Theme: Brain Power

Players: Yabu, Hikaru, Taiyou, Koyama, Masuda, Tegoshi, Shoon
Guest: Kakuda Nobuaki (K-1 fighter)

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

(1) It describes a certain food.
Q: ma mi mo mu me (まみもむ&#12417
Hint: Where is the "mo"?
A: Monaka ('wafer cake filled with bean jam' -- but they have ones filled with vanilla ice cream and other things, too)
Explanation: The "mo" is in the center ("naka"), thus -- monaka.
Winner: Kakuda

(2) It describes a certain person.
Q: ao ao ao (青青&#38738
A: Bruce Lee
Explanation: The three characters mean "blue." If you pronounce "blue three" with Japanese pronunciation it sounds a lot like "Bruce Lee."
Winner: Kakuda

(3) It describes something.
Q: ha hi he ho (はひへ&#12411
Hint: Where is the "fu"?
A: Knife
Explanation: To say "there is no fu" it would be "fu ga nai." Remove the grammatical particle "ga" and switch the other words, you get "naifu" -- knife.
Winner: No one, but Kakuda got it right after time ran out. (Koyama tried guessing but couldn't figure it out)

(4) It describes something.
Q: anata anata anata anata
(あなた　あなた
あなた　あな&#12383
Hint: What is "anata" in English? (it's "you")
A: UFO
Explanation: There are four "you" -- "you four" or, pronounced more Japanese-like "yoo-foh." This is basically the same as the Japanese pronunciation of the word "UFO."
Winner: Kakuda

(5) It describes something.
Q: ka ki ku ke ko (かきくけこ) (the 'ko' is really small)
A: koshou (pepper)
Explanation: The "ko" is small. The Japanese word for "small" is "chiisai" (小さ&#12356 but if you take just the kanji and pronounce it a different way, it's "shou." Hence, "koshou."
Winner: Taiyou

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

(1) What is the smallest thing in the universe?
Kakuda got it immediately! His brain is amazing! Koyama went up and said, "My own will-power." Um.. that's not good..Hikaru guessed "umeboshi" (pickled plum).
Hint 1: It's also the smallest thing on earth.
Hikaru screamed cause he thought he figured it out, but Taiyou rang in first. He, Tegoshi, Yabu, and Hikaru all got it right. Only Massu, Shoon, and Koyama were left at this point. Kakuda gave the hint that it's also the smallest thing in Kyuushuu.
Hint 2: It's also the smallest thing in NEWS.
Masuda rang in and guessed "Koyama's eyes." Koyama looked at him like, "why did you say that?!" The announcer asked Yabu to give a hint and he pondered for a second.. "Hmm.. 'yu'..." At hearing this, Shoon jumped up and got it right. So did Masuda. Koyama still didn't get it! Kakuda gave the hint that the kanji has nothing to do with it. Koyama figured it out and ran up to the camera to answer, but time ran out! They asked him what he was going to answer, but he said he didn't know!! Why did you go up there, then?!
Answer: "yu." When written in hiragana, all the words mentioned (uchuu, chikyuu, kyuushuu, nyuusu) have a small "yu" in them. The announcer pointed out that Yabu even SAID the answer, but apparently Koyama didn't hear him.

(2) Where is the place that animals always do hand-stands?
Again, Kakuda got it right away!
Hint 1: The answer is a specific country.
Koyama answered "Zoorasia." Like he was making "zoo" into the name of a country.. Uh.... and you're the one in college?? He was thinking of Eurasia! Kakuda said (in English), "Everybody! You have to think about this question in English!" The announcer said it was a good hint, but Kakuda said that if they don't understand English it won't work, haha. Thanks to his hint, Yabu, Tegoshi, Hikaru, Shoon, and Massu all got it right, leaving Taiyou and Koyama.
Hint 2: What is "doubutsu" in English? (animal)
Koyama went up to answer, but time ran out!
Answer: Rumania. "Animal" pronounced in Japanese is "animaru." If you reverse it, you get "rumania."

3rd Stage: BP Labyrinth
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 "u," and the last word had to end in "n."

Hikaru: ukanmuri (a kanji radical) ←I must point out that Taiyou gave him the hint!
Taiyou: mushitori (bug net)
Kakuda: tori (bird)
Koyama: tonbo (dragonfly)
Massu: matsubokkuri (pine cone) ←Kakuda gave THIS hint!
Tegoshi: amerika (America)
Shoon: aisu (ice cream)
Yabu chose to return, so he erased Shoon's: anko (bean paste)
Hikaru also returned: anago (eel)
Taiyou ALSO returned: akari (light)
Kakuda returned TOO: anki (memorization)
Koyama: kurikinton (some chestnut + sweet potato thing)
Only five seconds left when they finished!!

Rather than a live stage, they showed clips from NEWS' spring tour, including their various solos. They also showed a short clip of them talking, including when Massu cried.