*I wrote a breakdown for the first Episode of Last Idol Family's new Variety Show, but the two segments are pretty self explanatory, so I'm going to skip to Ep. 2 for archiving up purposes. This was originally posted on OneHallyu on Nov. 16th.
"The of position of LaLuce's #1 Baka will be decided tonight!!"
10/20
10/20
LaLuce's Academic Test was carried out in this episode. Comedian Ito Asako joined MC's Ogiyahagi as the guest. When the members were asked who the #1 Baka in LaLuce is, everyone quickly pointed to Abe. When asked who is the smartest in the group, Midori was confident it was her. Well, she was right. Midori answered 48 out of 70 questions correct.
As is typical for these kinds of episodes on a Variety Show, questions are selected where the member's answers were either humorous or way off. Midori is up first.
(*The correct answers are in parenthesis next to the question. The members answers are right below)
Q. Please answer how to read the following Kanji.
"The neighborhood's grove of trees is gone". (Zouki bayashi)
A. Zatsu mo kurin
These are the Kanji Midori needed to write in Hiragana: "雑木林". The correct reading is "Zouki bayashi" (ぞうきばやし). It's means "a grove of trees/forest". Midori's answer was "Zatsu mo kurin" (ざつもくりん). There's a similar word "Zakkirin" (ざっきりん) which also means a type of forest, so Midori was close, but it's not the correct reading for the characters.
I did some research and her answer is technically correct, but the reading that's taught in school is "Zouki bayashi". I think her answer is supposed to be strange because it's something younger people get confused with.
Q. What is the Statue of Liberty holding in her right hand? (Taimatsu - Torch)
A. Taimatsu
Even though Midori wrote Taimatsu, she used different Kanji (大麻つ). This kind of Taimatsu means Shinto paper offerings, but can also be read as hemp. Some fans commented that they heard Marijuana is dangerous, lol.
Next up is Haruka.
Q. The S on clothing labels represents "small". What does the L represent? (Large)
A. Long
Q. What is the Capital City of America? (Washington D.C.)
A. Argentina
Q. What's the Capital City of England? (London)
A. Paris
Geography is clearly not Haruka's strong suite, lol. Airi asked where the Capitol City of Paris is. She said "Isn't it somewhere like Bangladesh?". I'm pretty sure I translated that correctly. Does she seriously not know that Paris is in France?
Now it was Airi's turn.
Q. What period came before the Showa period? (Taishou)
A. Edo
A quick History lesson:
- Showa period: 1926 - 1989
- Taishou period: 1912 - 1926
- Meiji period: 1868 - 1912
- Edo period: 1603 - 1868
Airi was way off, lol. She also had trouble with her Capital Cities.
Q. What is the Capitol City of London?
A. Argentina.
Did Haruka copy off of her or was it the other way around?! It was very suspicious so their answers were shown side by side. Possible cheating?
Next is Natsumi.
Q. In Seasoning (Sa-shi-su-se-so), if "Sa" is sugar, and "Shi" is salt, what is "So"? (Miso)
A. Sauce
This is supposed to be a common mistake. Here's some background. It's a bit long, but I think it helps put this into context.
Sa-Shi-Su-Se-So is a pun on the seasonings that are used in Japanese cooking. It's what you would call a Mnemonic phrase. Each character represents a seasoning, and the order in which it's used so it's easier to remember (A classic English Mnemonic is "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge". The first letter of each word refers to musical notes and the order you would read them). It's also happens to be written in the same order as the 5 Japanese vowels.
They go in this order:
- a, i, u, e, o.
All Hiragana and Katakana follow this order so you'll see:
- ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
- ta, chi, tsu, te, to
So "sa, shi, su, se, so" is written the same way. Anyway, here's what they all refer to:
- Sa - Satou (Sugar)
- Shi - Shio (Salt)
- Su - Su (Vinegar)
- Se - Seuyu (Soy Sauce. It's written as "Shoyu" in English)
- So - Miso (Fermented Bean Paste)
I think this enough of an explanation, so I'll stop here, lol.
When the MCs asked if anyone knew what "Se" was, Airi confidently answered "Sebura" which is "Lard/Animal Fat". That's actually what's used for Ramen. Airi is really on a role!
Natsumi's next question:
Q. Name the historical figure in the photograph. (Ghandi)
A. Mother Teresa
The guest, Asako-san, agreed with this answer. Haruka also had an interesting answer. She wrote "Claude Monet". Okay seriously, are they even trying? At least Natsumi was in the same ballpark.
Q. What is the name of the Prefecture in the red area? (Tokyo)
A. Tsu
She doesn't even know where the Capital of Japan is. According to fans, I believe what she meant to write is "Tsushi", which just means City. I guess she gave up and just wrote that.
Q. What is the full name of the President of the America?
A. Trump Human
Her reason for choosing Human was because it had "Man" in it. Midori took issue with this and asked "Then what the fuck are women?!".
A. Everest
Okay, I thought Japanse girls loved France. How do they keep getting these answers wrong? Both use the "E" character, so I guess she was close.
Q. What is the Statue of Liberty holding in her right hand? (Torch)
A. Stick (Abe wrote this in Katakana. She might be referring to a walking stick)
Q. Make a simple sentence using the following phrase "Tsuki (Moon) to Suppon (Soft Shelled Turtle)".
A. The Sun and Vinegar are as different as the Moon and the Turtle.
Tsuki to Suppon is an old Japanese phrase that essentially means "as different as Day and Night". The moon is supposed to be a symbol of beauty, while the turtle lives in the mud and has an ugly face. It represents two things that are extremely different from each other. Abe had the right idea, but the Sun and Vinegar don't really make sense as extremes.
This last question was answered incorrectly by all 5 members of LaLuce.
Q. What is the full name of this personality? (Yahagi Ken)
Abe: Yahagi Shinichi
Natsumi: Hayagi Shinichirou
Haruka: Yahagi Shinsaku (*used correct Kanji for last name)
Midori: Yahagi Kouhei (*used correct Kanji for last name)
Airi: Hagiryu Utarou
Who the hell is Airi thinking of?! She has to be trolling. The final result was announced, and the #1 Baka in LaLuce is Abe. She only answered 27 out of 70 questions correctly. On top of being a giant, and a confirmed Legend, now we can add Baka Center to her list of accomplishments!
1. Midori - 48/70
2. Natsumi - 46/70
3. Airi - 40/70
4. Haruka - 34/70
5. Abe - 27/70
After reading comments from fans, they thought Airi stood out the most because of her ridiculous answers, like thinking Paris was in Bangladesh. This was also the first real episode of the Variety Show and some fans haven't made up their mind yet. The Academic Test is a standard part of many Variety Shows, famously used by 48/46Gs. Fans enjoyed the episode, but they weren't wowed by it. It's still early, so we'll have to wait and see how it develops.
At the end, we get a short preview of the next episode, as well as a very short clip of Midori in the second episode of the Drama, "Kasouken no Onna" (Woman of Science) which airs on All-Nippon News Network. It's a suspense show that seems to have CSI elements using sophisticated technology. It's been on the air since 1999 and has run for 17 seasons to date.
I had no idea Midori was doing more acting outside of the School-Live! movie. This might be something she's doing on her own using the concurrent stipulation in the 1st Gen's contracts.
And that's the end. Will anyone score lower than Abe, or is her title of #1 Baka secure? Find out next time!
