History YMMV / Produce48

** Korean audiences tend to prefer fresh, cute, and youthful concepts, which is why Gaeun, Miyu, or Miho weren't popular with the voting ([[ExecutiveMeddling or so it seemed]]). In Gaeun and Miho's case, their age was often brought up as a deterrent, especially since they're approaching ChristmasCake status. In Miyu's case, her style of singing being outdated caused a severe rift between her fans and her haters. On the other hand, Juri Takahashi, Miru Shiroma, and Sae Murase were relatively popular Japanese contestants who didn't exactly get the same amount of support from international fans.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Mnet made sure to screen Japanese participants to check if they hold any right-wing views. [[SubvertedTrope Too bad]] that they forgot to screen for Miu Shitao apparently liking a certain hometown politician named [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Hirobumi Ito]]...
** ...except the case is a bit more complicated. [[https://www.asianjunkie.com/2018/08/16/shitao-miu-of-pd48-accused-of-being-a-right-wing-nut-but-the-evidence-seems-tenuous/ Judge it yourself.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Mnet made sure to screen Japanese participants to check if they hold any right-wing views. [[SubvertedTrope Too bad]] that they forgot to screen for Miu Shitao liking a certain hometown politician named [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Hirobumi Ito]]...

*** Before, the only hard evidence fans had of Mnet rigging the votes was the "airplane" incident, where fans noticed that all the Korean trainees for whom agencies bought plane tickets to Japan prior to the show's end actually ended up debuting. Now that the police has found evidence that ''Produce 48'' may be rigged after investigating ''Series/ProduceX101'', people have been speculating who actually should have made the group instead. This is also further worsened by contestants on ''Series/ProduceX101'' and ''Idol School'' alleging that the producers were biased towards trainees who they wanted to make the group, with some even being taught choreography to songs that wouldn't get revealed until much later -- which also narrows down to the whole debacle of ''how'' Sakura Miyawaki got an A in her first evaluation when many of the other contestants, especially Jurina Matsui, performed better than her.

* {{Expy}}: Lee Gaeun is compared to Jonghyun (JR from [=NU'EST=]) because they both ranked at #1 during the first evaluations, #8 near the end, and didn't make the final line-up despite their popularity and talent.

** While Korean fans feel that Gaeun, Miyu, and Miho are too "old" to be idols, international fans were more appreciative of them as talented artists and had hoped they would end up in the top 12.

** International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all (especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, who chose to perform the sexually charged "Side to Side" by Music/ArianaGrande) because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men." The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea and Japan haven't heard of nor cares about the controversy, mostly because of her dominating performance as center in "Very Very Very." With that said, however, South Korea did criticize the "Rumor" performance for [[https://kt.wowkorea.jp/news-read/23774.html having the girls wear garter belts in their performances]], especially since most of the girls were only old enough to be in high school.
** Korean audiences tend to prefer fresh, cute, and youthful concepts, which is why Gaeun, Miyu, or Miho weren't popular with the voting. In Gaeun and Miho's case, their age was often brought up as a deterrent, especially since they're approaching ChristmasCake status. In Miyu's case, her style of singing being outdated caused a severe rift between her fans and her haters. On the other hand, Juri Takahashi, Miru Shiroma, and Sae Murase were relatively popular Japanese contestants who didn't exactly get the same amount of support from international fans.

** The final ranking and line-up for the group [=IZ*ONE=] is very divisive among international fans for having nine Korean and three Japanese members. Not only was the nationality distribution uneven for a group hyped up to be a "global GirlGroup", but a lot of internationally popular contestants like Lee Gaeun, Han Chowon, Miyu Takeuchi, and Miu Shitao didn't make the cut. Hyewon being part of the final line-up has also drawn online criticism for not being as charismatic as the others, while international fans are uncomfortable with 14-year-old Jang Wonyoung being the center. Either way, you'll find a lot of international fans expressing outrage at the line-up. Possible reasons why include:
*** The broadcast time being pushed three hours earlier, allowing for easier live voting for teen fans.
*** Mnet installing a verification system for online voting to filter out foreign or "bought" votes.
*** The Korean voters wanting to curate a girl group with a youthful concept, which clashed with Gaeun, Miyu, Chowon, and Miho Miyazaki's image.
*** Those who ranked high in episode 11 but didn't make the final line-up only benefiting because they were people's second choice when the votes had allowed two picks.

