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Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Miyuki Watanabe.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

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Monday, July 10, 2017

Nogizaka46: "Nogizaka Under Construction" show #112 recap- 18th single member selection



 Yesterday's Nogi post had some details about their upcoming untitled single but have more news about it today. Actually it was nice to watch this show, already knew what the lineup was but it's good to hear some comments from the members, only bad thing is we didn't hear anything from the 28 who weren't selected as a Senbatsu member.
 Nothing against the third generation members but kind of wish they didn't get recruited. Nogi is now just way too big at 46 members, would be 34 if you took out the third generation members which is a good number to work with. I kind of feel for some of the Undergirls who have been with Nogi for four or more years. They've been there that long yet some brand new members get promoted so quickly, that has to be disappointing to them.
 Things like that could happen at your job, wouldn't make you feel so good if someone who had been there a year took the promotion you deserved and you had been working there for five or so years. Not trying to sound angry or depressing but you like to see hard work pay off which didn't happen for this single. As a matter of fact zero Undergirls got promoted while five(!) members were demoted, can't say I'd be surprised if we didn't see some graduations from the Undergirls in the next year.


 All in all though the selections were mostly okay, really most of the members I like quite a bit made the final cut of 18. What I'll do is have a brief recap for all 18 members selected, hopefully that won't make it too long of a post. The hosts since day one of this show have been Bananaman, they do an excellent job with their duties. They also give some helpful hints to the gals and really try to keep them motivated.
 Will be going from the first name called to the final one, it's a countdown from eighteen to one. Marika has been a big fave of mine for a while and was pleasantly surprised to see she made the cut and she was the first member chosen. More than any other member she's been yo-yo'd around too often, four times she's been an Undergirl while four times she's been a Senbatsu.
 On these screenshots it shows the history of the members and what position they had on a single. When you look at them, such as this first one, the positions one and two were for being an Undergirl. The third single Marika was a Senbatsu, then back to an Undergirl for the next two singles.



 There were a few disappointments for me as far as the selections went but these first two were A-OK in my book as thought one or both of them were going to be demoted. Mai Shinuchi is the oldest Nogi member, she turned 25 back in January. This is her third time in a row being a Senbatsu but she was absent the last two times they made the announcement, she thought it may have been bad luck to appear on the show.



 Most of these intros won't be as long as the first two. Up next is Rina, when Nogi started out she was usually the center for their early singles but has dropped in popularity the last few years. On that first screenshot you can see she was the center for the first five singles.



 Reika and Yumi are often next to each other on the singles, they also do so many mag spreads and interviews together. Be a nice idea if they did a duet on a B-side, perhaps it's happened but my memory isn't what it used to be. Of course Reika has to be on every single as she's Nogi's captain. Didn't realize it until today but Yumi was an Undergirl for the first two singles.





 Final gal in the back row is Sayuri I. and she's another member who I like but still haven't done a solo post for yet. She started a small trend which was talking about the future of Nogi, she didn't get into specifics but said the group needed changes and she wished they could thank the fans in some better ways.



 The first two members chosen for the middle line were Minami and Sayuri M. who couldn't make the show due to health problems. Yesterday's post mentioned that I'm not too fond of the pair who get a free ride for the singles and don't seem to contribute nearly as much to Nogi's success as so many other members do.




 There are names for what row you're in such as 'Jyuuni Fukujin' and others which refer to you being in the front, middle or back rows but won't use those terms as it may be complicated if you're not used to them. Halfway done now and selection #9 was Erika. She's usually in the front row but her stage plays have really cut into her Nogi activities, think she's content being in the middle row and as you can see she was the center for the tenth single.



 Except for a new face here and there the Senbatsu members are the same for every single. Manatsu didn't join Nogi until their fourth single, she's been a Senbatsu ever since. She also commented on how she would like to see some changes within the group but don't think the members are allowed to go into too much detail. She also gave us a bit of a chuckle as she tripped taking her position.





 Two more members for the second line and both had been in the front row for the previous single. Actually Misa had been in the front row for that last two singles but with a pair of new centers a pair had to be dropped. During interviews Misa comes off as the most intelligent woman in the  group, she really seems to have her a better grasp on life than anyone else. Besides that, her attractiveness could be better than anyone else's too.



 Last member to be selected for the middle row was Kazumi, she and the above would have made for the perfect double center. To me Kazumi has been the backbone of Nogi for so long, kind of think management doesn't appreciate her but seems she's the most liked member within the group.



 To the front row, at one end is Asuka who was the center for Nogi's last Summer single which was "Hadashi de Summer". Never paid too much attention to her for so long but she's really grown up this last year, kind of become a much more interesting person. Age is probably a factor in that as she'll be turning nineteen next month.



