Ainori #294
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005Ainori is a popular reality show in Japan, aired on Fuji TV on Monday nights at 23:00.
In August 2005, I discovered that Ainori was not only popular in Japan, but also all over the world thanks to Bit Torrent technology. I decided to write a summary of each episode, and do a translation of the weekly photo captions from the official site. What do I get out of this? I get to improve my Japanese, I get more traffic to my blog, but above all, I get the satisfaction of knowing many non-Japanese speakers all over the world can appreciate a truly unique reality show. Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to post any comments or questions you may have.
Ainori’s BT downloads available @ D-Addicts and Saiyaman
Ainori #294
WARNING! THIS IS A SPOILER!





Bad news people, Mie said NO! TK and her were standing in the pouring rain, and as she was trying to explain that she had mixed feelings about going back to Japan with him, he interrupted her to sing a love song at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, it was no use, as she had made her decision. It think she might have refused his offer because she didn’t want him to be just a surrogate for Suuzan, and if it’s how she felt, maybe it’s better this way. I really wanted to see those two become a couple, not to mention the end of the abnormally long “couple slump” that’s been going on for months, but hey, that’s life… Poor TK couldn’t hold his pride very long, and broke in tears when he said goodbye to the rest of the group. At least he went home with the satisfaction that he knew he did all he had to do, all the way to the end…
14
14
After TK had gone, the group left Ukraine to enter Ainori’s 63rd country: Romania. And yes, Hide has broken the record of countries visited by a single member, 14! This guy has been on Ainori for one and a half year now, and by the looks of it, is not about to leave the show. Some of us are even starting to wonder if he’s not tagging along just for the free ride…
As it is the rule of Ainori, a new member joined the group to replace TK. Meet Alex, 28, a native of Nara Prefecture, of both Japanese and Italian descent. Although his father was Italian, he lived in Japan all his life and can’t speak Italian. He is a cram school teacher back in Japan. Nicknamed the “Blue-eyed handsome half”, the girls were REALLY excited when he joined the group, and the boys really looked worried. That should be interesting…