Moe, Azuma Rion, Anai Chihiro, Iwata Karen, Iwatate Saho, Umeta Ayano, Oshima Ryoka, Ota Aika, Okada Nana, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kimoto Kanon, Kojima Mako, Kodama Haruka, Jonishi Kei, Takahashi Minami, Takayanagi Akane, Tanaka Natsumi, Tano Yuka, Nakanishi Chiyori, Nishino Miki, Furuhata Nao, Matsui Rena, Matsuoka Natsumi, Minegishi Minami, Miyawaki Sakura, Murashige Anna, Moriyasu Madoka, Yagura Fuuko, Yamada Nana, Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki

Summary: AKBingo tried out a new format this week that reminded me of Andare’s moe corners: the program had the members come up with various moe lines in given situations. The twist is that the “moeness” of each performance was rated by famous AKB analysts: manga author Kobayashi Yoshinori, critic Uno Tsunehiro and publisher/editor Aoki Hiroiki (familiar from Sashihara no ran).

Analysis: It is weird to see AKBingo doing something so close to what Andare does. The only twist they added to the mix was having the episode revolve around the judges, which can be quite polarizing. At least Sayanee and Takamina guaranteed that even this episode had laughs and Tano’s courage to come forward even in a big group is amazing – and she even understands what to do. There will be no AKBingo episode next week due to Sochi Olympics, but it looks like the next episode will continue with this same format.

Week 51

In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows.

AKBingo (17.12)

Members: Abe Maria, Iwata Karen, Iwatate Saho, Uchiyama Natsuki, Oshima Ryoka, Oya Shizuka, Okada Nana, Kojima Mako, Shinozaki Ayana, Takahashi Juri, Takeuchi Miyu, Tano Yuka, Nagao Mariya, Nishino Miki, Maeda Ami, Yamauchi Suzuran

This week’s episode was a bit of a disappointment: there was too much laziness with the hints as Abe even didn’t give one (is that the first time this has happened?). The hyped mic performance was one of the weakest so far, with both sides being only so-so and the whole thing had to be wrapped up by Sata and not the members themselves. Ranran still sticks with her awkward style: overreacting while coming across as lighthearted and fishy doesn’t quite work. It becomes even more obvious when she is in other kind of situations, like Kyowakoku’s radio episodes.

Week 50

In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows. Shimada appeared in the popular talk show Downtown DX this week and apparently succeeded to some degree (her name reached the top of search rankings after the show).

AKBingo (10.12)

Members: Abe Maria, Iwata Karen, Uchiyama Natsuki, Oshima Ryoka, Okada Nana, Kojima Mako, Takahashi Juri, Takeuchi Miyu, Tano Yuka, Shinozaki Ayana, Nagao Mariya, Nishino Miki, Maeda Ami, Yamauchi Suzuran

With the Nana prank project coming to its end after 3 weeks, I’m not too satisfied with its outcome. If it turns out to be a bigger success later on, then I’m fine with it. However, I think the staff screwed up it to some degree. The peak came with the centaur climax last week and the other prank this week wasn’t a satisfying follow-up to it. Most likely they did it that way to get Nana’s own reaction, but she didn’t show much of a reaction, as it could be expected. Oya and Sahhoo did well as prank helpers and Tano’s fineplay was a life-saver this week as well. Her and the director’s reactions were needed to save the last prank. I can understand Kojimako being picky with the food since I am myself quite like that, but for a Japanese TV talent that is unacceptable as pretty much everyone have to be able to do gourmet reports.

Week 49

Sorry for the delay this week. I thought I had published this last weekend, but WordPress screwed it up and I didn’t notice until now. In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows. This week there was an hour-long special of Karen no fukkou calendar and Sakiko participated for the second time in Teppen‘s piano competition.

AKBingo (3.12)

Members: Abe Maria, Iwata Karen, Iwatate Saho, Uchiyama Natsuki, Oshima Ryoka, Oya Shizuka, Okada Nana, Kojima Mako, Takahashi Juri, Takeuchi Miyu, Tano Yuka, Shinozaki Ayana, Nagao Mariya, Nishino Miki, Maeda Ami, Yamauchi Suzuran

This prank project doesn’t give me much of a chance to write about the members themselves. I’m personally not that fond of the way the prank is presented: there’s too much explanation and repetition of ‘majime’ for the prank itself to have an impact. The editing raises expectations way too high and the constant explanation is a bit overbearing. I think it would work better if the prank was presented in a less dramatic and predictable way. At least the ending of this week’s episode was memorable so I’m hoping next week leaves the impact this prank should leave in the first place. As a side note, I love how the staff used Tano in this week’s episode – pure delight for the fans who like her cheeky personality.

Week 48

In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows. This week saw AKB members making many solo appearances in non-AKB shows and I found the time to write about them, instead of just namedropping them.

AKBingo (26.11)

Members: Maria Abe, Karen Iwata, Natsuki Uchiyama, Ryoka Oshima, Nana Okada, Mako Kojima, Juri Takahashi, Miyu Takeuchi, Yuka Tano, Ayana Shinozaki, Mariya Nagao, Miki Nishino, Ami Maeda, Suzuran Yamauchi

This week’s AKBingo was the first part of a multi-episode Nana prank. The show is clearly hopping onto her serious character that has become one of the highlights of the show this year. This episode was quite different from AKBingo’s usual, with a heavy focus on a long VTR with various people from the management sharing stories of Nana’s personality and the first part of the prank which how scarily well Nana listens to pretty much anything that is said to her.

Week 47

In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows. Kitarie appeared on Jinsei ga kawaru ippunkan no fukaii hanashi’s Ghibli special, but didn’t do much apart from revealing that she loves Princess Mononoke so much that she knows pretty much all the lines of the film and acted out one scene from the film. The episode itself was quite interesting for a Ghibli fan, but for an AKB fan it’s not a necessary view. Yuihan appeared on Konya kurabetemimashita as one of three female celebrities from Kyoto.

AKBingo (19.11)

Members: Maria Abe, Karen Iwata, Saho Iwatate, Natsuki Uchiyama, Ryoka Oshima, Shizuka Oya, Nana Okada, Mako Kojima, Ayana Shinozaki, Juri Takahashi, Miyu Takeuchi, Yuka Tano, Mariya Nagao, Miki Nishino, Ami Maeda, Suzuran Yamauchi

AKBingo made a refreshing return to the old Battle Burger Shop competition with mostly new members who have not taken part in it before. A few veterans were brought along to make sure it goes smoothly and the likes of Ami and Oya did their part and you could see the staff placed them in the most important spots to take advantage of their experience. However, Oya remained surprisingly quiet in overall, but there was no special need for her to butt in since the younger members did well by themselves.

Week 42: AKBingo

This week’s AKBingo proved to be so fruitful that I decided to give it its own article. Like last week we got a new episode of the popular Omoide Quiz Kotaete Toozen corner (Toozen for short), but this time the members participating in it were Karen as the dealer and Tomu, Tano, Juri, Miyupon and Ryoka as the players.