This is Mayu Shimada, a former member of the famous I-1 Club before Shiraki booted her out as the center. Now, she’s a member of Wake Up, Girls! and while they have they glory two years ago, they’re still treated as nobodies.
It might be their inexperience to begin with or it’s just that they’re lucky on winning the Idol Festival, I feel that it’s the former who hold WUG! back to national fame.
One example is when Nanami Hisami and Miyu Okamoto are invited to a variety show and due to their awkwardness, they fumbled their chances while one member of the I-1 Club got noticed.
Yeah, they pretty much screwed up because of their naivety and because of that, both Nanami and Miyu got cut out. That’s sucks!
This puts a lot of WUG! fans getting worried about their idols being left behind, like these three middle school students who wanted to meet Wake Up, Girls! someday.
By the way, these three girls might become the main focus in later episodes when they meet WUG!
As for others, they felt devastated when these hardcore fans under Kuniyoshi Oota learned that the variety show didn’t feature both Nanami Hisami and Miyu Okamoto.
In any case, Wake Up, Girls! is not yet ready to take on the national stage.
For now, they need to reassess themselves on what it takes to be an idol and what their weaknesses. After all, they’re still beginners!
Of course, there’s another way to gain popularity and it helps flesh out their personality. In fact, Kaya Kikuma started doing a diet blog on how she eats and how to make healthy foods. I guess that Kayatan’s experience from the previous episode has helped her to learn more about her body.
So with that in mind, the girls have decided that if they can’t beat I-1 Club at their own game, why not do something different to attract fans.
First up is Miyu Okamoto where she started a web show and talk about anime. In fact, Miyu is talking about her favorite show Osomatsu-san and she loves watching it… ’cause it’s good! (No shill!) BTW, it’s funny that Miyu is promoting an anime show airing in TV Tokyo.
Second is Yoshino Nanase who tries her best at a trendy fashion magazine photoshoot, but didn’t impress the readers about it.
So, Yoppi tries gravure modelling and damn, she’s enjoying this photoshoot! On the other hand, I kinda miss her long hair look…
Third is Airi Hayashida as she decides to wear a shark head while presenting at a local news station.
Gotta say that Airi looks special and besides, it’s better than not wearing one!
Fourth is Minami Katayama as she shows her singing talent at a local cuisine show ’cause saying “it’s tasty, nyan~!” is not enough. Way to go, Minyami!
And finally, here’s Nanami Hisami as Junko Tange offered her something that might get Nanami interested…
Yup, an invitation for a musical audition that’s right up in Nanami’s alley! Sure that she abandoned her dreams of becoming part of Hikarizuka back in the first season, but Tange-san believes that idols don’t bar them from doing musicals.
In any case, Nanami Hisami joined the auditions and while she didn’t make it, that audition was a great experience and Nanami will strive to get in a musical someday. Well, that’s about it for this episode of Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter and the next episode will involve Mayu Shimada as she’s invited for a drama role. I hope she won’t get pressured there!
The Anime Rambler - By Benigmatica 
I loved Airi’s shark head – a throwback to the Animal Weather Report in the first season.