"Produce 48" Contestants Warm Hearts With How They Bond And Encourage One Another Despite Language Barrier

Jun 23, 2018

The contestants of Mnet’s “Produce 48” touched viewers with their growing friendships during the latest June 22 episode.

“Produce 48” is a combination of Mnet’s “Produce 101” series and the Japanese AKB system. As such there are Korean and Japanese trainees, in addition to a couple other nationalities.

While it appeared to be awkward and there were a couple misunderstandings at first, contestants in each class tried their best to help one another and quickly bonded in just three days. They made up for the language barrier by communicating through broken sentences, body language, and even drawing.

Wang Yi Ren shared, “It’s fascinating how trainees from different countries are practicing together” and Kang Da Min said, “I can feel how we’re communicating even without words.” Matsui Jurina and Iwatate Saho in particular talked about how happy they were when the Korean trainees in their class helped them.

Aside from practicing, they also comforted and encouraged one another when someone was struggling. Goto Moe commented, “If I were to explain it in a single sentence. Our companionship is really strong.” Matsuoka Natsumi shared, “The Korean trainees in the F class will come and talk to me when I’m crying. If I was alone, I’m sure that my will would have been broken. I’m able to be strong thanks to my friends.”

Other contestants added, “I felt how the distance between our hearts has became shorter in just two, three days,” “Even if we’re from different countries, I think what we feel is definitely the same,” and, “We don’t speak the same language but we empathize with one another and learn how to be considerate.”