AKB48 "1st Graduation" DVD's were Shot in the Philippines!!!

OH… MY… GOSH!!! Why isn’t this mentioned ANYWHERE?!

Founding members and now graduates of AKB48, Risa Narita, Tomomi Ohe, and Rina Nakanishi shot their “1st Graduation” Solo DVD’s right here in the Philippines!

On the scene where Risa cleans a car, the car has a Philippine license plate. It shows the text “Matatag na Republika” (Strong Republic), and the Rizal shrine.

On the scene in a Philippine public school classroom, you may notice, above Risa’s head, is a poster bearing the Philippine flag, and the Philippine map.

This shot from Risa’s Bonus Video reveals that the school shots were apparently taken at Gilutongan Elementary School.

Although Narita’s, Ohe’s and Nakanishi’s are three separate DVD’s, Narita’s and Ohe’s Limited Extra Videos show the two of them came together. Here, they say the Pancit Canton they’re having for lunch is delicious.

Where were these videos shot exactly? In the first minute of Tomomi Ohe’s Bonus Video, Narita and Ohe are shown together in the airport, and they mention the word “Cebu” many times…

Within the second to third minute of Ohe’s Bonus Video, Ohe shows us the Filipino words and phrases she has learned: “Kumusta?”, “Magandang umaga”, “Masarap” (“How are you?”, “Beautiful morning”, “Delicious”), and explains the meaning of “Kumusta”, “Maganda” and “Magandang umaga”.

Still in Ohe’s Bonus Video, she finds a tree decorated with “parols” cute. Ohe and Narita’s videos were shot during the Christmas season of 2008. (The three DVD’s were released first half of 2009, and yet almost a year after, there is no trace anywhere, not in the forums, blogs or websites, of the fact that they were shot in the Philippines. Hooray, if this is the first.)

An interview at the public school on Ohe’s Bonus Video shows the poster with the text “Taas Noo Kahit Kanino Tayo ay PILIPINO Sa Buong Mundo” (Hold Your Head High to Anyone in the World that We are Filipinos). On the other poster reads “Be proud you are a teacher the future depends on you.”

Rina Nakanishi purchases ingredients for her cooking scene in her DVD, and in this scene, the shopkeeper says “Salamat” (Thank you).

Nakanishi walking around in a Philippine public market, that is such a dream come true! (Of course, the dream involves me bumping into her and talking about AKB48 and Chocolove, among many other things.)

Nakanishi purchases “Tamago” (Japanese for egg) but since she pronounces the translation in it’s katakanized form, she pronounces it e-gu, to which the shopkeeper asks “Itlog?” (egg). She buys four, and for some reason, the shopkeeper is insistent to talk in Filipino, as he asks “Apat?” (four).

In Nakanishi’s Limited Extra Video, she explores what is apparently her hotel room, where she encounters some common Filipino snacks, among which are packs of Cebu Dried Mangoes.

Still in the Limited Extra Video, Nakanishi also cleans a car with a Philippine license plate.

Also in Nakanishi’s Limited Extra Video, a common brand of Philippine bottled water with the text I love (heart) Philippines is at the right of the screen.

Although they didn’t come together, Nakanishi’s beach shot was at the exact same beach of Narita’s, and I believe, Ohe’s.

Ever since the first gravure solo DVD I saw, Atsuko Maeda in Phuket (MU-BOU-BI), I have been hooked on watching AKB48 members’ solo DVD’s. Acchan’s video was funny and enjoyable, and it was like taking a vacation with her. Although I haven’t seen all, none of the ones I have seen so far has surpassed the quality of Acchan’s, but the others have been quite good too. The production value and music background of Reina Fujie’s was great, Rina Nakanishi’s is another virtual date, Tomomi Ohe is just cute, and seeing the parts where Erena Ono acts naturally is fun as always, but so far nothing has beaten Acchan’s scene with the stewardess and her meal (Chicken with pasta or chicken with rice?). I watched that scene countless times and it still makes me smile. Maeda is cute that way.

I should warn that these three “1st Graduation” DVD’s are more daring than the typical AKB solo DVD; you have to remember that Narita, Ohe, and Nakanishi are already graduates, so they can afford to venture in areas the typical AKB member wouldn’t dare do.

So, three founding members of AKB have been to the Philippines. I would love it if they would send more. It would be a dream for me to see an AKB member right here in the Philippines, whether I know of their arrival and intentionally go to them, or I just bump into them somewhere, either accidentally, or I pretend to accidentally bump into them. (“Hey, I know you!”) No, I will not suddenly sing to them Aitakatta, but I will recite to them everything I know about them (“You were in this subunit for your first stage, and for your second…”) Please, Aki-P and AKB Management, send more, and please contact me and I shall provide as much help as I possibly could! The good kind of help. Seriously!

