Selective Hearing Radio

The Selective Hearing staff and guest got together to talk about the result of the third season of Produce 101 (a.k.a. Produce 48) and the new K-Pop girl group that spawned from it called IZ*ONE.

Introductions

• What you been up to?
• What are you working on for the site? 
• Who are IZ*ONE?

• Quick history from Produce 48 
• Quick feelings on the Produce 48 finale 

Successes of IZ*ONE

• Highest First Week Sales by a Girl Group for their Debut Album 
• La Vie En Rose Becomes K-Pop Group Debut MV With the Most Views in 24 Hours 
• First win on M Countdown
• Fastest to win on an award show, winning in 10 days

Social media blitz

• teasers, website, Vlive streams, Youtube videos (IZ*One Chu daily countdown videos etc) 
• Debut show COLOR*IZ Show Con sold out in under a minute 
• Successful live stream of COLOR*IZ Show Con on YouTube 
• IZ*ONE CHU reality show 
• WI*ZONE and whales IZ*ONE 

Controversies

• Lack of physical CD inventory in both Korea and Japan. 
• Staggered releases on streaming services, region locked via country location. 
• Kang Hyewon intro on Idol Room promoting Attack on Titan Season 3 
• Petition to ban IZ*ONE from appearing on Music Bank “We’re In Love, RIght?” Deemed unfit for broadcast twice?
• La Vie En Rose was Originally CLC’s Song 

Who Would You Replace Game

• A girl is named from the Produce 48 finalists and you have to replace her with one of the current IZ*ONE members. 

Who would you replace and why?

IZ*ONE TRIVIA

• How many questions can you guess correctly?

Closing

• Future hopes for IZ*ONE 
• Say your goodbyes!

The Selective Hearing staff and a special guest gathered to discuss AKB48’s 10th World Senbatsu Sousenkyo and make bold predictions on the final results. We claim no responsibility for any monetary losses you may incur based on our bullshit. Remember, the opinions in this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the other Selective Hearing staff and our partners/affiliates.

Panel Questions

• Is This Really A “World Senbatsu”? Theater no longer accepts foreign credit cards Chinese fans use prepaid debit, so this does not affect them Other fans are stuck with Buyee, which has a guarantee on when CDs get shipped to them Amex is still accepted Japanese phone numbers are needed to verify that no fans vote multiple times with a single mobame account Mention the sister groups participating and those that aren’t JKT48 declined because of Ramadan 

• Tons of BNK girls not in as well as a few of TPE girls At least the website is nice – https://www.akb48.co.jp/sousenkyo53rd 

• Notable girls not participating Teacher Teacher Sells 2.5 Million WTF? How is this possible? I thought 48G was declining?
• Your feelings about Teacher Teacher single he impact this will have on this year’s election 

Livetream thoughts

• HKT stream constant buffering. 
• Reactions from other group streams Predictions 
• Biggest surprises Kami 7? 
• Top 3? 
• What will be the shocking surprise for #1 this year 
• Quiz Time!

The Selective Hearing wrestling crew gather to discuss Wrestlemania 34. We had no script for this and were basically were talking out of our asses for the entire 2 hours. What we generally covered was the following: 

• Will the Undertaker face John Cena? If so, in which incarnation will he return as? 
• Predictions for NXT Takeover: New Orleans and who might be moving up to the main roster after Wrestlemania. 
• How long will the Wrestlemania kickoff show be?
• What matches we think will be on the Wrestlemania kickoff and what will be on the main show. 
• Which battle royale are we looking forward to the most? The male or female one?
• Predicting the outcomes of all the championship matches. Who will Braun Strowman’s mystery partner be? 
• If Shane McMahon is unable to compete who will Daniel Bryan’s partner be?
• Overall hype level for Wrestlemania 34 

As always the opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of Selective Hearing’s affiliates or the other contributors to the site.

