Picking up on the awards from last year that were prompted by @joooooooooe 's and @moomookan 's Takoyaki Party podcast, here are the NMB48 Year-End Awards for 2015. Categories: Best 2nd gen Draftee Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS (from the members that got promoted at the NMB48 Arena Tour in February) Toughest Graduation Best NMB Activity Best Moment Song of the Year Personally Most Improved (aka "has jumped up in my liking/ranking the most") Objectively Most Improved (aka "this member made great strides regardless of my bias") MVP Tell us who your picks are (preferably the winner and a runner-up) and reasons why. Please be mindful that this only concerns the happenings of this year. If you have a category of your own you want to add to your awards, by all means.
Best 2nd Gen Draftee: 1. Hongo Yuzuha - First saw her during NMB autumn sport festival, which actually is the first major 2nd draft event with the group. She is brave enough to co-host YNN live (It's just free talk session still). So props to her. Runner Up goes to M draftee who almost win 100m prelim, if not overtaken by the Sayanee herself. I forget who Best Promoted KKS: 1. Nakano Reina - NMB are simply distinguished by 2 things, their edgy dance and comedic MC. Many young gen are adept in the former, but the latter are still carried by the 1st gen + Reinyan and Umetan. Now, she just need more MC experience push and we're all set. Runner Up is split between Nattsu and Yuumin. Toughest Graduation: 1. Terui Honoka - One can argue that Nana should be the first. Her graduation announcement stir a domino effect so great, that at the date of her last theater performance, NMB already lost almost half a dozen girl. Even within 1 month after, M lost Yuipon. Such is the effect. But none scratch my head more than Terui graduation. She was part of NMB future plan, get promotion that Hirorin never get, yet she announced it after 3 months of her inception into team BII, a team that could score a clean sheet this year. Sometimes, the toughest grad is the one you will never understand why, at all. Best NMB Activity: 1. Kouhaku Uta Gassen, second in a row. - No other explanation needed. Runner Up is tied between NMB sports festival and Riichan25hTV. Best Moment/Song of the Year/Personally most Improved: Gotta skip this one yet. I'm still weighing which one deserve it. Objectively Most Improved: 1. Shiroma Miru - Being a front row in AKB team A song in 42nd single is an undeniable fact. She utilized her kennin moment well. MVP: Yamamoto Sayaka - who else?
Best 2nd Gen Draftee: MURANAKA YUKI! I'm still working on figuring out the draftees so I can't do any more than one, but I'm really liking Muranaka. Her inability to speak and her deer in the headlights look, coupled with her endearing "flight instinct" according to @Timmeon makers her one of the most interesting members moving forward for me. It really feels an idol can't be any less polished at the basics than she is and that's really exciting to me. She's off to a slower start than both Coco-chan and Nagisa, which is really pretty astounding. Best Promoted (ex-)KKS: 2. Jo Eriko? - This is pretty tough. Between her and Yuumin it's pretty close with senbatsu spots and whatnot, but I've really felt it's been a tough first year of promotion for most everyone. Nattsu and Yamarina haven't really found much footing, and Chihhii's the only member I really thought showed up anywhere. Whatever super murky plans management has for Jo may be the highlight of this batch as far as "big things" go. 1. Nakano Reina - That is aside from Rachel. I wanted to have Rachel be either 1 or 2 on most improved, but I'll just expand here. Rachel's really shown a lot with her variety skills that I think is going to be very valuable moving forward. She's still a little inconsistent, but she's as good as anyone when she's on, and has plenty of room to grow. She's the only promoted ex-KKS that has shown to have a real place in the future of the group so far, though it shouldn't end there. Been really impressed with her this year. Toughest Graduation: 3. Kashiwagi Yuki - As evident by her smashing kennin success, she clearly had so much more to offer NMB in the form of never being anywhere except top 5 of single senbatsu. A real shame and a tragic loss for Namba. 