 On the other end of the front line is Miona. She joined the group with a bang as she was the center for the "Barrette" single but after that she was dropped to being an Undergirl. She has worked so hard and this is the first time she's been in the front line since that single, Miona did give thanks to Nao for being her biggest supporter and all her terrific posts here.



 Next two members selected should be fairly obvious, Bananaman made the comment that if it wasn't for the two new members we may have had another double center featuring Mai. She didn't say much, as a matter of fact she seemed a bit disinterested in the happenings and was wondering if she was thinking 'when should I announce my graduation?".



 Nanase has been the other double center for a pair of singles. She's not someone who says much but when she does it makes so much sense, she did mention how in the last two years she's become much less serious and can finally laugh at herself.



 On to the pair of new centers, not saying I don't like her but Momoko was a horrible choice. She is truly just so petrified in front of people and it's not an act. Watched most of this season's 'NOGIBINGO!' episodes which featured the third generation members. On the shows Momoko was so scared to speak and it was so uncomfortable to watch her, she had some serious problems when Bananaman were asking her questions. Being a center is more than just singing the song, you're responsible for doing interviews when you're on TV, hope the other center is able to do that.




 The other center is Yuuki, she was also a bit nervous but think she'll be okay doing interviews and such on TV. Bananaman did give the two centers some excellent tips, besides being the host of the show they're also big fans of Nogi. To me wish Mizuki was the other new member joining Yuuki, she seems to have the makings of such an excellent Idol.




 No suspense as I already knew who was selected but it was still mostly a fun watch. My main disappointment was that Hinako was dropped down once again to the ranks of being an Undergirl. She has become such a popular member, think her and Asuka are the most popular with the female fans. Not much more to add, comments are always appreciated as I'm sure there's a few pleasant surprises or disappointments among Nogi's fans.














6 comments:

  1. Hard to comment on this without writing an essay haha but here goes. Kazumi always seems to take a supportive role with her motherly personality despite her and potential to take lead. Undergirls <3 each member has something interesting, some examples are Rena's Mandarin/Cantonese(forgot which one), Hina.K's love for fashion, KTK's anime and so on. Tis a shame some may not even make it to senbatsu. But their efforts don't go unnoticed that's fo sure. Momoko actually reminded me of early day Ikoma who cried quite a bit which put me off honestly but ended up liking her in the end. Momoko's case seems to be more extreme with little extra to criticize about but still betting on that she'll improve greatly throughout this single. Kinda feels like giving candy to a kid to get them to do something but i just hope there will be less to criticize about. Curious to what kinda changes they wanna make, probably not a huge one but i wonder what it would be like if things were just gen based. Ya got 1st gen doin their thang and so on. Unpractical i know so keep ya jocks on, just a thought. Anyways, there's always a s***storm when the senbatsu announcement comes haha. There's some other stuff but i forgot so i'll end it here.

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  2. Don't know the full details yet but the Undergirls may have their own album coming out. That'd be a nice gift as it's a waste having some talented gals just doing one song per single.
    Personally thought Kazumi got a bit screwed over when she released her first photobook. It came out on September 19th and was #I on the charts it's first week out. But Nanase's second PB came out just eight days after and as much as fans like Kazumi she's no match in popularity compared to Nanase.
    Bananaman also asked about her Chiba accent which doesn't get mentioned too often recently. Need to hunt down the episode but a really fine show to watch was from the second season of 'NOGIBINGO!'. Kazumi played liar Shogi with Nanami who ended up making Kazumi cry because of her accent.

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  3. An album? that's...pretty awesome!! Hina.H wanted to make a unit, she didn't go into details tho but maybe she can make a unit for the album. OH i remember that ep i think! veeeeery faintly. Kazumi's forehead was showing right? Nanami's short hair! i liked it when it was around that length. Looking at the dates of the PB releases, looks like a huge screw over coz September is the only month with 2 PBs. Everyone else has like their own month. Speaking about PBs, still haven't seen anything bout Hinako's PB :(

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  4. From what I heard Hinako's PB has been pulled but it may have had to do with a health issue as she was injured filming the group's film. However it's actually just been delayed and it will be coming out, rumor has it that Miona may have one this Autumn. Think you're right about the episode, I liked Nanami better also with shorter hair. Would have made perfect sense for Nanase's PB to come out a month or so later, after her book the next one wasn't released until January.

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  5. Oh cool. Miona eh i guess that'll be cool too. hmmm i can't think of anyone else who would deserve a PB, my list is already checked haha Ya got Misa(TT), Reika, Kazumi, oh boy i was on the edge of my seat when i heard about their PBs. i guess...2nd PB for Misa? :)

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  6. Miona would be or will be a good choice, while I like many members who haven't had a PB yet the one I'd like to see have one is Himeka. Erika's PB was quite good too, at the time never realized she looked so terrific. Bet what's going to happen is that instead of others getting a first book we'll be seeing more from Asuka, Mai, Misa and Nanase as all of their books were massive sellers.

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