The Selective Hearing staff gather to analyze the rankings in AKB48’s 49th Single Sousenkyo. The opinions expressed in this broadcast do not necessarily reflect those of the other Selective Hearing staff/contributors, our partners and/or affiliates.

UPCOMING GIRLS

• Matsuoka Hana takes the title of Ms. Irrelevant. Guess we were wrong on that one.
• Who are you more sad about? Mogi diving hard or Tani Marika dropping again?

FUTURE GIRLS

• Yamaguchi Maho, toothy but pretty girl. Those who know more about her, tell us her story.
• Oguri Yui ranks and she doesn’t like her nickname. So cute yes?
• After opting out last year Tanigawa returns to the land of the ranked members. Were you crying tears of joy?
• Tanaka Natsumi makes significant gains. Are you happier for her or for the other 2 members who made similar moves up the ladder?
• Kitagawa makes absolutely no movement this year. She looked pretty disappointed in her lack of anything. What are your thoughts?

NEXT GIRLS

UNDERGIRLS

• Oba Mina takes the coveted scandal ranking of #26. What will her second scandal be? Or will she just repeat what she did before?
• Mukaichi becomes the only senbatsu member from last year to rank down. Is it because she turned heel in Tofu Pro Wrestling or is there a more plausible reason for this downswing of momentum?
• Two members had large jumps in ranking from last year. Which one do you think deserved the mega push?
• The big event coming out of this ranking group was Sutou Ririka announcing her engagement to an unknown person. What was your reaction to this? Is she trolling or is it the real deal? How bad did you feel for Minegishi having to follow up that?
• SKE48’s resident senior citizen returns to the Undergirls. Is she fated to be Undergirls forever?

SENBATSU

• Honma Hinata (NGT48 TEAM N3)
• Who? The only Honma known to most casuals is the one who does the Kokeshi in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

• Another 2 large leaps in ranks from Yoshida Akari and Ogino Yuka with the latter failing to make enough gains to take #1. Are you disappointed that Ogino’s fans were unable to keep her on top or is this more than respectable showing moving 90 places up in rank?

• Okay, admit it. Ogino Yuka made you cry with her speech about never giving up and living your dreams. Is she John Cena’s catch phrase in idol form?
• Shiroma Miru becomes the new Watanabe Miyuki. Do you see her moving up past #12 in the years to come (assuming she doesn’t graduate)?
• Did you celebrate for Yoshida Akari?
• Miyawaki Sakura does not generate enough votes to get past #4. Are you happy that she is stuck in limbo or sad she didn’t get higher?
• The top 3 remain the same this year as expected. Matsui Jurina seems to be entrenched in the forever third spot. Is she destined to stay here until she finally gives up and stops entering the election?

• Watanabe Mayu announces her graduation. How many fans do you think are done with AKB once she leaves? What do you think her future career will be? Actress? JAV? Both?
• Sashihara Rino breaks vote count records again. There is the assumption that she is throwing shade at Mayu after complimenting Jurina on her willingness to do battle again next year. Do you believe that is the case or are people reading way into things?
• What did you think of the awkward hug between Mayu & Sasshi. Did you secretly wish they just kissed?
• Should they just retire Sasshi’s senbatsu election jersey next year? She seems pretty unstoppable until she decides to not take part anymore.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• What do you think was the biggest story coming out of this event?
• Outdoor portion gets rained out and AKS is forced to scramble to Plan B.
• Suto Ririka drops a bomb and announces she’s getting married
• Watanabe Mayu announces her graduation
• Sashihara Rino breaks vote count again

Election Observations

This year’s outdoor event was cancelled due to weather. According to pictures posted from the venue there was going to be a big waterslide used during the concert. Reports from members also indicated the return of disgusting bikinis.

When the official cancellation announcement was made fan rage came quick and fast.

Who do you believe had the most right to be upset?

People who bought tickets/JTB travel packs?
Fans who invested heavily financially in votes?
Overseas fans.
None of the above.

Did you think all of the rage was was warranted?

How much do you think this cancellation & its fallout will hurt the 48 brand?