2. Yamagishi Natsumi - I give her all the credit for sticking it out as long as she did after the shuffle. Of all the girls that got moved around, I think she took it the hardest. Team N did nothing for her, she was out of M's element, and while she's doing quite well these days, I thought it was unfortunate it didn't seem like she really got to go out on her terms with her team. 1. Kadowaki Kanako - Guess this doesn't really count since she hasn't graduated yet? Plus she is going out on her terms. And she's not really disappearing. But it will largely shift my fandom for better(? not possible?) or worse (very possible). Guess we'll see, but yeah, this one sucks. Best NMB Activity: 2. Genkai Toppa - Why'd you have to end!? I still occasionally think of the final episode with NagiShuu and Chihhii. So sad. 1. YNN - Cheating again this year, but YNN continues to be the must-see at all points for one's NMB fandom. Nu-san is great, R25HTV had a plethora of highlights as did the other extended streams. Best Moment: 2. Probably some variety thing, like pretty much any moment that English happened. Or any time Muranaka spoke. Or any time Kanakichi sneezed on camera. Or any time Shuu spit on camera. Or how Fuuchan is currently reinventing herself into some kind of intense fishing machine. Or when "Emichi Came Back." 1. The KKS promotions. That was very wonderful. Song of the Year: 1. Must be now - It's really the only one I remember. Yikes. I like it a lot, but another not so notable year for music. Personally Moved Improved: 2. Takei Sara - Not sure how much this is true. Yukitsun, Rachel, Isochan, Lemon, and Maichi have improved for me this year, but Sararan has had a mini-roll lately with her self-deprecation, her "LINE stamps," and good performances on You Gotta NMB, so I'll give her a shout. 1. Shibuya Nagisa - She's been fantastic this year in winning me over. She's one of the girls I expect the most out of whenever they're on screen, and she hardly ever fails to entertain, whether she's trying to make you laugh or trying to be smart. Good job, Nagi! I do worry a little with Kanakichi's graduation since she was one of the few members that could hold her in check and keep her from jumping the rails. Most Improved: 2. Ueda Mirei - This was a pleasant surprise. I've always felt Miire got lost when things got crowded, but she snuck up big time on Nandeyanen Survival to steal the MVP (I was the only person voting) from Nagisa and Shuu. She followed it up with a great showing on R25HTV. Not sure what her ceiling is from here, but it's nice she's found something to move towards whether it's YNN, Kawaiian, or that show where she tours a box factory. 1. Yabushita Shu - This is the year I saw real superstar ability from Shuu in variety stuff. When she took over, she was unstoppable, but she also did well controlling tempo. Wherever my fandom goes, I do want to see more Shuu. Shout out to Uuka, who has some nice momentum going and was the most engrossing part of the MBN video. Though I'm not sure why she wasn't a part of AKB Kouhaku. Granted, I'd rather she be on Kawaiian TV and all since I have no interest in AKB Kouhaku, but that one's got me a little confused. MVP: 2. Kinoshita Momoka - It didn't really feel like all that much was missing when she was on her leave of absence at the beginning of the year, but when she returned, it was definitely noticeable how much she brought to the group. Her rejuvenation immediately got Team M back on track and instantly made everything she was in worth watching this year. Case in point, the YNN series she was on recently became an absolute mess when she left to do her own thing. 1. Yamamoto Sayaka - If Milky or Miru are the MVP, they're not performing real Kohaku, so that tells me enough there.
Best 2nd gen Draftee Hongou Yuzuha! She's sooo cutee!!!! Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS Yuumin!! The promotion has been the best thing that happened to her! Toughest Graduation Nana of course. She's very important and losing her is hard Best NMB Activity Arena Tour!!! It was great!! Best Moment KOUHAKU!!! They beat SKE & NMB!!!! The KKS promotion!!! It's really happy and sad at the same time Song of the Year DLB. It's a great single! Personally Most Improved Yuumim, Aika Objectively Most Improved Uuka obviously MVP SAYANEE!!!! And MILKY!!!!
