Takoyaki Party
Society & Culture
About
We provide news about the Japanese idol group NMB48 and discuss how to get more involved in the fan community.
Episodes
- Episode 125: None of this matters... except for Keito
We're back with hot takes on NMB's 33rd single senbatsu announcement, the search for the next gravy perv, Matt's dwindling oshi list, and more! 0:00 - Intro 1:30 - Nishiyuma announces graduation 15:50 - Osaka Wasou Collection Vol. 4 announ…
- Episode 124: …and New Misaki
We're back to talk about Wakapon and Risachaaaaaaan's graduation announcements, the not yet announced but definitely existing 33rd single and the Showroom Bullsh*t contest for the next unit, 11th gen livestream and more! 0:00 - Intro 1:40…
- Episode 123: The Other "G"
We're back with a short episode to catch up on NMB's New Year Show, Tanaka Yukino's Graduation, the new 10th and 11th gen stage, make plans for an NMB fantasy draft, and more!
- The Golden Takoyaki Awards 2025
Welcome to the Golden Takoyaki Awards 2025, our annual awards show where we pick our highlights from last year. This time, Jens joins us to give a European perspective. Let us know in the comments what you think about our picks and tell us…
- Episode 122: A.I. Kotoba
On our final episode of 2025, we talk about the mini drama series on FANY D, YNN's 24hr stream highlights, Chihhi's graduation, and the Christmas Concert. 0:00 - Intro 2:44 - Buggle Fiction 7:40 - YNN 24hr Stream Happened 24:57 - Chihhi's…
- Episode 121: Bye Bye Seishun
On this long episode of NMB Takoyaki Party, we talk about the release of NMB48's 32nd single "Seishun no Deadline," catch up on NMB's 15th anniversary concerts and Kojima Karin's graduation concert, Aobara Waka's graduation announcement, 1…
- Episode 120: Put the "Saraba" in Saraba Junjo
In this edition of NMB Takoyaki Party we take our first step into the new age of NMB history. We talk about Keito's new captaincy, the two new stages, more info on Seishun no Deadline, and more! If you have a question or comment for the po…
- Hono's Merry Band of 9th Gens
Matt keeps battered with his favorite members graduating, and spends some time talking the departure of NMB's English speaker, Misaki Yoshino. We also discuss the new captain nominations and our predictions for who will be selected, as wel…
- Episode 118: Camp da HOY!
On this episode of NMB Takoyaki Party, we talk about Wada Miyu's graduation announcement and her impact on the group. We also catch up on a bunch of mini lives we saw the past few weeks and close out with our thoughts on this year's annual…
- Episode 117: Not the Shuffle We Wanted...
On this episode we gather together in person to report on NMB's summer concerts at Zepp! We discuss the big news to come from the concerts regarding the future of NMB and we talk about all the little events NMB will be showing up at this s…
- Episode 116: Tim Tam Hortons
Tim Tam Hortons On this bittersweet episode of Takoyaki Party we cut our celebration of Chihhi's graduation announcement short as we suddenly mourn over Kojirin's graduation announcement and what it means for the future of NMB. We also tal…
- Episode 115: The Theater Mines
On this shortish episode of Takoyaki Party we talk about the new batch of member designed UP-T shirts, Anju's graduation announcement, a new generation, and more! If you have a question or comment for the podcast, you can leave it in the c…
- Episode 114: The Vice Captain Republic
On this episode of Takoyaki Party, Matt and Geoff go see NMB at the World Expo, we also share our thoughts on the final release of Chuu Strike and its contents. We also talk about Mikana's graduation announcement, Kurumi's promotion, and g…
- Episode 113: Geoff's Dream Booking
On this very short but very special episode of NMB Takoyaki Party, we gather in person to discuss NMB's 31st single "Chu Strike" as well talk about the ups and downs of the spring concert and Rei's graduation concert. We also talk about a…
- Episode 112: The Mighty of 10th Gen
On this podcast we catch up on the last round of in-person handshake events, the festivities of Namba Sai, the 31st senbatsu announcement, and the inevitable disappointment of Showroom Bullsh*t! If you have a question or comment for the po…
- Episode 111: Keep Namba Great
Keep Namba Great Happy New Year, for shoot this time! We go over the community voting results for the Golden Takoyaki Awards 2024 and then we jump into the new year's festivities by talking about the first theater show of 2025. We also tal…
