Produce 101 Japan (season 2)

***Produce 101 Japan Season 2*** is a 2021 Japanese reality competition show and a spin-off of the South Korean television series *Produce 101*. The show follows 101 trainees with the intention of producing an 11-member boy group. The members, group name, and concepts are selected by viewers, referred to as "national producers". From April 8, 2021, the series was distributed every Thursday at 9pm JST through GyaO!, with weekly highlights also being broadcast on TBS. Additionally, the episodes were also live streamed every Friday at 9pm JST on YouTube with English subtitles for foreign viewers.

## Background

In November 2020, it was announced *Produce 101 Japan* would be renewed for a second season, which would be produced by LAPONE Entertainment, a joint venture between Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ E&M. Hidenori Sugai reprised his role as a vocal instructor, this time aided by Aoyama Thelma; DA PUMP's Kenzo and Nakasone Rino acted as dance instructors and Ken the 390 as the rap instructor. Hideyuki Yabe and Takashi Okumura from the comedy duo Ninety-nine will return as the MCs for the show. Just like the previous season, the reality competition show is intended to debut an 11-member boy group in 2021 for the global music market. The group created from the show will be permanent and will be handled by LAPONE Entertainment. Filming will completely take place in Japan.

Auditions for the show took place from November 4 to December 7, 2020 for male Japanese residents aged 15 to 27 years old who are not tied to any talent agency. Additionally, national producers were allowed to recommend applicants using the hashtag "#私が国プ" (lit. *I am a national producer*) on social media during that time period. The contestants' profiles and their respective "ONTACT Ability Assessment" contents were released on January 30, 2021. Prior to the show's airing, two contestants dropped out, leaving 99 trainees to compete on the show. In Episode 5, it was announced that contestant Kose Naoki would leave the show as well due to contracting COVID-19.

## Contestants

*Main Article: List of Produce 101 Japan (season 2) contestants*

Color key
      Final members
      Contestants eliminated in the final episode
      Contestants eliminated in the second elimination round
      Contestants eliminated in the first elimination round
      Contestants eliminated in the Episode 0
      Contestants that have withdrawn from the show

## Rankings

The top 11 contestants, which determine the members of the final group, are chosen through popularity online voting at *Produce 101 Japan*'s GyaO! homepage and audience's live voting. The results are shown at the end of each episode.

In light of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, this season featured a new voting system for the first round. Between February 1 and February 10, 2021, viewers were able to vote for their favorite contestants based on four different promotional videos: a 1 minute self-promotion, a Q&A video consisting of 10 questions, a freely chosen vocal or rap song, and a dance performance of "Tsukame (It's Coming)". Additionally, a trainee diary for each contestant, as well as VR and AR content, was provided digitally. The Top 60, as voted by the national producers, got the chance to physically appear on the show.

For the ON:TACT and first voting period, viewers were allowed to select 11 trainees per vote. During the second round, the system changed to 2 trainees per vote and added votes from Softbank LINE Friend. This season also introduced the concept of "Global Producers". Viewers from outside of Japan and with foreign nationalities were allowed to participate in a livestreaming event for each evaluation, where they could vote as well; the participants were chosen via lottery. The trainee that gathered the most votes from global producers throughout all evaluations will be "revived" to perform at the final stage and is therefore eligible to become a member of the final group as well.

Color key
      New Top 11

### ON:TACT voting period

The ON:TACT voting period took place between February 1 at 12am and February 10 at 11:59pm JST.

### First voting period

The first voting period took place between April 8 at 9am and April 30 at 5:00am JST. The total number of votes accumulated was 25,355,977.

* On Episode 4, an additional 3,000 points were given to all the members of the winning groups, which were combined with the votes given by the live audience.

* The ranking for Episode 5 is the result of combining online votes and live votes from the previous episode.

### Second voting period

The second voting period took place between May 6 at 11pm and May 28 at 5:00am JST.

* On Episode 7, an additional 10,000 votes were given to the winner of each group and an additional 100,000 votes to the winner of each position category. These benefits were doubled for the winners of the HIDDEN category. Position winners also received an interview on regular TV, as well as in *Anan* and *Oricon*.

* On Episode 8, the winning group received a total of 240,000 additional votes: 20,000 votes for every member besides the one who placed first, who instead received 100,000 votes.

* The ranking for Episode 9 is the result of combining online votes and live votes from the previous episode.

## Discography

### Extended plays

* Label: LAPONE Entertainment
* Formats: Digital download

## Notes

1. ↑ Pre-show ranking as announced in Episode 1.
2. ↑ This episode was re-broadcast on April 17, 2021 due to subbing mistakes.
3. ↑ This episode aired 30 minutes later than originally scheduled.

## References

1. ↑ *Produce 101 Japan* Official Website — PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2開催決定
2. ↑ Oricon — “日プ”『PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2』開催決定 トレーナーで青山テルマ、DA PUMP KENZOら参加
3. ↑ *Produce 101 Japan* Official Website — #私が国プ (archived)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Produce 101 Japan* Official Website — SEASON２ 101練習生公開日程が決定
5. ↑ Modelpress — 「PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2」101名の練習生がついに公開！1/30に公式HPにて発表
6. ↑ Frau — オーディション番組「日プ2」選出40名・脱落20名…彼らのパフォーマンスに心震えた理由
7. ↑ Official description of the Countdown Special on GyaO!
8. ↑ Official description of Episode 0 on GyaO!
9. ↑ Official description of Episode 1 on GyaO!
10. ↑ Official description of Episode 2 on GyaO!
11. ↑ Official description of Episode 3 on GyaO!
12. ↑ Official description of Episode 4 on GyaO!
13. ↑ Official description of Episode 5 on GyaO!
14. ↑ Official description of Episode 6 on GyaO!
15. ↑ Official description of Episode 7 on GyaO!
16. ↑ *Produce 101 Japan* Official Website — 「SEASON2」では新システム“オンタクト能力評価”を導入。今までにない新しい方法で、初回国民投票を実施！
17. ↑ Music Book — 君の想いが“ツバサ”になる LET ME FLY「PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2」次のステージに進出する40名を大公開！
18. ↑ TBS Official Website — 日本のエンターテインメント界で過去最大級の規模となったサバイバルオーディション番組「PRODUCE 101 JAPAN」その第2弾『PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON2』今回も最終回の模様をTBSで生放送決定！！