Best 2nd gen Draftee 2. Nishinaka Nanami - Well she's quite a shy one, but of of all the 2nd gen draftees, she's the most natural performer. She's very young but also seems to have the most potential in growing up to be a beauty, so she may be a force to be reckoned with in the future. 1. Hongo Yuzuha - Okay to be honest, I haven't been following really carefully, but to me, she seems to have the most potential to develop into something bigger with her strong drive, and her willingness to lead. I mean tbh, we can't really tell since they're all so new, but yeah time will tell. Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS (from the members that got promoted at the NMB48 Arena Tour in February) 1. Jo Eriko - Ever since her return to KKS, she has been someone I think who has really matured and blossomed well not just as a performer, but also as a person. For the past 2 years since she came back, she has really become stronger, and has improved herself drastically, so I think someone with her rapid amount of growth will be key in the future of NMB. Toughest Graduation 1. Yamada Nana - Losing one of your top 3 is never easy, and it's even worse that NMB lost their 3/5 of their original top 5 in three consecutive years (Ainyan in 2013, Maachun in 2014, Nana in 2015). All of them left quite a big gap though they did a great job to fill up especially Ainyan's gap, but I think the gap Nana left was even more noticeable. They somehow or rather pulled through this year, but yeah it certainly doesn't seem like it's been easygoing for them. Best NMB Activity 2. 5th Anniversary concerts at Osaka Jo Hall - Well they got to perform at a big venue again this year for the anniversary though it was on week days. And from snippets and reports, it sounded amazing. 1. Genkai Toppa! That was fun to watch, and seeing the girls either showcasing talent or developing new ones. Best Moment 2. That SayaMilky hi-5 when Milky made it back into AKB senbatsu at sousenkyo 1. When SayaNana's Tomodachi ranked no. 2 at AKB Request Hour Song of the Year 1. Must Be Now. I like it so much I even have the instrumental on my playlist when I bought the single from ITunes. Performances of it are always a treat to watch as well. Personally Most Improved (aka "has jumped up in my liking/ranking the most") 1. Watanabe Miyuki - This one is a complete no brainer for me. I have actually liked Milky before 2015 but not like now where she's actually my 2nd favourite member in all of 48. The reason being simply because I really liked the Watanabe Miyuki I've been seeing this year. From a year ago, she not only seems to have matured a lot, but has a clear ambition of what she wants to achieve. And I loved how frank she has been on shows like Tabi Shoujo, and her Model Press Series. Basically, she has probably been the most personable member, like the one I could relate most to in 48 this year. And in her own way, she's been really subtly pushing the younger members on. Not only that, she seems to be be taking charge of her own career by only really doing the things she wants to do (like she seems to have a pretty good presence in fashion related magazines etc). And in terms of NMB, maybe it's only me that feels this I don't know, but both of them (as in Sayaka & Milky) really seem to be in line with each other more than ever since Nana graduated. What I mean is that they feel way more united in their goals for what they want to achieve with NMB than ever before. Like the sense of sharing the same vision as you will be able to tell if you've heard both their birthday speeches this year. Like even though Sayanee has gone way ahead of everyone this year with an immense popularity boom, I didn't really feel like Milky was completely lagging behind. Instead, she was steadily building her own momentum, and constantly improving herself. Like this was a year I really felt and saw Milky stepping out and actively challenging herself. I've been really impressed by her drive this year, and I hope it'll be able to inspire the other members to pave their own way like that despite how big or even overwhelming Sayanee's presence may seem to be. Objectively Most Improved (aka "this member made great strides regardless of my bias") 2. Kinoshita Momoka - Despite all her absences this year, the moment she came back she brought a kind of robust energy to NMB. I may not be that big on Momoka personally, but everytime she's around, she always creates quite a buzz/commotion. And how she produced NMB yuri theatre at 5th anniversary was pretty impressive too. 1. Shibuya Nagisa & Kato Yuka (Tie) (a) Really this isn't just my bias, but one member who I thought really went out of her way to not only improve herself but draw herself closer to her own dream is Shibuya Nagisa. Like it's funny that she has a bit of a "ponkotsu" image, but when you think of what she's achieved in Genkai Toppa by continuously challenging herself and her drive to not give up on herself, she has really gone far. I mean getting the most medals for the show was no easy feat at all. Like the final challenge she did where she climbed the waterfalls, I was wondering if she'll be able to get through with it since she was so clumsy and unsure, but I guess I may have underestimated her determination, but watching that really impressed me then. And yeah like what was mentioned somewhere above, Nagisa is someone who never fails to entertain when she is on screen. I believe her resolve that she has for the future will also be able to bring her far in life. (b) As for Kato Yuka, I think she has really been making herself seen in NMB this year. From dancing alongside SayaMilky in the Kamonegix Remix 2015 in the Arena Tour to being one of the 9 senbatsu members in Must Be Now, not forgetting she has one of the best spots too. What she did on Genkai Toppa (where she had very limited time), but she learned to play the guitar in that short amount of time, and played Hajimete no Hoshi and sang to it in a big concert all on her own, again she's another one who I think is also constantly trying to improve herself, and it has really helped her to garner some well deserved attention. MVP 1. Yamamoto Sayaka - Asadora center which led to NMB's 3rd consecutive Kouhaku appearance. That sealed the deal. Also, how she was the one who motivated Momoka to return to NMB.