Every AKB girl should go to the Philippines, but it should be obvious which AKB supergirl should definitely come back to her second country! You know, that half-Filipino powerhouse captain of Team K we fondly love, Sayaka Akimoto! As I said in a previous post, it would be nice if she would have her first photobook shot in the Philippines. And as I said before too, don’t forget to let me come along.

Yuko Oshima’s “To Yukoto” solo DVD also shows her in Guam’s Little Manila. How about going to the real Manila? I certainly would love it even if she came alone, but if she can, don’t forget to bring Sayaka and the rest of the girls!

AKB48 and the Philippines' Sexbomb Dancers

Years before AKB48 existed, around 1999, a group of all female Filipino dancers started performing on the background of the Philippines' longest-running lunchtime variety show, Eat Bulaga!, one of the few Filipino TV shows I actually enjoy watching. They were good-looking, young girls that danced quite well. They would eventually be named by the hosts as the Sexbomb Dancers, so named because they often danced to Tom Jones' hit song that time, Sexbomb. Besides dancing, and singing, I can point out a number of similarities between AKB48 and the Philippines' Sexbomb Dancers.

Sexbomb started out with only four members, and their number steadily increased as their popularity rose, although they would stop at around 20. AKB started with 20 members, and as their popularity rose, so did their numbers, with currently more than 100 in the whole AKB family. Many members have come and gone with the Sexbomb Dancers, although many of the most familiar faces have stayed for several years now. The same goes with AKB.

Sexbomb's popularity rose because they performed almost everyday (except Sundays, unless they guested someplace else) as mainstays of the very popular noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! which airs everyday except Sunday. (The name is a play on the Filipino children's phrase, It-Bulaga!, Bulaga being a word used to surprise someone.) They were accessible to people essentially everyday. So goes with AKB, because of the Akihabara theater, which they perform in everyday. (The hosts of Eat Bulaga! would rival the hosts of AKB shows. The two main hosts of Eat Bulaga!, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon, would rival the Bad Boys' Sata and Kiyoto, especially in the naughtiness department. AKBingo! has certain similarities to Eat Bulaga! such as original games, and focus on original humor. Even the names of the shows have a similar structure.)

The Sexbomb Dancers had the girl-next-door image, and had a very approachable image in the show. AKB's original image (and arguably still today) was also girl-next-door, and part of their first marketing campaigns (and still today) was that they were "idols" you can meet everyday.

AKB48 has wotas, the Sexbomb Dancers had the Kurimaws (the word doesn't mean anything, it sounds like something awful, denoting the street-image of what were supposed to be most of its fans). The image of wotas in Japan can be likened (but not the same) to Kurimaws. Each has its own chants. The fanaticism of the Kurimaws was very similar to the wotas.

AKB has several teams, Sexbomb would eventually be divided into two, the Sexbomb Singers, and the Sexbomb Dancers, where the Singers also sang original songs.

Like AKB, Sexbomb would release CD's of original songs they perform. Interestingly enough, Sexbomb's first album, Unang Putok (First Explosion) was a hit by Filipino standards, it sold over 80,000 copies (released year 2002). Their second album, Round 2, sold over 100,000 copies. Note these are albums, unlike AKB's singles. (Albums contain around 12 songs, while singles contain 1-3.) They have sold more albums throughout the years, albeit with less success.

AKB would have AKBingo! and several other weekly shows, Sexbomb would have many other TV shows, mostly with contests, like "Let's Get Aww!" and "Tok! Tok! Tok! Isang Milyon Pasok!" (Knock! Knock! Knock! One Million, Come In!). AKB stars in its own dramas, like Majisuka Gakuen. Sexbomb has a successful one-hour-a-day, every weekday (five days a week) soap opera called Daisy Siete (a play on the Spanish word for Seventeen). The long running soap opera has been around since 2003 and has been running for at least 25 seasons. (After the 7th season, each season was its own story. Interestingly enough, the 13th season, "Moshi, Moshi Chikiyaki" [ran 2006-2007] was shot in Tokyo, Japan.)

AKB performs in Japan, Sexbomb has had stints where some of their dancers go to Japan to perform for an extended length of time. (So, when is AKB coming to the Philippines?)

AKB has auditions for additional members, so did Sexbomb. AKB had Kenkyuuseis, Sexbomb once had their Showdown Sweethearts, which when disbanded, a few were absorbed by Sexbomb.

The girls have many individual endeavors, both in AKB and Sexbomb. They both guest star in various TV shows, movies and get featured in many magazines. Both have had movies where it is their members that are featured prominently. (Densen Uta [Suicide Song] for AKB, Bakit Papa? [Why Papa?] for Sexbomb.) They also do a lot of fanservice by performing in various locations.

