In the latest episode of the Takoyaki Party podcast, we went over our award winners for the year. Who would you select as the winners for these categories? Rookie of the Year Shocking Graduation of the Year Surprise of the Year Breakout Member of the Year Most Improved Member Song of the Year Member of the Year Event of the Year
Rookie of the Year :Yamamoto Ayaka That girl is strong and skilled yet not in your face (personality-wise). Completely unfazed in all the situations she was thrown into - this particularly hit me when she appeared on the YNN segment with Maokyun and Momoka; the sentiment was reinforced when she centred BwI and did not look out of place at all. If she had half the resources Techi had, MAN it's going to be interesting. Shocking Graduation of the Year :Yabushita Shu I don't follow her so I absolutely did NOT see it coming. Surprise of the Year :1.Ima Naraba/2.Rainbow album + tour announcement/ 3.how messy the 2016 shuffle was 1. Miyuki seemed like she was just gonna pack up and go (which is essentially what happened w) 2. Going big on debut. And she delivered eyyy. 3. Team N is now OP in MC, and Team M went from pure eccentricity to eccentric oneesan sexiness (everybody needs to watch Koi wa Sainan nao). Hopefully Team BII steps up (Yuuri bb ily) Breakout Member of the Year :1. Ota Yuuri/2.Yoshida Akari 1. She's got stage presence now, and have stepped up to the plate i.e. ssk, centering unit songs ranking in both 48G and NMB RH etc. I look forward to what she will achieve in BII (and please please please stay QAQ). 2. That Youtuber thing is going well innit. The real breakout moment was, as we all know, Kouhaku, which was technically still 2015 so that counts w. Most Improved Member :Shiroma Miru Namba's indisputable second place with hs basically on Miyuki level now. Her singing has improved and she knows how to work what she's got. She's improved in many aspects but I struggle to name a moment that she just went and exploded. (Which, tbf is not entirely her fault - where is the single centre, where is the solo!?) Song of the Year :Boku wa Inai It managed to knock Maenomeri off the top of my list of favourite graduation singles, and that is no small feat. Member of the Year :Yamamoto Sayaka Ranked up in ssk, immensely successful solo debut (with an album nonetheless), Kouhaku 1st place. Event of the Year :Miyuki grad QAQ... I loved the setlist and all the moments, now if only Yoshimoto coughs up the Blu-ray and making... Edit: Swapped Yuuri and Miru.
Rookie of the year: Ayaan got the break but Suzu has the higher ceiling I feel. So I go with both. Shocking grad of the year: Yabushita Shu - I can see her reasoning but I have the feeling she is one of the few Yoshimoto would have picked up if she continued Surprise of the Year: Shuffle - I could have predicted the shuffle itself would happen but breaking up Team M is just madness. Breakout member of the Year: Ota Yuuri - Team/Unit-Center + Req Hour 1st + SSK rank. and I feel now has a legit shot at centering an A-Side in 2017 Most improved member: see above. Song of the Year: Niji no Tsukurikata Member of the Year: Sayanee - Don't really need to explain. Event of the Year: Nothing in particular stood out.