- Golden Takoyaki Awards 2024
It's our annual awards podcast the Golden Takoyaki Awards where we look back on everything good, bad, and ugly from the year 2024. Matt, Geoff, Aruda, and Ark rattle off their personal winners for all the categories as well as talking abou…
- Episode 110: Male Gravure
On this short and early edition of NMB Takoyaki Party, we discuss NMB's new stage for 8th, 9th, and 10th gen members "Saraba Junjo." We also share our experiences from the recent Tenshi no Utopia event, talk about Yuumin's upcoming farewel…
- Episode 109: A Well-Developed Frontal Lobe
It's a quick and early episode this month! We talk about Zion's grad announcement and dig into the real reason why she's leaving, we also talk about the upcoming December event/concert thing, our predictions to the upcoming (and has alread…
- Episode 108: One and a Half Announcements
On this episode of the NMB48 podcast, we go over NMB's 14th anniversary concerts at Orix Theater and talk about all the big announcements that came out of that including Rei's graduation announcement, 9th gen promotions, the new stage, and…
- Episode 107: Make the Mikes Kiss
In this episode, we give our initial thoughts on NMB's 30th single title track "Ganbaranuwai," discuss highlights from the Tokyo concert, make predictions for the 14th anniversary concerts, and cope with the never ending spiral of graduati…
- Episode 106: The Ball Toss is the New Static Cup
Did everyone have fun in the sun at NMB's summer concerts or were they a hot mess? We go in-depth with the concerts' "unique" setlists and talk about the huge news that came out of them. We're also joined by our special guest Logic to talk…
- Episode 105: The Magic of Miokuri
NMB48's 10th generation has arrived! We talk about their first show and give our initial impressions of the new members that got our attention. We also talk about 9th gen's last show, Yukinon's comeback, Reio's graduation, some upcoming co…
- Episode 104: The Other 'NJ'
On this episode, we talk about the theater shows and meet and greet events that we did this month, we also talk about THE END OF 9TH GEN, NMB's upcoming summer concerts, theater tickets being moved to FANY, and more! If you have a question…
- Episode 103: If You Can See the Knee it's Not for Me
We have a bombastic episode of NMB Takoyaki Party this month! We talk about NMB's brand new original stage Tenshi no Utopia, we talk about the 29th single "Kore ga Ai na no ka?" and its coupling songs and how its sales are doing. Yuumin an…
- Episode 102: The Trail of Oshis
On this episode, we talk about the 29th single's album art, early handshake event sales, 5chan idol fan drama, Pikarun and Yunanan's graduations, photobook drama, and more! If you have a question or comment for the podcast, you can leave i…
- Episode 101: The Senbatsu Pop Quiz
We finally have details on NMB's 29th single and spend a long time picking apart the senbatsu choices. We also spend some time talking about all the random jobs NMB members have coming up, Final Fantasy VII, 101 Dalmatians, and more! If yo…
- Episode 100: Mama Shikkaku
It's the 100th episode of Takoyaki Party! And we celebrate by… having barely anything to talk about. We make up for the news drought by going into a deep discussion of the first half of the Idol Shikkaku TV drama, predict the upcoming sing…
- Episode 99: Milquetoast Idol Disqualification
It's the first Takoyaki Party of 2024 and we spend almost half of it catching up on 2023! We go over the voting results from the Golden Takoyaki Awards, talk about NMB's drama for normies Idol Shikkaku, share our highlights from YNN's 24hr…
- Golden Takoyaki Awards 2023
It's time for our annual end of the year awards show. This time Matt, Aruda, and Geoff are joined by members of the community Arkasas and Logic to talk about everything good, bad, and ugly in the world of NMB48 this year. This year, each o…
- Shibuya Nagisa Graduation Concert!
Due to scheduling issues we did a guerrilla style approach to covering Nagisa's graduation concert by talking about it over dinner. Apologies for the background noise and the less than stellar quality. Let us know in the comments what your…
- Episode 98: B2 or Not BII, That is the Question
On this edition of NMB Takoyaki Party we talk about getting our backs slapped by idols, the end of Sadharu, NMB theater being torn down, the Fuuwapocalypse, some upcoming release announcements, and we go super in-depth with the new teams'…
- Episode 97: Everyone Oshihens!