Their songs are truly alternative, both AKB and Sexbomb. Though would fall under what Filipinos call novelty songs, many of the songs of Sexbomb, especially in the first albums, had been quite original. So goes with Aki-P's very creative lyrics for AKB.

Sexbomb is still around, but their popularity has greatly diminished compared to their heyday. What happened? One of the members, Sugar, became a point of contention between Sexbomb and Eat Bulaga! I'm not exactly sure, but I believe what happened was when Sugar left the group to study, I think, she came back to work for the rival network, and then eventually came back to Sexbomb. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, but eventually, there came a point when Sexbomb's manager wanted to fire Sugar, but since she was popular, Eat Bulaga! wanted to keep her, so when Sexbomb boycotted Eat Bulaga! because of this, Eat Bulaga! closed their relationship with Sexbomb (Sexbomb's popularity was waning at the time too). Eat Bulaga! would start another all-girl group, called the EB Babes, and although they never became as popular as the Sexbomb girls during the peak of their popularity, arguably, the EB Babes are more popular today than the Sexbomb girls. Sexbomb has already patched things up with Eat Bulaga! and appear on the show at least once a week, but they have lost much of their popularity.

Lesson for AKB: don't get tangled in management problems. I still think Sexbomb boycotting Eat Bulaga! was a bad and immature decision. I'm glad that with all the questionable and troubling management decisions AKB has experienced (for example, the Budokan shuffle), AKB has maintained their loyalty and responsibility to the fans and have hung in tight.

Let me share with you a little bit more from Sexbomb. The first one is my favorite Sexbomb song, "I'm not that Girl", along with its english translation, and a youtube "video" (actually just audio) containing the song.

I'm not that Girl
by Sexbomb Girls



Hay, buhay, talo
(Oh, life, such a loser)
Mga lalaki, puro manloloko, hmp
(Guys, all deceivers, hmp)

Mag-isip-isip nang isa, dalawa, tatlo
(Think once, twice, thrice)
Puro ka 'I love you,' 'I love you,' 'I love you'
(You're all 'I love you,' 'I love you,' 'I love you')
Everyday na lang na naririnig ko
(Everyday, I keep on hearing)
Ang 'yong mga istilo, pare-pareho
(Everyone's style, it's all the same)

Eight days a week kung tayo'y magkita
(We see each other eight days a week)
Baka magkapalit na ang ating mukha
(Our faces might accidentally get exchanged)
Telebabad sa phone 'pag uwi ng bahay
(We talk endless hours on the phone when I get home)
Panay pa ang text, aray, nakakangalay
(You also keep on texting, ouch, it gets wearisome)
'Wag mo 'kong ilipad sa 'yong magara mong kotse
(Don't drive your fancy car as if we're taking off in a runway)
Hinaan mo ang sounds, ako'y nabibingi
(Lower the volume, it's deafening)
'Wag mo 'kong daanin sa 'yong pagpapa-cute
(Don't use cuteness on me)
Alam kong gwapo ka pero huwag kang malikot
(I know you're handsome but you look like you play around)

Marami nang girls ang nakitang lumuha
(I've seen a lot of girls cry)
Pagkatapos ng lahat, naku, nakakaawa
(After everything, oh, you'll feel sorry for them)
One night stand, two night stand
(One night stand, two night stand)
Kung 'yun ang gusto mo, magkasa ka
(If that's what you want, go to a red light district)

CHORUS
I'm not that girl (what)
(I'm not that girl (what))
Na iniisip mo (ha)
(That you're thinking of (huh))
Hindi ako katulad nila, yeah (naman)
(I'm not like them, yeah (of course))
I'm not that girl (talaga)
(I'm not that girl (really))
Na hinahanap mo (promise)
(That you're looking for (promise))
Kung 'yun lang ang gusto mo (yeah)
(If that's all you want (yeah))
I'm not that girl

Lahat na yata ng boys, marunong magpanggap
(It seems like all boys know how to pretend)
Laging walang asawa 'pag babaeng kaharap
(Always single when in front of a girl)
'Can I get your number, can I call you later
('Can I get your number, can I call you later)
Can I pick you up, and how about dinner'
(Can I pick you up, and how about dinner')

Wow, grabe, talagang nakakaloka
(Wow, too much, it will really make you crazy)
At kung kakagat ka, tapos kang bata ka
(And if you take the bait, you're done for)
Ibibigay sa 'yo lahat ng gusto mo
(Will give you everything you want)
Pero ang kapalit ang pagdurusa mo
(But in exchange for your suffering)

