Saturday 20 June 2015

My Favourite Vs Arashi episodes

I've done a number of posts about my favourite Running Man episodes, so I thought I'd have a go at putting together a top ten of Vs Arashi episodes. Now, I have to admit, I don't keep every episode of Vs Arashi that I watch, so I have to assume that the ones I've kept are the best ones.

As you might expect, since the videos are from the last five years and come from a variety of sources, the resolution of the screen grabs can be a bit poor. I've included the date (yyyymmdd) in case any of you feel like trying to track them down.

The episodes are ordered from least best to most best.


20100624 You vs Yoshimoto Japan


You (the actress, not the second-person pronoun) is one of my favourite actresses. She isn't the kind of celebrity you'd expect to find on a variety show like this, but it works very well. The subtitles help a lot, and it has Giant Crash, which is a great game.



20101021 Freeter team


It's always fun when a member of Arashi has a drama or film to promote, and ends up on the opposing team. This is what happens this week, when Ninomiya is on the team promoting his drama Freeter. There's a lot of teasing between the two teams, and a good choice of games, too.



20120103 New Year Special


This was a New Year special, with plenty of guests to fill up the extended running time and, thankfully, it works. Matsumoto Jun joins the Lucky Seven team, alongside Eita and Naka Riisa, and that by itself would usually be enough.


But there's a third team in this episode: the Japanese Women's Football Team and then Gackt arrives halfway through! That's a lot, even for three hours.



20140313 Aoi Miyazaki


A team of comedians from Aichi make up Arashi's opponents, and the special guest on Arashi's side is the actress Aoi Miyazaki. It's quite odd seeing the waif-like, somewhat refined sensibility of Miyazaki on a variety show, but she clearly knows Arashi and is comfortable with them.



20120531 Momoiro Clover Z


This was their first appearance on Vs Arashi and the boundless energy of Momoiro Clover Z adds a lot to the show.


They really get into it and although they're not as invested in the game as when they first appeared on Nep League (on that show when they finally got a question right, they were so happy they started to cry) they clearly want to do their best.



20131017 Umi no Ue no Shinryojo


In this episode, Matsuda Shota continues to show the sense of humour he displayed in the drama. The whole cast seem to get on really well, and that helps with the games.


And it's quite rare to see Arakawa Yoshiyoshi on a variety show. He doesn't really join in with the banter, and he seems quite awkward, but it's nice to see him get out for a bit of fun.



20111027 Japanese Women’s Volleyball Team


Since the members of Arashi play these games every week, sometimes it seems like the only time they have decent opposition is against some real athletes. In this episode, the Japanese Women's Volleyball Team push Arashi all the way.




20130606 Beautiful news readers


When there's no drama being promoted, I do like seeing what kind of teams are put together for Arashi to battle against. I've seen teams of celebrities from different prefectures, and teams of celebrities that all wear spectacles.


This one is one of the strangest groupings (as another guest Mitsuura Yasuko says “Beautiful news readers... there's not much competition, is there?”), but it turns out to be one that works really well. The program also features the female stand up double act Oashizu, who add to the fun.


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