Quick Summary of 4th Senbatsu Election Candidates, Horse-Racing Style

This is taken from 2ch - therefore it is not "official" nor politically correct, but I thought it was hilarious and decided to translate it.

In Japan, betting on horse racing is quite popular, and there are newspapers/tabloids dedicated to this.  The writers use 4-character phrases to describe what they think of each horse.

Translated here are comments on last year's Top 40 members - I will try to use phrases with 4 words as well.

(edit - added Oba Mina)
(edit 2 - corrected translation for Nacchan, should say "good")




Maeda Atsuko - "Dodging by not participating"
Oshima Yuko - "Likely to be first"
Kashiwagi Yuki - "Time to get serious"
Shinoda Mariko - "With a top hat" [tl note: not sure what this means]
Watanabe Mayu - "Don't be too confident"
Kojima Haruna - "Starting point is key"
Takahashi Minami - "Stable, not going anywhere"
Itano Tomomi - "Previous race: unexpected result"
Sashihara Rino - "Her threat is real"
Matsui Rena - "The Dark Horse Candidate"
Miyazawa Sae - "Won't drop like crazy"
Takajo Aki - "Aiming for higher rank"
Kitahara Rie - "She lacks finishing moves"
Matsui Jurina - "Just discharged from hospital"
Minegishi Minami - "Less powerful than Sasshi" [tl note: literally it means "there's a more powerful candidate of the same type, referring to Sasshi's knack for variety/talk shows]
Kasai Tomomi - "Geared towards main event"
Akimoto Sayaka - "Didn't perform well previously"
Sato Amina - "Power reserves quite threatening"
Yokoyama Yui - "Comes with strong team" [tl note: probably because she is still being 'pushed' by the management]
Masuda Yuka - "Maybe she'll turn pro"
Kuramochi Asuka - "On the way up"
Umeda Ayaka - "Did well last time"
Takayanagi Akane - "Managed to survive transportation" [tl note: maybe it means she managed to do well as a 'visitor' (as opposed to home court advantage for AKB48 in Tokyo)?]
Nakagawa Haruka - "Might actually be resurfacing"
Ota Aika - "Been regaining her strength"
Hirajima Natsumi - "Cancelled, gone for good"
Miyazaki Miho - "She's still quite heavy"
Yamamoto Sayaka - "Finding out her worth"
Oya Shizuka - "Quite the late boomer"
Ooya Masana - "Threatening in the middle" [tl note: I think in horse racing terms this means the horse is only good during the middle of the race, and not at the beginning or the end]
Nito Moeno - "Started late last time"
Komori Mika - "Chilling in the back"
Hata Sawako - "Quite an unexpected participant"
Sato Sumire - "Keeping up good condition"
Suda Akari - "Has positive personality, but..."
Maeda Ami - "Looking forward to growth"
Oba Mina - "Track record draws complaints"
Matsui Sakiko - "Watch out, dark horse?"
Ichikawa Miorin - "Have ways to go"
Fujie Reina - "Watch out for change"

Original commentaries in Japanese - http://ameblo.jp/kiku1129/entry-11214844827.html