Keyakizaka46: "KeyaBingo! 3" episode one recap

 This appears as though it's going to be much different than the first two seasons and any of the AKB or Nogi shows. Don't know the full details yet as it'll be explained more in the second episode.

 That's the upcoming battle, 'Who Can Get The Most Comments from LINE or Twitter'. Off the subject for a moment, the subs for the 'Bingo!' shows are the hardest ones to read. No matter what font color I use none of them work too well. The reason for that is the graphic colors keep changing, they go from red to blue to yellow, etc. It's just on these shows as their dramas or other variety show don't have nearly as many annoying graphics.
 The competition is supposed to start on next week's show which aired tonight. The 'getting comments' part seems fine to understand but the kicker is they only count when the show is airing. How that's going to be possible is beyond me as these shows are taped days or weeks in advance. More at the bottom of the post about it but on to this show which was a battle between the Kanji and Hiragana teams.

 Two straight shows where Hiragana has been present, management has finally untied their apron strings. The two teams faced off in a four part battle, winner will be able to control next week's show. Now I'm getting anxious to watch episode two to see how this comments competition works out.

 First challenge between the two bitter rivals was called 'Strike the same Pose'. The nine members are given a theme and all of them need to try to do the same pose which is harder than it seems. First off was team Hiragana and they needed to strike a pose for a current popular comedian. The gals didn't have the same person in mind but five did who was Chiemi Blouson whoever she is. All of these challenges require teamwork, no matter how smart one member may be it's the team total that counts.

 Same pose theme for the Kanji gals, they had to do 'Strike a popular pose taking selfies if you were a teen'. Probably half the team are teens but older ones, they failed quite badly in their attempt and just got three poses that were the same. Yuuka had mentioned the pose she did was a popular one when she was a teen five years ago, some members are in their twenties.

 Hiragana then jumps out to a quick lead but with four rounds it could easily end up 2-2. The first battle wasn't all that exciting or interesting but the rest of them were all very fun. Next up was a challenge called 'Nine Letter Quiz'. The teams would be asked a question and they had to answer it in Katakana using nine characters in the exact order.
 This one required some fast thinking, Hiragana's question was kind of hard to explain as it had to do with monkeys falling from trees. Unlike me the gals weren't stumped at all and the nine were able to quickly come up with a cliche that was 100% right, the order of the characters is the hard part.

 These Hiragana gals are tough ones to beat, before you know it they'll be branching out to form their own group. On to the Kanji team who really needs to get the answer perfectly right or the competition could end soon if they don't. Their question was what sport is Yuzuru Hanyu a champion at, once again I was stumped.
 And once again the members weren't as they knew he's a champion at figure skating. Their problem was the the character order, they used one character twice and the culprit was the remedial college student Rika. Instead of using the A character she used the one for SU. Least Rika is the most talented member when it comes to boiling water.... sitting to her right was Risa, her smile during this show was one that easily could have boiled water, whew....

 After two rounds Hiragana are still up 1-0, two more victories and they're the Keya champs for team unity. Kanji should have the advantage as they've been together for almost two years now, Hiragana has been around only for about 1 1/2 years. and don't do nearly as many activities together.
 There was a second question for this round which had a picture but that was just for the Hiragana members. They were shown a pic of a dog, to me it looked like a pit bull. It wasn't but it's some sort of French dog and the members were slightly confused and got the answer wrong. Nijika from Kanji wasn't confused, she's an expert on dogs and told us what breed it was. Least Hiragana got the part of it being French correct.

 The Kanji members really need to get this next question right or they'll fall into a 0-2 hole. It was quite an easy question and they were helped immensely by the hosts of the show who are the duo of Sandwichman. The un-poser was 'What comedy duo won the 2007 M-T Grand Prix?' The members didn't have a clue, with many hints from the hosts it was almost revealed to the members that Sandwichman were the winners, perhaps they didn't want the competition to end too early.

 Round two ended in a tie as both teams got one right and wrong. Kanji needs this next match or else the challenge won't make it to the fourth round. Hiragana is up first and the theme for round three is 'Image Battle'. The gals would be asked a question about the nine members in their group, they would all point to the person who best fits the description they're given.
 Question for the Hiragana gals was 'Who is the group's biggest Airhead?'. Seven fingers quickly pointed towards Kyoko. From what I've seen of her she doesn't appear to be one but those seven members know her a tad better.

 Had they asked the same question for Kanji then it would have been too easy as we all know who would be selected. Instead their question was 'Who is the most competitive member?". Immediately all eight fingers pointed to Akane, she even pointed to herself. Watching their dramas she does give off that impression so guess she's also like that in real life as Kanji gets the victory they needed.

 That evens the match up as it comes down to a winner-take-all final round. This was a really interesting round and one that required some rapid thinking and brains. All nine members on each team had to work as one with the theme being 'Human Numbers and Letters'.
 What the nine gals had to do was form the largest number they could with all nine being together. Certainly not an easy thing to do and it's just as difficult thinking up what to do. Up first this time was the Kanji team and the nine worked as one to form the number 999 using the Kanji symbols. Solid effort but would have helped if they used the Kanji for hundreds or thousands. But viewing that bottom screenshot it was impressive they could form three nines as a team.

 Both teams had to form a number at the same time so Hiragana had no idea what they had to beat. What they accomplished was out of this world as the nine members were able to form the number.... three trillion!!!! Wow, that was something to see as they used the symbol for three and the Kanji for a trillion. That effort made them deserving champions, I was impressed with what they did.

 Like I mentioned at the very top, this post has gone on for a while, the real competition starts on the next show as the teams try to get the most comments via LINE or Twitter. By winning this battle Hiragana has the option of going first on next week's show or they could have Kanji do it. Don't know whether that means they have the whole show to themselves or that they go first to get comments by what ever method is going to be used.

 If that description for episode two sounds a bit confusing don't worry as I also am confused and bet others are. But it does make me curious about how this grudge match will play out, in a way it sounds like the 'Zankoku' drama in which they try to get as many likes as possible.
 That second episode aired tonight so will be back with the recap as soon as it's subbed. These 'Bingo!' episodes are five minutes shorter than their 'Keyakitte, Kakenai?' show and those extra minutes would have really helped to explain more about the upcoming challenge.