Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Ah yes, the mess I’ve been anticipating ever since it was announced is finally here, and even before it was broadcast the entertaining mess of ‘Produce 48‘ shone through. Now though, it’s time for the real thing and the first episode.
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Introduction episodes can be boring since everybody is generally trying to not step on toes at this point and characters for the show haven’t been developed by the editors yet. But while they probably could’ve cut the running time in half instead of showing reactions like 50 times, at least we got interactions and explanations before cutting to the evaluations.
Hell yes, pander to the Korean audience to hook the people who wanted to boycott with feelings of nationalistic superiority. Let’s gooo!!!
Seriously though, the communication attempts between the Korean and Japanese contestants were so cute.
Perhaps most notable is the lengths to which ‘Produce 48’ went to explain the differences between the systems at play on the show. Like seriously, they must’ve either directly explained it or referenced it through reactions like 50 times. Miyawaki Sakura seemed to explain the situation of AKS idols well.
Meanwhile, the Korean trainees seemed to get the appeal of AKS idols.
I mean … basically.
The best part is probably judge Lee Hongki being the translator and explainer for the others since he speaks Japanese and is familiar with AKS’s system.
Anyway, all of that explaining was to setup the … well, the vast gap between the Korean trainees and the AKS members.
Oh well, at least we got murderous intent Miyawaki Sakura.
She mad? Oh yeah, she mad.
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Anyway, onto the evaluations and grading … though I couldn’t find some of the performances uploaded, which is lame.
Yuehua Entertainment
https://twitter.com/OH_mes/status/1007638475649290240
They started things and got the show off to a pleasant beginning. Polished and impressive.
Starship Entertainment
Honestly? I wasn’t that impressed with them individually, but they worked well as a unit.
Woolim Entertainment & WM Entertainment
WM Entertainment trainees danced well, but the singing was kinda whatever. Meanwhile, Woolim Entertainment trainees were quite good, but I haven’t named any names thus far because despite their skills … none made an impression on me where I desired to make note of who they are. If they show flair that interests me later, I’m sure I’ll pick up on them.
HOW Entertainment
This trio is Kim Minseo, Wang Ke, and Yoo Minyoung, who I now know because this is fucking awesome. Shut it down. Fuck the skills handwringing, this is what I want. Have a bit of personality, have some fucking fun, and add your own flair to it. Sweet.
8D Creative & Urban Works
Urban Works trainee looked stiff as shit and that’s all I noticed, while the 8D Creative girl was an absolute trainwreck, but at least she was pretty?
Fent Entertainment & Wellmade Yedang
The thing that stood out to me is the Fent Entertainment trainee looks like she’s eight but she’s getting down to Tinashe‘s “Superlove“. Alrighty. Also, the Wellmade Yedang trainee’s waist is ridiculous.
Pledis Entertainment
Basically the main event. They were quite good, but honestly Kaeun‘s grade seemed kind of inflated? I realize she has a different level of polish, but I didn’t feel like she was THAT much better than whoever the other Pledis Entertainment trainee was. Doesn’t matter though, it’s only one performance, and my hopes are high for her if for no other reason than she can do fucking something other than wait around until her contract expires.
AKB48
Goto Moe, Takeuchi Miyu, and Iwatate Saho performed the same song the HOW Entertainment trainees did but with a different arrangement and in Japanese, so me loving this was probably no surprise. Saho didn’t stand out individually but she played her role in this overall success, while Goto couldn’t sing due to her voice but still showed some star quality. Miyu was the most important, at least in the fact that she proved she could actually sing and she was the one who arranged the song for the group.
NGT48
https://twitter.com/OH_mes/status/1007648422143365120
Yamada Noe was one half of the duo that covered SNSD‘s “Gee” for their performance, but honestly? Nobody cares. It’s all about Noe’s personality.
Oh my god, so cute.
J-POP: I SLEEP
K-POP: REAL SHIT
Best freestyle dancing ever.
A rare true moment of just winging it instead of robotically repeating whatever one was practically tortured to remember. Thanks for being a fucking entertainer. A hero.
The show didn’t upload what seemed like a lot of the Japanese auditions, likely to save them the embarrassment because holy shit they were bad. Was it a shock to me? No, I definitely expected this to an extent, but some of them were truly cringe beyond even that.
Some AKS fans are pissed, and they’re fighting in the comments and wherever else, but I’m fucking dying at this mess. I actually enjoy AKS whenever I can, but obviously not for their musicality, so there’s no way it wasn’t going to become something like this at least initially.
Besides, people need to realize that they all went through auditions and the judges watched their videos before they started recording, so none of the judges were actually surprised at their level or are malicious or whatever. It’s just for the show to start a narrative and at least some will probably be the underdogs who rose up. Calm the tits, it’s reality television.
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‘Produce 48’ Voting Results After Episode 1 (Click On Tweet For Full List)
[📊] 'PRODUCE 48' Episode 1 Rankings (1)
1. Miyawaki Sakura
2. Ahn Yu Jin
3. Jang Won Young
4. Matsui Jurina
5. Lee Ga Eun
6. Jang Gyu Ri
7. Choi Ye Na
8. Lee Si An
9. Shiroma Miru
10. Jo Yu Ri
11. Wang Yi Ren
12. Kojima Mako#PRODUCE48 #프로듀스48 #PD48 #プロデュース48 pic.twitter.com/2M8UVqyklV— PRODUCE48 Update! (@PRODUCE48UPDATE) June 15, 2018
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Anyway, I think the show is off to a solid start, but my eventual enjoyment of it will admittedly be drama-related more than anything (plus the fan mess). I have minimal interest in having debates over the finer points of technical dance or singing or whatever. Thus, hopefully Matsui Jurina suplexes a bitch or two on the next episode, and maybe Miyawaki Sakura stabs somebody.
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Gud-ass summary.