Sashihara Rino did not hold back on her opinion that this year’s event was poorly planned. Do you agree with her assessment?

Despite the weather stoppage of the outdoor concert the election itself was held in a community center. Fans in Okinawa were able to watch the voting results via CCTV in the tent area that was to serve as the dressing room for outdoor event. Was this an okay consolation prize for fans who attended?

What did you think of this smaller scale sousenkyo? Was the lack of fans inside the building apparent?

Actually hearing the other members cheer and applaud rather than old men was rather refreshing wasn’t it? Them NGT and HKT girls sure got hype.

Team 8 gets more member ranks this year. Did they make you (and Toyota) proud of their accomplishments? Do you think any of them will get some free cars out of this?

Your thoughts on this year’s ugly chair? FUGLY or just over the top enough for this event?

Topic 1: General Election Talk

- What are your thoughts on this year’s crop of quitters and dropouts?
- Who is the most surprising non-participant? Of those who entered into this year’s election, who do you think should have thought twice since they have no chance of ranking?
- Are you going to stay up and watch this thing or just do the sensible thing and sleep and watch the Internet explode in the morning?

Topic 2: Observations

The prelim rankings have been released. So much for a boring and pedestrian election this year.

- The senbatsu has a very different look based on opening numbers. Did you expect this to happen so quickly with all the openings made available? Or were you expecting the same old same old with little to no competition at the top?
- Just who is Ogino Yuka and which shadow organization is pushing her to the top?
- What are your thoughts on possible voter fraud? A 90 place jump seems for a relatively unknown (in the grand scheme of all that is AKB and its sister groups) member seems rather fishy doesn’t it? 
- Is Jurina destined to never make #1? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride? Will her fans push her to the top when all is said and done?
- Is this the end of the Sashihara/Watanabe reign at the top? Or will their respective fan bases somehow find ways to get them gains in the end?
- Sutou Ririka seems to have swindled her way into top of Undergirls through strategic Mahjong. Will she have enough of the votes from chronically addicted gamblers and the elderly who like to play the game to stay there?
- NGT appears to be the group who will get the mega push from their fans this year. Agree or disagree?
- The number of votes to just place into the election appears to rise every year. It is possible it could be between 14k - 15k just to place at 80. Do you think that might be too high or will it say closer to the mid 13k mark like last year?

Topic 3: Pick a Winner

- Who is going to be 2017’s Ms. Irrelevant? (#80)
- Who takes the “Scandal Ranking” (#26) and what do you think this person’s scandal will be?
- Pick your center for each of the non-senbatsu group rankings
- Out of the top 5 in the preliminary rankings who takes the top prize? Or do you believe it will be someone unexpected?
- Last question, if you were to base the election on who will get an ugly ass painting who do you believe should win?

Matches

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) for the WWE Universal Championship
The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
Triple H vs. Seth Rollins
Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin for the Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens for the U.S. Championship
John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Championship
Alexa Bliss vs. every woman available on Smackdown for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
Neville vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the RAW Tag Team Championship
Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale

Recorded July 4, 2016
Running Time: 02:44:04

OPENING – Booker T Theme Song “Rap Sheet”

Panel Questions

TOPIC 1: Pre-show concert

Did you watch? What major announcements were made if any?

TOPIC 2: General Nonsense

Did you watch alone in your room clutching to your oshi pillow in anticipation of your fave getting called up? Or were you huddled around a computer screen/TV with other wota in the same room?

At what point during the show did you pass out? Or did you manage to make all the way to the end without falling asleep?

How beat were you the day after? Did you have to work or have other commitments that were not as enjoyable due to your obsession with seeing young girls cry about arbitrary rankings?

TOPIC 3: Election Observations

Overall presentation of show? What did you think?

Was this the year of the HKT lolis and lesser SKE members?

Why did NMB get no love?

Were you happy that the the lower ranked speeches were kept short and to the point? Or did this just prolong the agony for the long winded senbatsu speeches.

