Seriously, Mimori almost steals the episode all by herself with THAT OUTFIT (which in no way could've covered her breasts!), THAT OTHER OUTFIT, and having her kirara shine by tearing off her clothes. I think someone in the staff wants AKB doujins made. Of course, Sonata and Grumbly also provided quite a few laughs, as expected, variety shows really are their homeground, due to the first two's shamelessness and the third one's utter shame at everything.
Sadly, I can't compare this with the variety episode from Idolmaster as I wanted to, because this one also included copious amounts of plot, specifically helping Nagisa and Chieri get over their current issues with the general elections and Aizendad's master plan. About the former, the only part that dissapointed me was that we didn't get to see Acchan being a goofball in that video, that would've been awesome, but other than that, everything worked the way it was supposed to be. About the latter, things continue heading into a very unhappy place, with Aizendad acting as Chieri's shadow sponsor to help her shine increase and Tsuasa somehow not knowing she's his daughter
I understand not telling anyone else to avoid a scandal, but how can she not know it herself!? Also, why not just tell the girls that the variety show is being transmitted to opressed planets after chewing them out?
But whatever
Despite those details, it was a great episode, and since they did point out how easy it was too easy to rescue Chieri and co. (kudos to whoever noticed that first, and sorry to have forgotten your name) from no-fun-allowed central, maybe they'll explain that hiccup too.
And of course, it wouldn't be a great AKB episode without the awesome details and moments
-Rankastar only gets news and weather in their TVs. DAMN. Even as someone who doesn't use the TV much anymore, that was a big shock. Now, that's anti-entertainment.
-Grumbly literally comes from a planet known for its sense of comedy, of for producing comedians, they weren't very specific, but yeah, that explains everything
-Yuuko continues her efforts to steal Chieri away from Nagisa, and it's a delight to see.