Best 2nd Gen Draftee: 2.) To find a runner-up is difficult for me because I don’t know much about some of the new girls on the NMB bloc. But I guess I give it to Hongo Yuzuha because her slight yankee behavior prevents her from slipping into the full on cute loli trope and I think if she hones the character well it will greatly benefit her and NMB down the line. 1.) This is a rather unconventional choice but Muranaka Yuki is the best worst idol you can have. No one in NMB could embody the from “zero to hero” narrative like she potentially can, if she doesn’t run away before she gets to become a hero, that is. At the same time she’s funny without even trying and looks 5 years younger than she really is; great prerequisites to make it big in the idol world. Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS: 2.) Not many of the promoted KKS managed to stand out this year, overshadowed by the 1st gen draftees. Nakano Reina at least managed to carve herself a corner in the Team M stages as new MC star on the horizon. 1.) Ishida Yuumi. This is a story of sheer commitment to the long haul. Yuumin was stuck as a KKS for years despite her obvious great performance skills. She stuck with it and then made the most of her promotion this year by getting into the MBN senbatsu, exactly because of her dancing skills. To top it off she got her first solo gravure work and recently centered the Team N stage. Toughest Graduation: 2.) Murakami Ayaka. I didn’t think at the time of her announcement that I would have such a hard time with her graduation. I always had a kind of like-don’t like approach to her. Loving her for her outspokenness, not liking her for her flaunted disinterest and despise for her own fanbase. But her graduation hit me hard and whenever Team M does their intros nowadays I wish her back next to Renapyon, giving her lackluster catchphrase as contrast to Renapyon’s hype. 1.) No, it’s not Nana. I was kind of relieved after months of ceremonies and specials when she finally stepped of the NMB stage and I don’t feel sad especially because she does so well on her own now. It’s Takano Yui. What a pillar for Team M and NMB has left us with her. Great at MC, great as a supporting member behind the scenes. That she left without the chance for her and Aapon to be together in senbatsu still hurts me and that her solo career is rather low key at the moment gives me the blues too. Best NMB Activity: 2.) Genkai Toppa. I miss it. It gave the members a great chance to show off their strengths and challenge themselves. 1.) YNN. YNN is God. I especially enjoyed their live stream for the Sports Festival and the bits I saw of Riichan25HourTV. Best Moment: 2.) Miru’s birthday ceremony. For me personally it was a perfect moment. 1.) The promotion of all the KKS at the Arena Tour. Song of the Year: 2.) I’m torn between Punkish and Boku dake no Secret Time. But I will give it to Secret Time because it is a proper NMB release and also has my favorite MV of this year. 1.) Must be now. The song is different. The dance is different. The concept is different. The senbatsu is different. And all of those differences are good in my book. It’s also one of the few NMB songs this year I repeatedly go back to listen to it. Personally Most Improved: 2.) Kushiro Rina. Last year I had her as the runner up in the Objectively Most Improved category. And since then I really have come to love her feisty and funny shenanigans. She’s also catching my eye in performances and whenever she centers the Team M stage I catch myself thinking: “She does this better than Fuuchan.” I also enjoy her continuous “crush” on Momoka. It’s a narrative I totally buy into because it’s so adorable. 1.) Uemura Azusa: First thought when she was introduced: “She’s cute as heck.” Then I wanted to support her out of principle because 2chan wota were riling on her for having a boyfriend before she joined. For the first few months I wasn’t sure if management really landed a great catch with her. But she emerged as a good performer and debuted in the Team M stage in pretty much record time. Also YNN has given her great opportunities to show her rather brazen humor and temperament. She adopted all the tricks of the idol job really fast and implements them excellently. A bright future lies before her, I’m sure. Objectively Most Improved: 2.) Sutou Ririka: From the worst dancer in the group to an alright one. From a rather awkward start in variety skills to someone who gets all the attention through her original stories and semi-shocking revelations. Everyone knew that she can bring something unique to the table. This year she proved that she can deliver on this. Of course she got a ton of opportunities handed to her this year by management but the great thing is that she made them all work. Maybe except for Durian Shonen, that song is still garbage. 1.) Kato Yuka: Uuka is an example of a member bringing herself back into the spotlight through own action after management went lukewarm on her push (again). With her performance skills and her commitment to her “Uuka Douga” series on Google + she managed to get enough support for the Sousenkyo to get a really good rank. She showed her willingness to improve by learning the guitar in a short time span and performing Hajimete Hoshi solo in front of a big crowd. And since she (of course) got a front row spot in MBN her management push is back in full swing. Honorable mention to Koga Narumi who made me laugh more than any other member this year. MVP: 2.) Yamamoto Sayaka 1.) Yamamoto Sayaka. No comment necessary.