BS Sky is great, but boo to them for cutting out just before senbatsu and making us watch the shitty Fuji TV feed instead.

TOPIC 4: Election Rankings

Upcoming Girls

Congratulations to Allen for correctly predicting that Murashige Anna would become 2016’s Ms. Irrelevant.

Who was ranked too low? Who was ranked too high? (*cough*KATOMINAMI*cough*)

Are you sad that Myao ended up here? Any other surprises?

Miyamae Ami is center, are you happy she is ending her SKE career in this manner?

Future Girls

A great injustice has been done to Kitagawa Ryoha, too low. Agree or disagree?

Nishino Miki finally ranks. Did you mark out in joyful celebration or scoff at this living convulsion taking up a spot someone else should have?

Tani Marika drops 32 spots. What do you believe was the cause of this? Lack of BBQ? The known fact she likes living in eternal messiness? People just fed up with her? Better members to vote for this year? Why God why?

Next Girls

Sutou Ririka, Tanaka Miku, Ego Yuna and Team 8’s lone soldier Kuranoo Narumi are the most notable debuts in this grouping. Who amongst these girls has the brightest future?

Kizaki Yuria drops 15 spots into Next Girls. Has she peaked? Is it a downhill slide into obscurity from here?

Undergirls

How about that Yabuki Nako? Or are you team Miku and are loathing this placement?

The Joker (Komiyama Haruka) makes a fairly high debut. Well deserved or too high?

Takayanagi Akane drops out of senbatsu into undergirls. Expected or did you have that small glimmer of hope her fans would help her keep her spot? Is this also going to lead to a downward trend for her as well?

Minegishi Minami is Undergirls center. Are you content with this? You think she gonna get all these bitches all on the Rizap workout and we’ll have buff Undegirls who can lift cars?

Senbatsu

Takahashi Juri, Okada Nana, Mukaichi Mion and Kodama Haruka bring freshness to the senbatsu.

• Mukaichi Mion makes a huge gain from last year’s ranking (31 spots). Believe in the DSLs.
• Okada Nana discusses her eating disorder and her resolve to overcome. Depressing speech or inspirational?
• Haruppi’s pain has ended. Praise Jebus she is in senbatsu.
• Lastly, yay for dead eye.

Muto ends up not being the odd girl out and ranked up. We were wrong on that one weren’t we?

Speaking of being wrong, Paruru does not drop out either. But she does say she will no longer participate. Thoughts?

Suda Akari’s hair. Short ain’t a good look for her. Agree or disagree?

Matsui Jurina and Yamamoto Sayaka rank up while Kashiwagi Yuki falls to 5th. Should we consider Kashiwagi as another who will trend down? Neither Jurina or Sayanee get close to Mayuyu’s number of votes. So much for someone breaking the trend of 2 people dominating the top huh?

Watanabe Mayu fears that AKB is in crisis because all the old hags are leaving. Do you agree or have you moved on to the next generation of members who will carry the group forward?

Sashihara Rino bests Watanabe Mayu by 67,398 votes becoming the first back to back winner and also first 3-time winner. She also breaks the 200,000 vote barrier. Do you think any member will be able to top her or is this the beginning of an Undertaker-like streak?

TOPIC 5: Final thoughts

Were you satisfied with the results of this year’s election? Why do you think so many people get so much butthurt when Sashihara Rino wins?

What kind of song do you expect for the Sashihara led single? Will this follow the pattern of years past where they make a dance type video that staff and people all over the world copycat or has that become a little cliche?

Any other random tidbits you’d like to mention before closing podcast?

