Week 8 (2014)

In these weekly posts, I gather all the variety appearances of AKB members and briefly summarize what happened. AKBingo was on a break this week due to the Sochi Olympics.

Ariyoshi AKB Kyowakoku (17.2)

Members: Uchida Mayumi, Owada Nana, Kojima Haruna, Kobayashi Kana, Komiyama Haruka, Sato Sumire, Chikano Rina, Tsuchiyasu Mizuki, Mukaichi Mion

Summary: This week’s Kyowakoku was a radio episode with non-senbatsu members and the 15th generation members. The episode started awkwardly as the non-senbatsu failed to do what they were supposed to do: introduce their talk subjects by singing them to the tune of Tetsu and Tomo’s Nande darou gag. The girls shared episodes which clearly mark them as non-senbatsu: other members not eating Ucchi’s souvenir, Chikarina’s handshake time being shorter than kenkyuuseis’ and Suuchan being compared to a potato on the Internet. In another corner, the four brought up things in which they are better than Kojiharu: Chikarina had sung a popular CM song before joining AKB, Suuchan has Teruyuki Kagawa’s phone number (+ Chikarina is friends with Nounen Rena and Takei Emi) and Kana is more often mistaken for a hostess. The climax of the episode was an insect eating competition between the non-senbatsu members and the 15th generation members.

Analysis: This week’s episode will be remembered for a long time: it created a legend for AKB fans. It was much easier for Ariyoshi to tease the girls as they were more willing to do anything to leave a lasting impact and Kojiharu was also more eager to tease them. The seriousness and hunger of the members were also obvious so it was entertaining to watch the episode. However, the end of the episode is what will be remembered: 15th generation members eating even more insects than comedians can take usually and then Ucchi pulling off a move I don’t remember ever even seeing. The eating competition has guaranteed future appearances for Ucchi and the kenkyuusei since they have a character on the show now.

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 6 (2014)

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

AKBingo (4.2)

Members: Aigasa Moe, Iwata Karen, Iwatate Saho, Oshima Ryoka, Okada Nana, Katayama Haruka, Kitazawa Saki, Kojima Mako, Kodama Haruka, Shinozaki Ayana, Takashima Yurina, Takahashi Juri, Takahashi Minami, Tanaka Natsumi, Tano Yuka, Nishino Miki, Matsuoka Natsumi, Minegishi Minami, Murashige Anna

Summary: This week’s AKBingo saw a return to the nostalgic Shojiki Shogi format. The pairings in this episode were Haachan v Miki and Murashige v Natsumikan. In the first match the most shocking questions involved the mystery of Haachan’s real age and who Miki does not like in Team 4 while the second match was full of revelations, including Natsumikan’s collection of naughty books and Murashige’s hilarious audition footage.

Analysis: This week AKBingo succeeded in making the headlines. That is what Shojiki shogi has been made for and the questions this time were particularly provocative. Miichan’s skill as a commentator becomes obvious when Kiyoto can even crack a joke about how often she does it on AKBingo. It was also interesting to see Haruppi try out the same position for the first time and brought up at least one worthy mention so she wasn’t that bad. Haachan doesn’t have a lot of chances to flex her variety muscle these days (outside Andare), but she certainly stole the show this week thanks to the buzz about her age. Her reaction to showing her audition footage was also noteworthy.

It is also pleasing to see Yuurin gradually learning the ropes of AKBingo. While she still throws her occasional out-of-place comments, she is becoming better bit by bit. Her way of entering Murashige’s discussion was fine and seeing her go at it with Murashige was also entertaining. Murashige also did well although her good work was somewhat overshadowed by the impact of her audition footage. Natsumikan brought her A game to the episode by showing the right “I will expose your secrets” attitude. In addition she did not refuse to talk about her awkward secrets that Murashige brought up in the questions so she certainly has the right mindset for even touchy variety like Shojiki shogi.

It looks like AKBingo is doing something new next week as the preview revealed it will feature a couple of the most famous AKB analysts.

Week 5 (2014)

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

AKBingo (28.1)

Members: Aigasa Moe, Iwata Karen, Iwatate Saho, Okada Nana, Oshima Ryoka, Kashiwagi Yuki, Katayama Haruka, Kitazawa Saki, Kojima Mako, Kodama Haruka, Sashihara Rino, Sato Sumire, Shinozaki Ayana, Takashima Yurina, Takahashi Juri, Tanaka Natsumi, Tano Yuka, Nishino Miki, Minegishi Minami, Murashige Anna

Summary: This week’s AKBingo was another fashion check episode that was shot on the same day as the one aired at the end of last year. The members taking part in the competition were younger ones again (Juri, Haruppi, Murashige, Ryoka, Kojimako, Miki, Saho) while the veterans and the competitors from last time remained as commentators. It also looks like they shot Shoujiki shogi episodes on the same day and one of those episodes will be aired next week.

Analysis: Just after I got to praise Murashige for finding balance in variety, she goes on and leaves me wondering whether she has made any real progress at all. Her insistence on using -shige endings everywhere was misplaced this week. The same can also be said of Kojimako and her “gag” – she blurts it out randomly and only concerns others with it. It is not cut because it looks adorable enough, but then again she could do pretty much anything else in its place and not much would change (in temrs of being adorable). Moe also has a problem she doesn’t seem to be aware of or doesn’t know how to fix: whenever she speaks, she doesn’t put enough energy into it and her comments fall flat. With a voice as low as hers, it feels out of place in Bingo’s atmosphere. Her lack of excitement could work for her benefit if she made the right comments for her style (like Tomochin), but she hasn’t really caught up on that yet.

We also got to see good Karen-Juri chemistry as Karen set up the stage for Juri and Juri responded back cleverly. Miichan yet again showed why she is so valued in variety: she can give attention to any member, ranging from her Haachan tease (that gave Haachan the attention she would have missed otherwise) to supporting the Team 4 girls with witty comments. For Haruppi, I think it was the first time she used her IKKO jokes on TV (as fans have often compared her to IKKO due to her hair style) and it was also funny to see her interact with the other HKT members.

Week 2 (2014)

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

AKBingo (7.1)

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, Sashihara Rino, Jonishi Kei, Takahashi Juri, 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

This week’s AKBingo presented the first half of the annual Lucky Girl Ranking in which the members’ fortune for the next year is decided. Since last year’s result was a fiasco with the top and bottom actually being the other way around, the regular fortune-teller Shimada is accompanied by another one, Getters’ Iida, a former comedian. His ‘fortune-telling’ was more about the members’ personality instead of reading from hands. Most of the talk this time is centered around Iida’s tidbits about the members’ personality quirks and future possibilities which includes a prediction of Takamina gaining more acting work (and that led to her showing that she can cry fast). There were lots of HKT members featured in this week’s episode, but it looks like AKB is in the spotlight in the second part. I will be posting an analysis of this episode after next week’s episode so I can approach the Lucky Girl Ranking in its entirety.