Imagine, last night, 'yung dating boyfriend ko
(Imagine, last night, my ex-boyfriend)
Mahal na mahal ko siya pero iniwan lang ako
(I loved him so much, but he just left me)
Sumama sa tisay na kabarkada ko
(Went with my whiter-complexioned friend)
Kaya tanong sa sarili, pangit ba ako
(So I ask myself, am I ugly)

Kaya don't be mad kung pakipot ako
(So don't be mad if I play hard to get)
Aaminin ko sa 'yo, tipo mo ang gusto ko
(I will admit to you that you're my type)

Maginoo at hindi bastos
(A gentleman and not rude)
'Yan ang gusto ko, hindi ba obvious
(That's what I want, isn't it obvious)

I'm not that girl (what)
(I'm not that girl (what))
Na iniisip mo (ha)
(That you're thinking of (huh))
Hindi ako katulad nila, yeah (naman)
(I'm not like them, yeah (of course))
I'm not that girl (talaga)
(I'm not that girl (really))
Na hinahanap mo (promise)
(That you're looking for (promise))
Kung 'yun lang ang gusto mo (yeah)
(If that's all you want (yeah))
I'm not that girl

Kung iibig pang muli sa isang katulad mo
(If I'll love again someone like you)
Ang feelings mo kaya ay hindi na magbabago
(Will your feelings not change)
Kasi kung sasaktan lang at iiwanan mo
(Because if you'll just hurt and leave me)
Forget me na lang, 'yan ang pakiusap ko
(Just forget me, I ask of you)

Dahil baka masaktan lang ang puso ko sa 'yo
(Because my heart might just get hurt because of you)
Sa bandang huli, ako pa rin ang talo
(In the end, I still lose)
Kasi in love na ako
(Because I am already in love)
Pa'no mapipigilan pa ito
(How can I still stop this)

CODA
I'm not that girl (I'm not that girl, yeah)
I'm not that girl (I'm not that girl, yeah)
I'm not that girl (I'm not that girl, yeah)
I'm not that girl

My collection of Sexbomb stuff I personally had them autographed. (Click on the images to enlarge)

The leader of Sexbomb

The other members of the Sexbomb Girls [the singers] (Che would replace Monic during the time she retired)

River: The PV that Could Scare Filipinos

One time, while watching my River DVD for the nth time, I realized this PV could scare some Filipinos. AKB's military themed video suddenly reminded me of the fact that the Philippines was attacked and occupied by Japanese forces during World War II (around 1942-1945). I remember those days, I was married to my fourth wife, and we'd dodge bombs and missiles left and right...

All seriousness aside, the joke of old Filipinos still going wacky whenever they see a Japanese fellow is still done on some Filipino media. Of course, Japan has moved on to bigger and better things, while some Filipinos cling to this part of our history. I know that part of our history is nothing to be laughed at, and it was a seriously awful and horrible time for us, but this post isn't meant to bring its readers down.

I wonder what would have happened if we we're never freed from the Japanese forces. Yeah, the War was a depressing time, but for discussion purposes, let's imagine that we got over those bad days, and the Philippines became a part of Japan, and we were part of the rise of the new Japan. I'd be speaking Japanese right now! Japanese people would be everywhere here! The Philippine economy would be so much better! And I'd have more access to AKB stuff! AKB could do concerts in the Philippines! And it would be easier for me to go to the Akihabara theater!

Okay, fanciful thinking, but in reality, the Philippines has nothing to fear over the military forces of Japan these days as Japan already has a policy that they can only use their military for defensive purposes, never offensive. Besides, the AKB girls in military uniforms weren't and wouldn't be scary, they rocked. As far as I'm concerned, these girls can invade me any day.

On AKB’s Freshly Announced 2nd Compilation Album and the Hectic Schedules of the AKB People and Their Merchandise

AKB finally announces the release of their second compilation album! Yes! But they announce it the day after I closed a ton of orders! No!

What some of us Filipino fans do is we combine our orders so we can save on shipping cost since the incremental cost for additional orders is less than shipping cost if we ordered individually. Since I brilliantly decided to use paypal, which wouldn’t allow me to add to an order once the order is finalized, and since I needed to finalize the order ASAP as the stocks for a few of the orders were running out (and I didn’t want anyone to commit seppuku if it did run out), the second compilation album would have to be a separate batch from all those previous orders, which means it will get grouped with other releases for the month of April, and it likely won’t get to me ‘til late April or May. Hooray for me. I’m such a genius. Next time, remind me to just use my plain old credit card instead.

