The intensity of Produce 48 heightened significantly on episode two once the 96 trainees were given their first task: prepare a song and dance. Grouped based on their evaluation that started last episode, the contestants were taught a dance routine and a song that included Japanese, Korean, and English lyrics. The range of lyrics were a concern for many trainees, as the majority of the cast were only well versed in one language. After training classes and independent training time, the contestants were set for a second evaluation, this time grading solo performances of the show’s title track “PICK ME (Nekkoya)”.
Produce 48 Contestants Prepare for First Major Task
Conclusion of Initial Grading
At the beginning of the episode we saw the final of the initial evaluations with Miyawaki Sakura and Matsui Jurina being the key performances. Both were touted by colleagues as mega-stars. Jurina, who is a senior member of group SKE48 received a B, while Sakura, a high up member of AKB48, got an A. This gave Japanese trainees hope, since up until then there had only been low marks for them.
The Training Process
When the tryouts were done, everyone was sent to a dorm where they were split up by their grades. The A group were given shiny pink shirts, while the F group were given bleak grey shirts. For the next few days the groups would be given classes from the trainers that evaluated them before. The F class seemed more determined than anyone else with members being determined to get out of the group since they were labeled as “backups” for the music video. The environment for training was very supportive with many Korean and Japanese trainees overcoming a language barrier while helping each other out. Viewers were given a sympathetic spotlight on Chiba Erii, a F class trainee who struggled immensely throughout the episode.
Emotions Boil Over
A good summary of the emotions felt throughout the episode was the phone call segment. During this, everyone was given a chance for one phone call. Some calls were lighthearted exchanges, while others were very emotional. The episode ended with the judges looking through the second round of grade evaluations. Most of the footage shown was negative. The end of the episode showed a few trainees grades, also teasing that someone got transferred from A down to F.
A Team (company) trainee Kim Cho-yeon was given a spotlight during the episode, but is at a very low rank on the second round of fan voting. She dropped from 68th to 75th, although we should expect her to have a huge rise in the rankings by next week. This delay happened to many people highlighted on the first episode. The people on the first episode who were given screen time ranked low, but then shot up in the rankings this week.
Biggest Movers:
- Wang Ke (+59)
- Yoo Min-young (+54)
- Hwang So-yeong (+45)
- Yamada Noe (+36)
- Jo Ga-yeon (+29)
Standing Changes
The trio from HOW Entertainment that starred in the viral Celeb Five clip saw a huge rise in rankings, with Wang Ke going up 59 spots, Yoo Min-young going up 54 and Kim Min-seo going up by 23. Yamada Noe also saw a huge rise in the rankings, breaking into the top 12 after rising by 36 spots. Noe wasn’t favorited much for her performance but instead for her awkward charisma outside of performing. A huge drop for Noe next week wouldn’t be much of a surprise as she got no camera time on the second episode. Miyawaki Sakura, who took the first #1 spot of the season dropped four places, which one can assume was because she had no appearance on the first episode. Lee Ga-eun took #1 after an emotional return to TV on the first episode.
Looking Ahead to Episode 3
Next episode we get to see the shuffle in grading after the second evaluation, with what should be another emotional episode. The F graded trainees are desperate to get out of their rank, and A graded trainees are intimidated by the standards they are expected to live up to. Whether each group can overcome their challenge is still do be decided.