*** Before, the only hard evidence fans had of Mnet rigging the votes was the "airplane" incident, where fans noticed that all the Korean trainees for whom agencies bought plane tickets to Japan prior to the show's end actually ended up debuting. Now that the police has found evidence that ''Produce 48'' may be rigged after investigating ''Series/ProduceX101'', people have been speculating who actually should have made the group instead.

** The final ranking and line-up for the group [=IZ*ONE=] is very divisive among international fans for having nine Korean and three Japanese members. Not only was the nationality distribution uneven for a group hyped up to be a "global GirlGroup", but a lot of internationally popular contestants like Lee Gaeun, Han Chowon, Miyu Takeuchi, and Miu Shitao didn't make the cut. Possible reasons why include:

** Hyewon being part of the final line-up has also drawn online criticism for not being as charismatic as the others, while international fans are uncomfortable with 14-year-old Jang Wonyoung being the center. Either way, you'll find a lot of international fans expressing outrage at the line-up.

* OutOfFocus: Sae Murase and Miru Shiroma, who didn't get any relevant screen time for some bizarre reason despite their talent on the show (Sae won first overall in the position evaluation, and Miru placed first in the team's votes in every evaluation until the final). It's speculated that NMB members were denied getting screen time on the show because their Japanese management wanted them to not join the final girl group.

** International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all, but especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men". The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea and Japan haven't heard of nor cares about the controversy, mostly because of her dominating performance as center in "Very Very Very". With that said, however, South Korea did criticize the contestants [[https://kt.wowkorea.jp/news-read/23774.html wearing garter belts in their performances]], especially since most of the girls were only old enough to be in high school.

*** The broadcast time being pushed three hours earlier alnational pride kicking in at the last minute, allowing for easier live voting for teen fans.

* InternetBackdraft: Chiyori Nakanishi went viral on Korean news sites after some netizens found an old episode from 2014 where she joked about smelling kimchi when visiting South Korea ("kimchi" is a common racial slur used against Koreans), which isn't helped by Natsumi Matsuoka and then-Music/HKT48 member Chihiro Anai kindly shutting her down. Some people either think this isn't a big deal, while other people think she should have known better than to make an ignorant comment like that.

* HilariousInHindsight: During the mystery box games uploaded on YouTube before the show aired, the Japanese trainees were far more dramatic than the Koreans, often screaming in fear as soon as they put their hands in. While for people unfamiliar with Music/AKB48 this just seemed overdramatic, especially with the few paired with Korean trainees, those that know the things Music/AKB48 has been put through in this type of games (from live animals to someone's head) found it comedy gold to see the poor girls freak out over blind touching broccoli or slime.

** Natsumi Matsuoka wanting to be the center of the first group battle but refusing to make an effort to try out for it is either rude or not a big deal.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Mnet made sure to screen Japanese participants to check if they hold any right-wing views.

** The final ranking and line-up for the group [=IZ*ONE=] is very divisive for having nine Korean and three Japanese members. Not only was the nationality distribution uneven for a group hyped up to be a "global GirlGroup", but a lot of fan-favorite contestants like Lee Gaeun, Han Chowon, Miyu Takeuchi, Park Haeyoon, and Miu Shitao didn't make the cut. Possible reasons why included national pride kicking in at the last minute; the Korean voters wanting to curate a girl group with a youthful concept, which clashed with Gaeun, Miyu, Chowon, and Miho Miyazaki's image; and the speculation that those who ranked high in episode 11 but didn't make the final line-up only benefited because they were people's second choice when the votes had allowed two picks. Hyewon being part of the final line-up has also drawn online criticism for not being as charismatic as the others, while international fans are uncomfortable with 14-year-old Jang Wonyoung being the center. Either way, you'll find a lot of international fans expressing outrage at the line-up.

