Zettai Makenai Kara
21 April 2008
Quite a dramatic episode of Haromoni@ this week to say the least. They'd set up an interesting situation at the end of the last show by organising a competition between Mitsui Aika and Jun Jun. There had already been some tension in the air from that but add on the revelations from their Music Fighter appearance and you had a bomb waiting to go off. Before I go onto that though, I'd like to take a moment to mention the outfits they wore this week. 'Angels' was the theme so they all had dazzling white dresses on; along with furry wings and halos, and star-capped wands. I particularly loved the shoes with the straps that go up around their legs - they looked absolutely brilliant. Michishige Sayumi's rabbit ears sprouting up out of the middle of her halo also made me chuckle.
I was very surprised that they put the memory competition at the beginning of the programme. It would have been better if they put it at the end like they usually do. Having at the start kind of dampened the atmosphere a bit for the rest of the show. I guess they wanted to continue directly from the end of last week rather than breaking it up. I'm not sure it was a good idea though. At the start Jun Jun didn't sound so confident about the whole thing. She made the point that she wasn't very good at Japanese so it would be unfair, which was a valid point. Nevertheless, Aika didn't want to back down so Jun Jun came back with some fighting spirit and they proceeded with the contest.
This challenge was by far the toughest they'd had on the show. The task was to memorise the names of forty well-known people from around the world. These included such people as Alexander Bell, Wilhelm Röntgen and Socrates. Each person would take it in turns to name the face that appeared. If one person didn't get the answer correct then it would get passed to the other person. If the other person then got the answer right that would mark victory for them. When Jun Jun returned to the studio she looked very unsure of herself. In fact throughout the whole thing she didn't seem very comfortable. She certainly didn't look as confident as she did during her previous memory tests. Aika on the other hand had a smile on her face throughout. You could see there would only be one outcome as a result.
Both of them had no problems until Jun Jun had trouble remembering Marco Polo. It took her awhile but she eventually managed to recall the name and they continued on. With only fourteen names remaining it was Jun Jun who once again stumbled and couldn't remember the person's name. You could feel the atmosphere of the whole studio plummet. The staff were quiet and the members' faces suddenly became very serious. Despite encouragement from the other members Jun Jun could not remember who it was and had to pass. She probably knew she wasn't going to win now and her eyes welled up with tears. It might sound silly but I felt really intrusive taking screenshots during that moment. I had to try and convey how upset she really looked though.
Aika had no problems at all naming Richard Wagner and thus won the contest. She continued on and recalled the names of the rest of the people. It was certainly impressive but it also felt a bit of an insult to Jun Jun to carry on. I don't think Aika's conduct throughout the competition was very sporting. It's too much like Fujimoto Miki who used to put everyone down all the time. I actually already knew who the winner would be, thanks to some unscrupulous person on the Hello!Online forums in the 'Resonant Blue' thread (use spoiler tags damn it!). I hope this will be the end of the so-called 'rivalry' between them. I don't think it does anyone any good. At least Kusumi Koharu diffused the situation at the end by challenging Aika herself. It helped lift the mood a bit.
The rest of the episode was good but it was hard to enjoy it after everything that happened. There was a funny new corner featuring Lin Lin and her reaction to a cockroach hidden under a bagel. 'Aiya' appears to be the scream of choice in that situation. It was cruel but funny. They went on to show some of the NG clips from the previous GakiKame production. It was great seeing Kamei Eri throwing the phone over and over again until it finally landed in the bag. I can't wait until next week's GakiKame, it looks very entertaining.
Princess Wai Wai returned once again with another magic trick. This time she had an assistant to help her - Princess Hoi Hoi. The trick was being able to pop a balloon on command whilst it was in the air. The secret behind this trick was the assistant. As she held the balloon in her hands, ready to throw into the air, a hidden patch that had orange juice on it would brush the side of it. As the balloon was released the acid would eat through the side and burst it. They actually showed this effect during a Magic Restaurant on Hello! Morning.
Finally to round off the show was a Doi Takako skit involving a brass band. It was quite amusing to see Takahashi Ai pretending to be part of the band. I found it slightly frustrating though as I couldn't remember the name of the song they were playing. I've heard it before somewhere. That'll bug me for ages. Anyway, next week's episode looks good. Let's just hope it's not as emotionally draining as this one.
Posted byHocchan at 12:37 am
I think the band's playing 'Tsubasa wo Kudasai'.
Yes!! That's it!! Thank you so much. You saved me a great deal of heartache and despair ^^. I knew it was in my Uta Doki! collection but couldn't remember the name.