Now that we're minutes away from the members bringing in 2016, I figured I should post mine. Best 2nd Gen Draftee Runner Up: Yasuda Momone - This is basically going to be one where I talk about the girls who have been able to perform the most. Out of the four who have performed the most (Hori, Shibata, Yasuda and Nishinaka), I choose Yasuda Momone. Her dance ability was obvious since the earliest of the draft videos, and I really saw as a third piece that could be placed alongside YuzuNana as the core for future young gen. Her handshake quality has been good too, and so while she may initially get the short of the end of the stick with regards to opportunities because she isn't old enough like Shibata or Hori or not Yuzu or Naami, I think her handshake quality will propel her up the management ladder in a way that would be reminiscent of say, Ainyan. She can dance, she's funny, she has the great ability to get a lot of her fellow draftees, if she diligently works, she can climb up the ranks in a way Kokochan. (On a different note, Yuichan could also be one to leapfrog over draftees based on her hobbies. Stuff like that makes it easier for staff and co. to put you into things, so if Yuichan sells her cooking schtick, she could get plenty of opportunities just like Naiki did in the past) Winner: Nishinaka Nanami - Incredibly quick at learning positions and choreography, teaching older draftees songs and performing MBN on her first stage. Naami by the sheer fact that she's done the most among the draftees really gets this position. She's shy but among her fellow draftees she's calm and speaks when she wants and has her own kinda air about her. She's really young but clearly a diamond in the rough and I hope to see her blossom in the years to come. Best Promoted KKS Winner: Ishida Yuumi - I don't know how long her run of good fortune will last her, but perhaps this run will be enough considering where she has started. When she was practicing with senbatsu members for MBN, all everyone could think of was whether it was actually happening. Maybe she won't ever really be able to climb the ranks of management to where others would like, but her selection, her seizing of a senbatsu spot in MBN by her own hand is something that I think will allow other unpopular members to be optimistic and motivated with regards to acquiring opportunities. I want to put Nattsu here though. I hope the upcoming team tour will allow her to come out of her shell and get more opportunities to sing. Toughest Graduation There wasn't really a tough graduation. I'll miss seeing SayaMiruNana, only for nostalgic reasons. They really are the best trio the 48 group has ever seen really. But the members that graduated were really older members who were moving onto better things. We are sad, but they allow the group to move forward. Best NMB Activity Runner Up: Manabu-kun - The show has been on a tremendous roll as of late in terms of ratings, going toe to toe with Ame-Talk (which is still a very strong and popular program despite the prominence of Shikujuri Sensei and Ariyoshi/Matsuko's Ikari Shinto on the same network). I'm giving it the runner-up here in this case as the strong ratings will hopefully lead to an expanded broadcast regions and other shows that are non-NTV. I hope it leads to good relationships between KTV and other TV stations (like this recent Kouhaku stuff will hopefully put NMB on even better terms with NHK Osaka). Winner: YNN. Enough can't be said about this. It's a high hurdle to get into, but it's lowkey redefining the boundaries of video streaming services and what idols can do on them. I suppose it's not very new for Westerners, but in a country where people don't really know what Netflix is, yeah. It's doing some great work. The recent 5th Anniversary and Azusa's DJ gig at the live houses for MBN provides even more weight to the kinds of things that can come out of YNN. Best NMB Activity Winner: 5th Anniversary Live - I think there was a lot of pressure to create something great and unique in light of how everyone has been putting on great concerts, and the group really swung for the fences regarding this live. 3 days of different setlists, hour-long yuri theater, band, member choreographed medleys, going back to NMB's roots by doing more Japanese things, it really was just the pinnacle of everything the group had achieved thus far, and the best part was that it was more or less the members who produced this. I think it opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities for the group and just reinvigorates the group even after prominent graduations. Song of the Year 1. Must be now - Not really for the song itself but for what it represents and what it did. Essentially resetting senbatsu, redefining the criteria for senbatsu etc. This does kind of come with a bit of disclaimer because if the group doesn't continue to occasionally have a conceptual senbatsu, then it will be rather meaningless. But for now, I think this single is the song of the year for giving the group another tool to appeal to people with. Notable Mentions: Sotsugyou Ryokou, Don't Look Back!, Boku dake no Secret Time, Doudemoii Hito Kamen, the BII songs Konomin was allowed to choreograph. Personally Most Improved 1. Kushiro Rina Objectively Most Improved 1. Sutou Ririka - What a healthy year can do for this person. Everywhere she goes she makes a large impact and now has thrown her hat into the ring for the battle for future center. It's pretty hard for a member in any group to leapfrog others and make it to the near top of the group in just over two years, so for her to write a book, hold her own TV show etc. just speaks volumes about the kind of talent she has. She's intelligent and has pushed her skills and hobbies forward in a way that Miru, Nagisa, Fuuchan or Shu cannot compete with and as long as she continues that, she will keep moving up higher and higher. MVP 1. Sutou Ririka.