ENDING – AKB48 – 翼はいらない

OPENING: Three 6 Mafia – Some Bodies Gonna Get It

Points of interest for this year’s election

• The first election to feature NGT48 members
• The first election to announce more members as 1st day results than actually will rank
• On March 23rd, staff members received an application from Nyan Nyan Kamen (にゃんにゃん仮面), which they believed was submitted by Kojima Haruna under an alternate alias. The application included inaccurate entries such as her birthday being on February 22nd, 2222. Kojima confirmed the next day that it was not her submission. On April 5, they officially accepted “Nyan Nyan Kamen” application. With the release from the members posters it was confirmed that Nyan Nyan Kamen is Kojima Haruna.
• Both Iwasaki Moeka and Shibata Yui applied for the election, but retired their applications after announcing their graduation (Iwasaki on April 3, Shibata on May 3).
• The total number of members participating this year was originally the same as the number of members who participated last year (272 members). This number was raised when Nyan Nyan Kamen’s application was accepted, and then dropped when Iwasaki Moeka and Shibata Yui graduated. Currently, there are now 271 members participating.
• Baito AKB Paruru Selection members Shigefuji Fuyuka and Hinode Yuka were not eligible.

Who is out:

• Team A: Ogasawara Mayu, Takahashi Minami, Maeda Ami
• Team K: Aigasa Moe, Ishida Haruka, Nakata Chisato
• Team B: Umeta Ayano, Kobayashi Kana, Takeuchi Miyu, Tanabe Miku
• Team 4: Nozawa Rena, Murayama Yuiri
• Team 8: Fujimura Natsuki, Yamamoto Ai, Iwasaki Moeka
• Team S: Oya Masana, Tsuzuki Rika, Yakata Miki
• Team KII: Ishida Anna, Takagi Yumana, Matsumura Kaori
• Team E: Kato Rumi, Shibata Aya
• Team N: Jonishi Kei, Nishimura Aika, Yamaguchi Yuki
• Team M: Kinoshita Momoka, Tanigawa Airi
• Team BII: Kinoshita Haruna, Watanabe Miyuki
• NMB48 Kenkyuusei: Shibata Yui
• Team H: Anai Chihiro
• Team KIV: Ota Aika
• Team Kaigai: Chikano Rina, Nakagawa Haruka, Miyazawa Sae

Panel Questions

Topic 1: General Election Talk

• What are your thoughts on this year’s crop of quitters and dropouts?
• Who is the most surprising non-participant? Of those who entered into this year’s election, who do you think should have thought twice since they have no chance of ranking?
• Do you know what kind of drugs and/or alcohol Kojima Haruna was taking when she submitted her entry? Do you want some? What are her chances of her alter ego ranking?
• Are you going to stay up and watch this thing or just do the sensible thing and sleep and watch the Internet explode in the morning?

Topic 2: Observations from the peanut gallery

• Which group will have the most number of ranked members and why?
• Which group will have the least number of ranked members and why?
• Which member(s) will make a significant gain in ranking?
• Which member(s) will have the biggest drop in ranking?
• How do you think NGT48 will do in their first official year as a group in this election?
• Biggest Yui meltdown? Kojina, Yokoyama O.G. or Yokoyama Team 8?

Topic 3: Pick a winner

• Who is 2016’s Ms. Irrelevant? (#8)
• Who takes the “Scandal Ranking” (#26) and what do you think this person’s scandal will be?
• Pick your center for each of the non-senbatsu group rankings
• Who will make the highest debut in the top 16?
• Jurina Kazoo
• Will Kodama Haruka finally reach the promised land of single senbatsu or will she once again be denied?
• Out of the top 5 in the preliminary rankings who takes the top prize? Or do you believe it will be someone unexpected?
• Last question, if you were to base the election on who will get an ugly ass painting who do you believe should win?

ENDING: AKB48 – 翼はいらない

OPENING - Morning Musume '15 - Oh My Wish

Introductions

Day 1 - Friday

HELLO DISCO

Day 2 - Saturday

MORNING MUSUME ’16 CONCERT

Day 3 - Sunday

Answer Questions from Fans

Rank the 3 American Momusu Concerts Best to Worst
Did you attend all three MM concerts?
Reasons for your favorite/least favorite

Who is next?

Closing Statements

ENDING - Morning Musume '15 - Endless Sky