Full Week 2 Rankings:
(ALSO WORTH NOTING: Focused camera performances of each performer is linked on their name)
| Contestant | Agency | Evaluation | Rank EP1 | Rank EP2 | Change |
| Lee Ga-eun | Pledis Entertainment (K) | A | 5 | 1 | +4 |
| Ahn Yoo-jin | Starship Entertainment (K) | B | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Kwon Eun-bi | Woollim Entertainment (K) | A | 25 | 3 | +22 |
| Jang Won-young | Starship Entertainment (K) | B | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| Miyawaki Sakura | HKT48 (J) | A | 1 | 5 | -4 |
| Choi Ye-na | Yuehua Entertainment (K) | A | 7 | 6 | +1 |
| Wang Yi-ren | Yuehua Entertainment (K) | B | 11 | 7 | +4 |
| Goto Moe | AKB48 (J) | F | 16 | 8 | +8 |
| Yamada Noe | NGT48 (J) | C | 45 | 9 | +36 |
| Lee Chae-yeon | WM Entertainment (K) | A | 29 | 10 | +19 |
| Takeuchi Miyu | AKB48 (J) | A | 39 | 11 | +28 |
| Matsui Jurina | SKE48 (J) | B | 4 | 12 | -8 |
| Kim Si-hyeon | Yuehua Entertainment (K) | B | 15 | 13 | +2 |
| Jang Gyu-ri | Stone Music Entertainment (K) | B | 6 | 14 | -8 |
| Heo Yoo-jin | Pledis Entertainment (K) | C | 19 | 15 | +4 |
| Miyazaki Miho | AKB48 (J) | D | 17 | 16 | -1 |
| Kim Min-ju | Urban Works (K) | D | 13 | 17 | -4 |
| Lee Si-an | Stone Music Entertainment (K) | C | 8 | 18 | -10 |
| Jo Yu-ri | Stone Music Entertainment (K) | A | 10 | 19 | -9 |
| Na Go-eun | Rainbow Bridge World (K) | A | 36 | 20 | +16 |
| Kim Chae-won | Woollim Entertainment (K) | B | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| Shiroma Miru | NMB48 (J) | B | 9 | 22 | -13 |
| Kojima Mako | AKB48 (J) | C | 12 | 23 | -11 |
| Iwatate Saho | AKB48 (J) | B | 46 | 24 | +22 |
| Kim Do-ah | FENT (K) | A | 31 | 25 | +6 |
| Park Seo-young | Independent (K) | C | 34 | 26 | +8 |
| Yabuki Nako | HKT48 (J) | F | 14 | 27 | -13 |
| Muto Tomu | AKB48 (J) | D | 23 | 28 | -5 |
| Takahashi Juri | AKB48 (J) | B | 20 | 29 | -9 |
| Bae Eun-yeong | Stone Music Entertainment (K) | C | 18 | 30 | -22 |
| Murakawa Bibian | HKT48 (J) | F | 28 | 31 | -3 |
| Yoo Min-young | HOW Entertainment (K) | A | 86 | 32 | +54 |
| Wang Ke | HOW Entertainment (K) | B | 92 | 33 | +59 |
| Ko Yoo-jin | Blockberry Creative (K) | C | 24 | 34 | -10 |
| Park Hae-yoon | FNC Entertainment (K) | A | 59 | 35 | +24 |
| Jo Ga-hyeon | Starship Entertainment (K) | B | 65 | 36 | +29 |
| Nakanishi Chiyori | AKB48 (J) | D | 22 | 37 | -15 |
| Chiba Erii | AKB48 (J) | F | 27 | 38 | -11 |
| Kim Min-seo | HOW Entertainment (K) | C | 62 | 39 | +23 |
| Kang Hye-won | 8D Creative (K) | F | 38 | 40 | -2 |
| Asai Nanami | AKB48 (J) | F | 26 | 41 | -15 |
| Motomura Aoi | HKT48 (J) | D | 37 | 42 | -5 |
| Murase Sae | NMB48 (J) | D | 32 | 43 | -11 |
| Kim So-hee | Woollim Entertainment (K) | C | 48 | 44 | +4 |
| Shitao Miu | AKB48 (J) | D | 41 | 45 | -4 |
