Triumphant FNS: Neru, Akanen, Hirate, Ozeki all shine

It was another step up the hill for Keyakizaka46 Wednesday night at the second night of Fuji TV's FNS Song Festival.

• Hirate sang with the Gospellers
• Akanen won a 50m footrace with other idols
• Neru centred the combined forces of the Hiraganas and Nogizaka46's 3rd gen to begin a great Nogi/Keyaki combined version of Seifuku no Mannequin that was the best idol performance of the evening
• Ozeki's sunny smile won hearts when she was singing with HKT's Miyawaki Sakura 

Neru was the big winner, in my opinion. In beginning Mannequin, she was preceded by two beautiful young members of Nogi 3gen...but when Neru came forward with her unsmiling smile, she brought an aura of peace and power. And she proved by her sharp dancing there that she actually can be a centre. Search stats show she was by far the most searched member of the new groups.

It is either a slight miss or a big win that in making a high leg-kick at the end of the newcomers' part of the song, a tiny bit of white panty showed. Images of this have flashed around the Wota world. If this is something you want to see, you can see it here.

Hirate gained big by just being there, looking great and seeming at ease with precision vocal group The Gospellers in a glamorously simple outfit. Personally, however, I am not a fan of off-tune idol singing. She was not worse than many idol stars, but I wish her expressive voice were more accurate on the notes. More Sony voice-training, please.

Akanen was at her sunny and beautiful best. Ebichu's Hoshina Mirei (just to the left of Akanen in the pic below) said she herself had won all the practice races easily. But Akanen must have just been lying low, because when the real race began, she rocketed out into the lead with a determination that was so perfect for Keyakizaka. And she was wearing hard shoes rather than sneakers. As she crossed the finish line, a crown was held up for her and she grabbed it immediately, put it on and raced away to the main stage. That's Hori Miona to her right.

Unfortunately, this is the best gif of the race I've found so far.

Ozeki was part of a mixed group of idols doing Momoiro CloverZ's Hashire!! ("Run!"). Her sunny smile, good nature, and real cuteness attracted attention from the other idols. Miyawaki-san said that Ozeki told her she was her #1 oshi in HKT, and said Ozeki was now definitely getting her support.

You can see the full Sakamichi Seifuku no Mannequin here in a fuzzy version that is the only one I can now find.

There is some actual evidence of Neru's prominence. Yahoo search records show a big spike in searches around the time she came on, spiking 10x higher than the most prominent 3gen, Oozono Momoko; a bit higher than Maiyan; and almost as high as Hirate's spike earlier -- but half as high as PikoTaro, lol. Akanen also had a good spike (about 2/3 Neru's, if you include all ways of searching her: Moriya, Akanen, and Gunsou -- i.e., "Sergeant").

Watanabe Risa was prominent, lined up near Maiyan and looking like a good match. But there was no evidence that people other than K46 fans really noticed. I found and admired the sharp and easy movement of my oshi Memi-tan, but the Hiraganas were not featured. In return for getting Neru at centre, I guess they put a lot of 3gens in the front row. Kumi and Kyonko got the most face time with the camera, and were present but not obtrusive.