All of that aside, the compilation album, announced yesterday, Feb. 25 (Philippine time), set to be released April 7, is composed of 13 previously released tracks, but with 2 new tracks! So, it’s like they’re selling a new single, at twice the cost though, but with previously released hits, and several videos that were held from us previously. I love watching behind the scenes, making of videos, because these are where we get to see the girls get crazy and have a lot of fun. For the 2 new tracks and new videos alone, I would buy this. (And if you order through CDJapan by clicking my icons at the right side bar, you get a free random photo, and a shitajiki!) I’m not sure how well the first compilation album sold last time, but it didn’t contain any new tracks, and since this does, I expect this to sell as well as Sakura no Shiori, no, even better! Heck, this album might sell so well, I might actually see this album sold in local Philippine record bars!

I didn’t think AKB would release an album, or single, this soon. They just released Sakura no Shiori, and less than two months after it’s release, they will release the next album. This is considering there was about a four months interval between Sakura no Shiori and River. You can’t argue that these are just previously recorded tracks, since there are two new tracks, so you can forget about the “it’s easy to compile that’s why they can release it quickly” theory. The girls and Aki-P are working way more than double time now. No wonder the Budokan shuffle has been delayed this much, from the announced October 2009, to February 2010, it still hasn’t taken effect. The first stage of the first shuffled team to debut, Team K’s “Reset”, has been moved for two weeks from the previously announced Feb. 28 to March 12. This is assuming they don’t move it again. And the other two shuffled teams don’t even have shounichi / opening dates yet. The other two not-yet-shuffled teams' current stages don’t even have their closing dates yet. The girls’ schedules must be really full. We’re in episode 7 of Majisuka Gakuen, of likely 12 episodes, and it seems like they’re still shooting the rest of the series. No wonder so much of the upcoming AKB stuff to be released still have no details, only release dates, those details are probably still being finalized by Management, from details about Watarirouka Hashiratai’s 4th single Akkanbe Hashi, no covers of which have been released at the time of this writing, much less the number of tracks or any other details, eventhough they have announced its release date for a few weeks now, and it’s set to be released in about a month (I already preordered it nonetheless), to their first photobook Akkanbe, whose released cover I think is temporary, to the cover of SKE’s second single, details of which was just released recently (yet it’s already sold out in CDJapan). By the way, the title nor the cover of the second compilation album has not been released either, nor the complete track list.

So, Let’s Speculate ® on the contents of the album then! It’s actually not that hard to guess most of them, only a few will be hard to guess. So here are my guesses:

These eleven are pretty sure:

First new track
Second new track
Baby! Baby! Baby!
Oogoe Diamond
10nen Zakura
Namida Surprise
Iiwake Maybe
Tobenai Agehachou
River
Kimi no Koto ga Sukidakara
Sakura no Shiori

The final four tracks are harder to guess, but I guess they’ll use these, since they’re the ones with PV’s, and they likely will include the “The Making of” videos of all these in the compilation album’s bonus DVD’s, since none of those have been released for these, eventhough the last three tracks are recently released:

Hikuokigumo
Majisuka Rock n’ Roll
Enkyori Poster
Choose Me!

It would be nice if they included Shounichi, to commemorate the fact it was voted number one in last year’s Request Hour Setlist Best 100 (2009), but since it doesn’t have a PV, they may choose those that already have one so they can release all those “The Making Of” videos I mentioned, so all songs in the album have PV’s. (My favorite team is Team B, so I think that would be great for my team.) However, unless when they negotiated Shounichi’s release in Namida Surprise with Defstar, it included further releases, it would mean they would have to negotiate its release again with Defstar, which may be unnecessary. (This new album will be released under their second label, King Records, so songs under contract with Defstar can’t be just included.) It would be nice if they included First Love too. If they include Shounichi or First Love, they probably will not include Hikuokigumo. I’d appreciate surprises though! But the two new tracks and the videos included are enough to make me happy with this album.

The quick release, lack of details on the stuff they release, and moving of schedules, at least of the new stages, has been a bit exasperating (well, maybe not the new stages), not just for me, but I can imagine the AKB girls, and Aki-P (imagine how many songs he must have been writing, with so many singles, from AKB, SKE, Watarirouka, the new TomoTomo single, Queen & Elizabeth, and three new stages, not counting if SKE and SDN new stages are in the works too). But hey, it’s all cool! The fans are having more than their fill. But hey, Aki-P and AKB Management, I don’t mind if you take your time and get a breather, we do run out of money. But I can’t blame the mentality of strike while the iron is hot. As long as you don’t burn out the girls, and Aki-P’s writing is still excellent, we’ll take what you dish out. Bring it on!

One compilation album every two years, not bad at all.

A Look at Some Interesting and Amusing Points in the First Half of Majisuka Gakuen, and Let’s Speculate: Majisuka Gakuen’s Second Half

Majisuka Gakuen is halfway through, and since this is a great series, let’s talk about a few amusing points that have happened so far, and try to speculate on the rest of the season as well. I have a summary of the first episode here :http://filipinoakbfan.blogspot.com/2010/01/majisuka-gakuen-episode-1-english.html so I’m starting with the second episode, up to the sixth, of what I expect to be a twelve episode series.