Everyone Oshihens! Apologies in advance: There was some weird buzzing coming out of Matt's mic for the first hour or so of this episode, it seems to go away after the break. Matt sees chika idols! Geoff ditches Chihhi! Aruda hates Nagisa S…
- Episode 96: Canceled By Sadharu
On this shortish episode of Takoyaki Party, we talk about NMB's 28th title track "Nagisa Saiko" and give our hot takes on the song. We also take a look at the first few rounds of handshake sales and see who is selling out and who should be…
- Episode 95: Now We Can Be the Members' Dads
On this shocking episode, we go through the stages of grief as we cope with Shibuya Nagisa's graduation announcement and how it affects NMB's standing in the public sphere. We also talk about the senbatsu and handshake event details for th…
- Episode 94: Theater Girl With A Side of Gravy
We're back to talk about Siyeon's graduation announcement and discuss what may have led to her decision, we talk about all the announcements that happened NMB's summer concerts including the team shuffle, the upcoming tour, and upcoming si…
- Episode 93: Sakatan Laptime 2023
It's a slow month this time around as we eagerly await the upcoming summer concerts in July, and so we take some time talking about more upcoming events, predictions for the concerts, and talk about the various news that came up in the pas…
- Episode 92: A Pot of Gravy
We have a bunch of things to talk about this month including the spring concert and request hour, new gravure careers, Uuka graduating… this time for real, event logistics and more. If you have a comment or question for the show you can po…
- Episode 91: The Shohei Ohtani of Gravure
On this episode, we talk about Yuzu's graduation announcement and her gravure legacy. We also talk about some photobooks, and we make our predictions for the upcoming NMB concerts. If you have a question or comment for the show you can pos…
- Episode 90: A Part of Kojima Will Be Inside You
On this edition of Takoyaki Party we wrap up our coverage of NMB48's new album and we go in-depth on some events we attended, the metaverse, baseball, T-shirts, and how to smuggle out used handshake gloves. If you have a question or commen…
- Episode 89: Keep the Glove
On this episode, we give our hot takes on the title track for NMB's upcoming album Done as well as talk about the music video and the information about the other new songs in the album. We also talk about the news about handshake events re…
- Episode 88: NambaraMighty
Happy New Year everyone! We're back for the 2023 and we have a whole lot of stuff to catch up on including NMB's 4th album, 9th generation debuting, NMB's annual new year show, a new theater stage as well as a discussion on the state of th…
- Golden Takoyaki Awards 2022
Welcome to the Golden Takoyaki Awards 2022. This is our annual end of the year award show where we look back on the year and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly. We have various categories and we spend an extremely long time talking ab…
- Episode 87: Miyu is Bigger
In this shortish episode of the podcast, we catch up on some end of the year headlines as we reach the end of 2022 and get ready for the annual awards special, The Golden Takoyaki Awards. We also have a few event reports to cover and we cl…
- Episode 86: Come For the Members, Stay For the Wota
Slow month this time as there's not a whole lot major announcements here. We make up for it with a slew of event reports including the in-person and online hanashikai events. We also catch up on some music shows and livestreams that NMB wa…
- Episode 85: You Had to Be There!
12th anniversary is behind us and we spend about 3 hours talking about all 6ish concerts in great detail, as well as event reports, recent news, and more! 0:00 - Intro 24:30 - 12th Anniversary Concert Hop, Step, Jump Mushi 1:36:01 - Under…
- Episode 84: Needs More Banjo
We're back with another shortish check-in on the latest happenings with NMB48. Sukida Mushi is finally out so we give our thoughts on all the songs and music videos from that single and discuss the sales numbers for the real and online tal…
- Episode 83: First World Wota Problems
In this shorter than usual episode of Takoyaki Party we finally discuss the long-awaited 27th single and give our first impressions of the new song. And because we're never satisfied we spend some time nitpicking the details of the package…
- Episode 82: Yabai na Soft Cream
We're back and we go into full detail with our report of the NAMBAZAAR concerts including all the big announcements that came from it. We celebrate the good with the kenkyuusei promotions. We denounce the bad with how poorly the 27th singl…
- Episode 81: More Like NAMBIZARRE
We're back with the greatest show, man (and woman). More details on NMB's summer concerts at Zepp Bayside Osaka trickle in and we make some more predictions on what we hope to see at the shows. We also take a moment to reminisce the Akagum…