** International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all, but especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men". The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea and Japan haven't heard of nor cares about the controversy at all. With that said, however, South Korea did criticize the contestants [[https://kt.wowkorea.jp/news-read/23774.html wearing garter belts in their performances]], especially since most of the girls were only old enough to be in high school.
** Korean audiences tend to prefer fresh, cute, and youthful concepts, which is why they didn't bother to vote in Gaeun, Miyu, or Miho. In Gaeun and Miho's case, they claim them to be too old to be idols, especially since they're approaching ChristmasCake status. In Miyu's case, they feel that her style of singing doesn't suit cute concepts. For Western fans, not only is age not a big deal to them, but on average, most prefer "girl crush" concepts more, which would be easy for Gaeun or Chowon to pull off.

** Korean audiences tend to prefer fresh, cute, and youthful concepts, which is why they didn't bother to vote in Gaeun, Miyu, or Miho. In Gaeun and Miho's case, they claim them to be too old to be idols, especially since they're approaching ChristmasCake status. In Miyu's case, they feel that her style of singing doesn't suit cute concepts.

* ValuesDissonance: International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all, but especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men". The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea and Japan haven't heard of nor cares about the controversy at all. With that said, however, South Korea did criticize the contestants [[https://kt.wowkorea.jp/news-read/23774.html wearing garter belts in their performances]], especially since most of the girls were only old enough to be in high school.

* ValuesDissonance: International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all, but especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men". The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea and Japan haven't heard of nor cares about the controversy at all.

** The final ranking and line-up for the group [=IZ*ONE=] is very divisive for having nine Korean and three Japanese members. Not only was the nationality distribution uneven for a group hyped up to be a "global GirlGroup", but a lot of fan-favorite contestants like Lee Gaeun, Han Chowon, Miyu Takeuchi, Park Haeyoon, and Miu Shitao didn't make the cut. Possible reasons why included national pride kicking in at the last minute and the Korean voters wanting to curate a girl group with a youthful concept, which clashed with Gaeun, Miyu, Chowon, and Miho Miyazaki's image. Hyewon being part of the final line-up has also drawn online criticism for not being as charismatic as the others, while international fans are uncomfortable with 14-year-old Jang Wonyoung being the center. Either way, you'll find a lot of international fans expressing outrage at the line-up.

** Was Heo Yunjin too greedy for asking the center position when her teammates voted for another candidate to take that role, or are the watchers making this a much bigger deal than it is?

* ValuesDissonance: International fans are not happy with underage children being sexualized in the show at all, but especially 13-year old Jang Wonyoung, because the show that has been described by its own producers as "healthy porn for men". The dissatisfaction became more widespread after Wonyoung ranked 1st in the 8th week. However, South Korea hasn't heard of nor cares about the controversy at all.

* InternetBackdraft:
** Chiyori Nakanishi went viral on Korean news sites after some netizens found an old episode from 2014 where she joked about smelling kimchi when visiting South Korea ("kimchi" is a common racial slur used against Koreans), which isn't helped by Natsumi Matsuoka and then-Music/HKT48 member Chihiro Anai kindly shutting her down. Some people either think this isn't a big deal, while other people think she should have known better than to make an ignorant comment like that.

* NarmCharm: Han Chowon's team performing "Boombayah" is, as expected, hilariously bad, especially when it comes down to Erii Chiba, who looks like she's practically given up and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCrG0nvU0Y gives a very stilted, soulless performance]]. At the same time, it's given rise to many jokes about her becoming a rap god and has even endeared her to her fan base even more.