Theme: Brain Power

I half like and half hate these episodes, because I like quizzes, but a whole show of them gets pretty boring^^; Also I have a really hard time with these, cause they're mostly word problems. Because of that, the episode is going to be a bit hard to explain without..well.. explaining a lot. So bear with me^^;

Players: Yabu, Hikaru, Taiyou, Shoon, Koyama, Shige, Kusano
Guest: Takeda Nobuhiro (sports caster/former soccer play)

I love the announcer for this segment; he's sooo silly and random. When he introduced himself, he said he was single *g* Then he tricked Takeda with that "Which is heavier: 200kg of steel, or 200kg of feathers?" question.

1st Stage: BP Secret Code
They have to figure out the word by looking at a series of syllables.

(1) It describes something.
Q: ki hi fu he ho (きひふへ&#12411
A: "hagaki" (postcard)
Explanation: In the Japanese syllabary, consonants are paired up with five vowels in a-i-u-e-o order. In this problem, the "ha" in the h-series of syllables has become "ki" -- in Japanese you (could) say "ha ga ki" to describe this change (the verb "narimashita"/"became" is implied at the end).
Winner: Shige

(2) It describes a certain person.
Q: natsu natsu natsu natsu (夏夏夏&#22799
A: Yonsama (the popular Korean actor)
Explanation: If you translate "natsu" into English, it's "summer." Since there's four of them (yon), it becomes "yonsamaa" .. which isn't quite the same as Yonsama, but it's close enough I guess.
Winner: No one

(3) It describes a certain thing.
Q: ma mi mu mo (まみむ&#12418
A: "megane" (glasses)
Explanation: Like the first question, this is based on the Japanese syllabary. ma-mi-mu-me-mo -- there's no "me." To say that in Japanese is "'me' ga nai" .. which becomes "megane."
Winner: Kusano

(4) It describes a certain food.
Q: fu fu fu fu fu
fu fu fu fu fu (ふふふふふ -- two rows)
A: "toufu" (tofu)
Explanation: How many "fu" are there? Ten. One way to say "ten" in Japanese is "tou" -- "tou-fu" -- "toufu"!
Winner: Takeda

(5) It describes certain people.
Q: ★BCD
A: "eiga star" (movie star)
Explanation: The "A" has become a star -- "ee ga sutaa" -- "eiga sutaa" -- movie star.
Winner: Shige

2nd Stage: BP Question
These are hard because they depend on the wording of the question.

(1) Out of Anpanman, Shokupan-man, and Kareepan-man (curry-pan-man), which will come when you're in a pinch?
Hint 1: "Jamupanman" would NOT come.
Everyone sat around pondering for a while, and Yabu and Hikaru guessed but were wrong.. when SUDDENLY after hearing the hint, KKK all jump up at the same time, screaming LOL. They tried to be the first to get in front of the camera to tell their answer, till they realize that none of them hit their buzzers, haha. Next, Hikaru got it.
Hint 2: The ones who wouldn't come, wouldn't be able to hear.
Hint 3: Think of the shape of the bread.
Answer: Shokupan-man. The reason is because shokupan (normal table bread) is the only type mentioned that has ears ... which I guess is the way Japanese people refer to crust..? I don't really get it..

(2) What is a school called that makes you quit if you can't get points on tests?
Hint 1: Some members of the 'committee' (that's what the members participating in the show are called LOL) go to this school.
Kusano got it after the first hint! Next, Shige.
Hint 2: Take the points (ie- dots) from a certain school.
Yabu, Hikaru, and Taiyou got it after this hint. Shoon was about to answer, but time was up! (This happened to him at the end of the first question too.. and there's no timer so it feels like the time up is chosen randomly! Such as, when Shoon is trying to answer! LOL)
Answer: College. The Japanese word is "daigaku" -- だいがく. If you take the "points" (dots) from "da", it becomes taigaku -- suspension/dropping out of school/etc. Ahh, this one was hard^^;

3rd Stage: BP Labyrinth
This part is so hard!! They have a little board that looks kind of like Scrabble or a crossword puzzle, and they have to fill it in with words, but of course they have to work in the diagram. If someone can't think of a word, they can go back, but of course that takes more time, and they only have three minutes. This particular one had to start with "e," and the last word had to end in "n."
Yabu: eringi (a type of mushroom)
Hikaru: gitaa (guitar)
Taiyou: gitaa-zamurai (guitar samurai; uh, the annoying comedian)
Takeda: orauutan (orangutan)
Koyama: raamen (hehehe<3)
Kusano: tora (tiger)
Shige: maunto (mount; as in a wrestling move)
Shoon chose to return, so he erased Shige's: ensuto (engine stalling)
Yabu: doraemon (the popular character)
They finished with 10 seconds left!!

Live Stage: Special NEWS single medley
-News Nippon (Koyama, Hikaru, Yabu)
-kibou ~Yell~ (Masuda, Inoo, Kouhei, kid I don't know..haha)
-akaku moyuru taiyou (Kusano, Taiyou, Shoon)
-Cherish (Everyone present that day)