Now that I had some time to think about it: Best 2nd gen Draftee Hori Shion - I haven't really paid that much attention to the D2 members but she stands out the most to me. Its probably since she does the most talking and handled the YNN D2 talk but I feel like she's done the most out of the draftees (aside from the 2 little ones showing up in everyones' SNS posts) Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS Ishida Yuumi - MBN senbatsu sealed the deal for her Toughest Graduation I wouldn't say any were tough but Ponzu would be the closest for me. She's one of those glue characters that hold everything together and you don't really appreciate what she did until she's gone. Best NMB Activity YNN live stream of the Athletic Competition - One of the most fun moments I had this year was live tweeting some of this festival. It would have been more fresh if there weren't 2 AKB ones this year as well but I had a lot of fun watching this. Best Moment Nandeyanen Survival - Miire Rain Dance Song of the Year Durian Shounen - Might be the most fun song since KitaKen. Love the choreo, the beat and how much fun the members have performing this Personally Most Improved (aka "has jumped up in my liking/ranking the most") Yagura Fuuko - I was going to put Miire here but I don't think there is another member that I talked about more this year. Fuuchan really put herself out there this year and did some amazing work on YNN. There was the multiple appearance of Fuuyonce, eating ice cream in a blizzard, her twitter posts and tons of other things that kept her in my mentions. Objectively Most Improved (aka "this member made great strides regardless of my bias") Sutou Ririka - when you go from not even making a stage appearance because you're dancing is so bad to becoming the center of a single, getting your own TV show and being considered a future ace candidate, you gotta win this award. Her quirkiness and wit are going to carry her far and I think she's going to have an amazing 2016. MVP Yamamoto Sayaka - Another amazing year in the books for her. She had a good amount of solo CM's, got to show off her musical talents with lots of famous artists on music shows and capped off the year with centering NHK's asadora theme song. The scary thing is I think 2016 will be her biggest year yet.
Best 2nd gen Draftee Muranaka Yuki, that shimada auto CM really got me. Also just like everyone said about her, she has the best ingredient for ordinary-girl-into-wonderful-idol concept. Special mention to Yasuda Momone, I think I enjoy her the most recently, she's cute and adapting to MC session pretty well. Best Promoted (Ex-)KKS (from the members that got promoted at the NMB48 Arena Tour in February) Nakano Reina, fill Yuipon void on Kokoro Hashi no Sofa perfectly, slot in with team M pretty well, her MC skill also has been vastly improved, not to mention she was good enough already. Toughest Graduation Takano Yui, actually expected her graduation soon enough but I really hoping for her return to senbatsu before she announced it. Best NMB Activity Really hard, I love all of them but if I have to choose one I think I'll choose Jungle Radio, what so good about radio show is that I can just listen to it while doing something else, lol. Best Moment KKS promotion, kinda sad though that it also ended Souzou no Shijin theater performance. Song of the Year Must Be Now, exceed all my expectation for NMB single. Great choreography, great senbatsu, fresh concept, pretty good coupling songs as well Personally Most Improved (aka "has jumped up in my liking/ranking the most") Nakano Reina, she's really adorable I think she's my second favorite member now after Nattsu Objectively Most Improved (aka "this member made great strides regardless of my bias") Sutou Ririka, 2015 is her year and she took her chance pretty well, being the first draft member to take center position, having her own show, launching her own book etc etc MVP Yamamoto Sayaka, carried NMB to appear on NHK Kouhaku Utagassen says it all