As expected after the first episode, Nacchu has become Maeda’s sidekick, and more importantly to the story, has become her friend.

Amusingly, Nacchu is now in good terms with Team Hormone, who serve as the source of information for Nacchu, and inevitably Maeda.

The fight scene between Maeda and Kasai has so far been the best.

Reflecting on their defeat, one thing that I didn’t expect after episode 2, but after episode 6 I now believe will happen, is that the Kabuki Sisters, Kasai and Kuramochi, will side with Maeda.

The first big sign of Nacchu and Maeda’s friendship, Nacchu secretly looked for and taped back the page Kasai tore away from the nursing book Maeda is always studying.

Minami Takahashi debuts in the form of a picture as apparently Maeda’s former closest friend.

Also revealed in this episode is that Maeda works in the hospital where Yuko is recuperating.

What in the world happened to Gakuran, Sae Miyazawa, after episode 3? Sae looked great as Gakuran! I was hoping Maeda’s gang to accumulate after episode 3, but by episode 4, Gakuran was inexplicably nowhere.

Again, it is Team Hormone that reveals that the fight between Rappappa and Yabakune (High School) started with fighting over some guy. After everything they’ve been through, seeing Nacchu with Team Hormone is just so funny.

I wasn’t sure if Team Hormone would have still been around after episode 1’s beating, but I’m glad they are. Here, Team Hormone eavesdropping on Maeda and Sae was so funny. Episode 3 is probably my second favorite episode among the first six episodes; it was the funniest.

My favorite debut is when my favorite debuted. Mayuyu, Mayu Watanabe, secretly watched Maeda and Sae’s fight, as her identity is kept secret for two episodes.

Sae falling in love with Maeda was such as great storyline. Maeda’s reactions were so funny.

Sado, Mariko Shinoda, shows us her power by cleaning up Yabakune thugs. It was freaking cool.

Sae wooing Maeda was really funny. Sae is a girl, in case you’re new to the AKB fandom.

Sanshou sisters, Myao, Rabutan (a.k.a. Lovetan) and Maachan debut at the end of episode 3 to tease us for the next episode. The young girls’ debut looked scary and awesome.

Also in this episode, when Sado, Mariko Shinoda, visited Yuko, they kept talking about their looming graduation, the implications of this has not been revealed.

By episode 4, based on Maeda’s flashbacks, I believe Takahashi is either dead or in jail for killing someone.

Maeda’s conversation with her father over breakfast was funny and important. Maeda finds the fish weird.

Maeda, taking a bite of the fish her father encouraged her to eat is important later on with her scene with Nacchu. Here, her father also encourages her to make friends, which Maeda doesn’t want either.

Shibuya, Tomomi Itano, secretly commissions the Sanshou Sisters to go after Maeda.

The confrontation between the Sanshou Sisters and Team Hormone was exciting! It would have been great to see a fight between them!

Maeda’s conversation with her unusual family was very amusing. It is revealed that her mother used to be the leader of Yabakune, while the principal at Maji was her rival for Atsuko’s father, who was also the leader of Rappappa at the time. Her mother says Maeda should not join Rappappa while Maeda just says she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

The initial attack of the Sanshou sisters on Maeda is cut short by the principal, who catches a stray dart with one hand, showing her own prowess with fighting. Everyone in the school would have to obey her, wouldn’t they? She not only knows how to fight, she was the leader of Rappappa in her old days. That must be why Rappappa (and even the Sanshou sisters) has their own room in school. That’s why she’s the principal, and the students still follow her.

The principal encounters Maeda for the first time and retells the story her mother just told. She likes Maeda and tells her she could have been her daughter. They deliver a few lines in English, which was pretty funny.

Yuko talks to Maeda for the first time when they need another player for a lopsided game of dodgeball. She says she has work, but hears Yuko’s advice for one player that if you don’t want to be targeted, you should just lose. Not caring about winning or being targeted, Maeda uses this advice by not fighting back when she gets attacked again by the Sanshou sisters.

Reporting their supposed victory, Sado, Mariko Shinoda, immediately sees right through the situation that Maeda allowed herself to lose.

After flashbacks of Takahashi, and losing to no longer be targeted, Maeda tries to get rid of Nacchu, as if to avoid having friends, apparently, to avoid the pain she encountered with Takahashi, details of which have not been revealed.