| Hwang So-yeong | Wellmade Yedang (K) | A | 91 | 46 | +45 |
| Honda Hitomi | AKB48 (J) | C | 30 | 47 | +17 |
| Lee Yu-jeong | CNC Entertainment (K) | C | 33 | 48 | -15 |
| Park Jinny | Independent (K) | C | 52 | 49 | +3 |
| Yoon Hae-sol | The Music Works (K) | B | 40 | 50 | -10 |
| Kim Su-yun | Woollim Entertainment (K) | C | 58 | 51 | +7 |
| Choi Yeon-soo | YG K-Plus (K) | D | 47 | 52 | -5 |
| Nakano Ikumi | AKB48 (J) | D | 43 | 53 | -10 |
| Hasegawa Rena | NGT48 (J) | D | 61 | 54 | +7 |
| Matsuoka Natsumi | HKT48 (J) | F | 35 | 55 | -20 |
| Park Min-ji | MND17 (K) | B | 49 | 56 | -7 |
| Shin Su-hyun | Fave Entertainment (K) | D | 42 | 57 | -15 |
| Lee Ha-eun | MNH Entertainment (K) | A | 51 | 58 | -7 |
| Mogi Shinobu | AKB48 (J) | F | 44 | 59 | -15 |
| Lee Seong-hyeon | WM Entertainment (K) | B | 66 | 60 | +6 |
| Aramaki Misaki | HKT48 (J) | F | 50 | 61 | -11 |
| Jo Yeong-in | WM Entertainment (K) | B | 74 | 62 | +12 |
| Kim Na-young | Banana Culture (K) | C | 55 | 63 | -8 |
| Imada Mina | HKT48 (J) | D | 53 | 64 | -11 |
| Kim Da-yeon | CNC Entertainment (K) | B | 60 | 65 | -5 |
| Sato Minami | AKB48 (J) | D | 57 | 66 | -9 |
| Oda Erina | AKB48 (J) | C | 56 | 67 | -11 |
| Yoon Eun-bin | CNC Entertainment (K) | B | 54 | 68 | -14 |
| Park Chan-ju | MND17 (K) | C | 85 | 69 | +16 |
| Park Ji-eun | Rainbow Bridge World (K) | C | 77 | 70 | +7 |
| Tanaka Miku | HKT48 (J) | F | 63 | 71 | -8 |
| Kim Hyun-ah | Collazoo Company (K) | B | 67 | 72 | -5 |
| Kato Yuuka | NMB48 (J) | C | 71 | 73 | -3 |
| Kang Da-min | Wellmade Yedang (K) | B | 70 | 74 | -4 |
| Kim Cho-yeon | A Team (K) | A | 68 | 75 | -7 |
| Hong Ye-ji | CNC Entertainment (K) | B | 76 | 76 | 0 |
| Won Seo-yeon | MMO Entertainment (K) | C | 81 | 77 | +4 |
| Jo Ah-yeong | FNC Entertainment (K) | C | 83 | 78 | +5 |
| Han Cho-won | Cube Entertainment (K) | D | 64 | 79 | -15 |
| Asai Yuka | SKE48 (J) | F | 69 | 80 | -11 |
| Nagano Serika | AKB48 (J) | F | 72 | 81 | -11 |
| Naiki Kokoro | NMB48 (J) | D | 75 | 82 | -7 |
| Ichikawa Manami | AKB48 (J) | F | 79 | 83 | -4 |
| Kurihara Sae | HKT48 (J) | F | 73 | 84 | -9 |
| Son Eun-chae | Million Market (K) | C | 95 | 85 | +10 |
| Alex Christine | ZB Label (K) | B | 88 | 86 | +2 |
| Shinozaki Ayana | AKB48 (J) | F | 84 | 87 | -4 |
| Ahn Ye-won | YG K-Plus (K) | F | 82 | 88 | -6 |
| Kim Da-hye | Banana Culture (K) | A | 80 | 89 | -9 |
| Jo Sa-rang | Million Market (J) | B | 89 | 90 | -1 |
| Tsukiashi Amane | HKT48 (J) | F | 78 | 91 | -13 |
| Choi So-eun | The Music Works (K) | B | 87 | 92 | -5 |
| Kim Yu-bin | CNC Entertainment (K) | B | 90 | 93 | -3 |
| Lee Chae-jeong | MND17 (K) | C | 96 | 94 | +2 |
| Umeyama Cocona | NMB48 (J) | F | 94 | 95 | -1 |
| Uemura Azusa | NMB48 (J( | F | 93 | 96 | -3 |
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