Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
The eighth episode of ‘Produce 48‘ has arrived and it was by far the most brutal for many, as the second eliminations really saw viewers lose a lot of contestants that they were attached to. Worse yet, surprisingly the results were all over the place, with many seeing massive shifts in rank.
Like with the last cuts, I’d watch the episode since there isn’t much going on besides that.
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Okay, so let’s get to the fucking rankings already.
Produce 48 Episode 8 – 2nd Elimination Ranking
byu/tastetherainbeau inProduce48
WHAT IN THE FUCK
Okay, I’m happy that Park Haeyoon seems to be getting her due, because she checks off a lot of boxes for the final group, IMO. That said, Takeuchi Miyu plummeting all the way down on the verge of elimination was shocking.
Man … shit. I’m not sure if Mnet heard the complaints that the first rankings show lacked tension and decided to rig this outcome or what, but seeing her plight certainly brought that back. Shit, even the contestants themselves felt for her. Well … that woke me up. In a way, I guess that’s just what the show needed.
Tension sure, but also drama and tears. SO MANY TEARS.
Still though, I’m not sure the battle for #1 has mattered to me all that much. Honestly, I kinda think a lot of that falls on Mnet, as there hasn’t been any real rivalries attempted. Sure, they did Yabuki Nako/Heo Yunjin, but they weren’t that close in rankings before, so it didn’t mean a whole lot.
I dunno, Jang Wonyoung seems like a nice kid, but she’s also barely a teen. If she makes the final group, I think either it limits the range of concepts they can do or they do maturer concepts anyway and things are even more uncomfortable than they usually are in K-pop.
While many are worried about Miyawaki Sakura dropping, I do think that she has enough individual stans to maintain her Top 12 position when the voting changes. It’s actually Kaeun that I’m worried about, because while many people know her and like her, I’m not sure how many people feel passionately for her in Korea. I hope to be wrong as she’s in my Top 12, but the drop seems significant.
The biggest riser was Han Chowon, who skyrocketed 38 spots after her standout performance.
The biggest faller was Yamada Noe, who dropped 24 spots and I’m not totally sure why, honestly. Realistically, I didn’t expect her and Nakanishi Chiyori to make the final group, but I did think they were assets to the show in terms of pure entertainment value, so they’ll definitely be missed.
For the most part there was just a lot of confusion. I’m honestly not THAT pressed about anybody eliminated, as there wasn’t anybody that was dropped out of my Top 12 (thanks to Chowon and Haeyoon miracles), but it definitely didn’t go the way I thought it would.
By the way, there’s only three Japanese contestants in the Top 12 and only 10 left total, so the narrative that wota are dominating the voting doesn’t necessarily appear to be the case so far. Also gonna be hard to blame them for the direction of the show now when so many have effectively been phased out. The fan complaining should get interesting.
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In terms of shit to watch, here’s the concept evaluation dance practice videos, which include the eliminated trainees because Mnet feed on your tears, bitch.
[48 Special] Concept Evaluation Dance Practice Videos
byu/tastetherainbeau inProduce48
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Boycott update!
There was surge of interest that helped to reverse a worrying trend, as ratings ticked up by 0.3 back to 2.4. Definitely what they needed, though I do wonder what this wild elimination will do for ratings. Will it turn a lot of people off or was all the drama the moment it needed to heighten interest?