After another attack by the Sanshou sisters, still not fighting back and allowing them to handcuff her to a Merry-Go-Round, Maeda is rescued by Nacchu, who remains faithful. Ultimately, it is Maeda who defeats the Sanshou sisters, but not without Nacchu. Maeda would not have knocked out Myao, if Nacchu didn’t hold her still so Maeda could reach her, since she was still handcuffed, and she would have never gotten the key to the handcuffs without Nacchu. This episode was all about friendship, as Nacchu’s loyalty with Maeda allowed the defeat of the Sanshou sisters, while the Sanshou sisters, who were berating the concept of friendship all the while, and saying you don’t need friends when you’re strong, would fall because of a lack of loyalty, when Rabutan was thrown into Maachan, and the two would argue about it, then when Myao would push Rabutan into harms way to save herself, and finally when Maachan and Rabutan would decide to leave Myao in the fight, eventhough it was their cooperation at the beginning that put Maeda on a tight spot, which Maeda was able to overcome with Nacchu’s help and sacrifices. Maeda’s father’s advice that eventhough her mother was strong, she would not have reached the top without friends, holds true.

Once again, watching the fight in secret, was Mayuyu, whose identity was still kept secret.

Nacchu shares her humorous tradition of victory with Maeda by giving her a greasy chicken wing, which Maeda reluctantly bites, a sign of Maeda accepting Nacchu’s friendship. This bite is similar to the bite on the fish her father encouraged her to eat, and now a bite on friendship, which her father also urged her to have.

Maeda also starts showing concern over Nacchu, who expresses some pain brought by the fight.

For episode 5, Nacchu bumps into a debuting Choukoku, Sayaka Akimoto, where Team Hormone explains that she has a plan to beat 99 people before challenging Yuko, the only person who has beaten her then.

In the first episode, I wondered why Komori didn’t have any speaking lines, I thought it was a coincidence, but apparently, it’s almost a running joke in the series, where for the first time, Komori attempted to speak in this episode, but was cut short by Nito. Komori doesn’t even speak when Team Hormone speaks in unison, but I’m guessing she will deliver her first line at the last episode, and it will be very funny.

The Kabuki sisters are back in this episode, but only for a short while, as they start looking like jobbers to Sayaka.

Mayuyu’s first line is with Sayaka as she introduces herself as her ally, Nezumi. Because Sayaka is missing one more person before she goes after the top girls in Rappappa, Mayuyu points out Maeda.

Yuko gets to see Maeda’s strength for the first time when she breaks up a fight in the hospital.

I did tell you Mayuyu is my favorite, right.

Amina Sato debuts as Chiharu, the pimp that takes guys' money but never comes back with a girl. Amina’s character is the only character that I’m really not sure if we’ll see more of in the next episodes, but it would be interesting how this swindler factors in the story.

Yukari Sato debuts as Sanae, a member of Yabakune, who steals Nacchu’s bike. The bike inevitably gets sold to Amina, and is retrieved by the pervert doctor. By the next episode, Nacchu gets it back.

Maeda’s conversations with Nacchu are quite amusing.

Minami Minegishi debuts as the student body president, how she got that position, nobody knows.

After Maeda and Nacchu are greeted by “Maeda is a murderer” posters, Nacchu is helped by Minegishi in taking them off, thus Nacchu acknowledges her claimed position.

Apparently, it was Mayuyu who posted the posters. Mayuyu’s character Nezumi seems to be the most sinister character of all. She says strength is not just in fighting, but in using your brains, which fits her character and her real life personality as well. This concept makes her one of Maeda’s most dangerous enemies.

Sayaka herself tests Maeda, and sees she’s the real deal.

Unable to get Maeda, Mayuyu teaches Sayaka how to get a response from Maeda, by using the phrase Majisuka ("are you serious?").

Mayuyu also meets up with Yabakune as she is apparently playing both sides. She’s a master manipulator who uses her brains. She plans on letting Sayaka or Maeda beat Yuko, and since neither cares to be the top girl in school, she convinces Yabakune this would be their best time to come in. Secretly, though, she plans on taking the top position herself.

Mayuyu’s character, Nezumi, seems to have a few screws loose, though, as she seems to be dancing privately anywhere she wants, on the stairs of Rappappa, on desks, etc. I expect her character to cry before the end of the series.

Nacchu delivers the line, “we all have a past we’d rather forget.”

Here’s one part I didn’t get, I thought Sayaka only read poems when she defeated an opponent, or is it every time she fought? Sayaka clearly mentioned Maeda was the second person to beat her.

Sayaka acknowledges the presence of Mayuyu by pausing, who once again watched the fight between Maeda and Sayaka.

The conflict between Sado and Shibuya over Maeda becomes exciting, including the part where Shinoda slaps Itano.

