Week 9 (2014)

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

AKBingo (25.2)

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: This week’s AKBingo took up from where it left off in the previous episode: the moe competition of the 48 groups continued. The girls were asked to write down what they consider an ideal girlfriend and what would be the best thing to write on a heart-shaped piece of chocolate. In addition, the girls were challenged with coming up with the best moe line in a situation given by Yoshinori, one of the judges. The climax of the episode had the girls do monomoe (a combination of monoboke and moe, iow girls use items to catch the hearts of the judges).

Analysis: Sayanee and Miichan continued their good stride from last week while the teamplay of Karen and Takamina succeeded very well. However, the biggest star of the episode was Tano who keeps taking more and more steps towards being a proper variety star. Her way of snapping back at the judges was spot-on and she was even used as the punchline of the entire episode.

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 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 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 45

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

AKBingo (5.11)

Members: Karen Iwata, Saho Iwatate, Nana Okada, Ryoka Oshima, Yuko Oshima, Asuka Kuramochi, Mako Kojima, Ayana Shinozaki, Yurina Takashima, Juri Takahashi, Miki Nishino, Ami Maeda, Minami Minegishi, Yui Yokoyama

As expected, this week’s AKBingo continued the show’s theme of pitting veteran members against younger members in a battle for laughs which is judged by old people who don’t know anything about the group. This time the girls were challenged with monoboke and janken battle, both familiar for longtime viewers of the show.

Week 44

In these weekly summaries, I go through the latest episodes of AKB48′s various shows. Sasshi appeared on Konya ha kurabetemimashita, a popular talk show in which Miichan appeared earlier this year.

AKBingo (29.10)

Members: Karen Iwata, Saho Iwatate, Nana Okada, Ryoka Oshima, Yuko Oshima, Asuka Kuramochi, Mako Kojima, Ayana Shinozaki, Yurina Takashima, Juri Takahashi, Mariya Nagao, Miki Nishino, Ami Maeda, Minami Minegishi, Suzuran Yamauchi, Yui Yokoyama

This week’s AKBingo continued last week’s theme of competition between senbatsu members and young newcomers. This time it was a what’s-in-the-box reaction game and the staff had a group of old people who don’t know anything about AKB judge whose reaction is best. The ones who took part in the game were Kojimako, Yuko, Ayanan, Miki and Miichan. Ranran and Mariyagi appeared only in the short talk part before the episode.

As expected, the Yuko and Miichan delivered.