At the beginning of episode 6, after Yuko escaped from the hospital temporarily, Yuko and Sado, Mariko Shinoda, talk again about their coming graduation. I’m not sure if this only means they want to leave the school at the top, or if this means something else, like does Yuko have only until graduation to live.

Komori tries to say something again, but gets cut by Akicha.

Team Hormone recalls the tale of how Yuko singlehandedly beat 30 Yabakune thugs who came in the school, all the while saying, “This is fun!”

Maeda has lunch with her Mestle Mile. I wonder what Sayaka had to say about this? (Sayaka’s favorite drink is Nestle Milo.)

To the surprise of Team Hormone, Nacchu helps herself to the barbecue (actually called hormone, a type of meat), which she finds disgusting and delicious.

Shibuya finally challenges Maeda. By the way, Shibuya's personal gang is supposed to be overly make-upped as they seem to be fashionistas or glamour girls.

After Sado instructs Shibuya not to touch Maeda, Shibuya goes into a fit, giving Mayuyu her next target.

Nacchu entrusts Maeda to Team Hormone while she’s away. This non-existent alliance is very amusing.

Within Maeda’s earshot, Team Hormone says that Nacchu was a former Shibuya underling in another school, and Nacchu still fears Shibuya. Kitarie, as Unagi, accidentally says the phrase “Maji ka yo?” (Are you really serious?), which is the trigger to Maeda’s fighting frenzy (usually Majisuka = Are you serious?), so when Maeda gives them the look, they immediately apologize.

Kumi Yagami debuts as Dance, one of Shibuya’s underlings. She doesn’t have much of a part yet on episode 6 so I hope we get to see more of her! Tomochin with Kumi: cuteness overload!

Add in Mayuyu, and more cuteness overload. Mayuyu identifies herself as a Maji student and says she is for Shibuya. This time she hatches a plan for Shibuya to challenge Maeda in secret.

Shibuya sends Dance to fetch Maeda.

She gets a challenge letter from Nacchu instead. Nacchu actually went away to train. Nacchu would invite Maeda to watch the fight.

Mayuyu is dancing on the desk again, likely to celebrate the potential success of her new plan.

Thinking she did good by giving Nacchu's challenge letter, Dance gets a slap from Shibuya instead.

Yuko tries to get Maeda to open up, to no avail. Flashback of Maeda with Takahashi and Maeda running suggests something which I will mention at the end of this post. Maeda decides to head for Nacchu and Shibuya's fight, where she finds a beaten up Nacchu.

The fight between Maeda and Shibuya is highly anticipated for me, because in real life, Maeda and Itano are such close friends.

Telling Nacchu that this was Nacchu's victory against Shibuya, and that Maeda isn’t as strong as she thinks, we see Maeda tear up for Nacchu, and for the first time in the series, give at least half a smile.

Jurina Matsui debuts, whose identity is still a mystery. She disappears suddenly. I’m guessing she’s the ghost of whoever Maeda or Takahashi killed (which is also just a theory of mine), or at least is related to her.

Without saying a word, Sado looks at Yuki Kashiwagi as Black, suggesting that it’s her turn to go after Maeda.

I believe Mayuyu is the biggest antagonist of the whole series, not Yuko, as it may be somewhat obvious that Yuko and Maeda will become friends by the end of the series. Mayuyu’s character, Nezumi, seems to be the most sinister, most devious, and most crafty.

I believe either Takahashi or Maeda killed someone, by accident, in a fight, in their former school. Most likely, I believe it was Maeda’s fault, but Takahashi asked Maeda to run as she would take the fall for Maeda, but Takahashi made Maeda promise that she will now live her life seriously, thus the trigger for her fighting frenzy.

Looking great so far, and I’m always excited to catch the weekly episodes, but if I would compare Majisuka Gakuen with the previous AKB drama, Ikemendol, Majisuka Gakuen is a show you can watch with all your friends, as Ikemendol has some suggestive themes, and Majisuka has much more characters, but if not for those two reasons, I’d say Ikemendol had the better storyline, as personally, I think Ikemendol had more depth in the storyline as so many things have happened by episode 6 in Ikemendol, but then again it is hard to judge the story before it ends, and just like with Ikemendol, I might be surprised that some parts I didn’t think were important were actually very important to the series. Majisuka Gakuen’s storyline is not bad at all, I think it’s great, Ikemendol’s story just turned out to be really, really great, so that set a very high bar for AKB. Majisuka Gakuen is really great too, and I’m hoping it does exceed Ikemendol. The pace of the story is also getting faster as the episodes progress.

I look forward to the second half of the series, and the debut of some of the other characters, most prominent of which would be Rena Matsui as Gekikara, and the return of many of the other characters and the development of their characters and the storyline itself.

A great watch for AKB, and even non-AKB fans! Majisuka Gakuen rocks!