Just like what I did with the Boys & Girls in the City, here’s a completely subjective ranking on the Aloha State members. While Boys & Girls in the City was difficult because it was hard to choose which one I liked best, my challenge for this one was nominating the ones I hated less. Aloha State was such a season full of polarizing parts and I don’t know if my watching habits contributed to a lot of the decision making but whatever, I’m gonna do it the way I did with the previous one.
Another note, this was also a little bit more difficult to write than the Boys & Girls In the City version because I feel like I’m not really doing as much justice? Unlike B&GITC which was a whole marathon, Aloha State was released in parts. I was lucky to score a VPN subscription where I got to watch Part 4 almost 2 months before the worldwide Netflix release. Let’s do this!
WARNING: SPOILERS if you haven’t completed Part 4.
Format: Name / Born / Professional Status
16. Cheri Lavoie / 1993 / Real Estate Agent & Beauty Queen
I think this is self explanatory. If you’re reading this and you haven’t seen Part 4, STOP READING!!!! I’ve never seen such vile attitude in all of my reality show watching (in my defense, I don’t watch a lot). Cheri started on a somewhat high note, being a beauty queen therefore supposedly possessing qualities of a true respectable lady. Her presence started to go downhill when she lectured Taishi about his dating life but was totally twice, or even thrice worse in actions. Being totally reckless and always intoxicated around housemates? Rude.. and not even the happy, cute drunk. She was just a mess overall and it didn’t look great. Don’t even get me started on her supposed rules on friendship and who should be worthy to be her friend. Somebody on Reddit fired back at me with the whole double standards talk but NOPE, unless you’ve watched the last few episodes you will know and you will see for yourself the kind of person she is, having such awful attitude. I’m done.
15. Yusuka Aizawa / 1998 / Musician
In my opinion, Yusuke did not fit the whole Terrace House dynamic at all, but who am I to validate that? It’s just an opinion. Let’s just say if he were a fruit, he still wasn’t ripe enough to eat. That’s putting his talent aside because he’s got lots of it, blessed to posses the gift of music. I do think that attempting to pursue Lauren was a great decision in steps to ripening himself. At they very best he got life experiences and lifelong friends out of Terrace House. More than he could ever ask for.
14. Wez Nakajima / 1988 / Rapper
Wezu, wezu, wezu. Where do I begin? So detached, so lazy, so self-centered, so.. annoying. He’s not in last place because I had high hopes for him. I was counting on him to be a breath of fresh air, to bring something new to Terrace House in Hawaii with his interests, his career and his love for rap music. But nope, his music sucks, and I feel like he’s doing music for not so great reasons (e.g. to get girls). Also, I don’t know if that’s just him or if he suffers from major RBF or RLF (Resting Lazy Face) and he contributed NOTHING to the Terrace House circle. He grunts a lot, his comments hardly warrant any useful contribution, and he refuses to be part of house issues—I can get past this attitude because I for one hate confrontation but you’re in a shared house for fuck’s sake, be sensitive and compassionate. The reason why he’s 3rd to the last is because he at least has some sort of swag, even though his music is really really awful. INSTA-GRAM, INSTA-GRAM! Stfu Wez. He also probably banged Anna and just left her in the dumps. Yuck.
13. Anna Haneisihi / 1994 / Part-timer
Anna was one of the silent slash sly bitches in the house. I laughed so much when Yuya pointed her as the villain of the house when they were asked about who’s who during Cheri’s arrival. I didn’t really understand why she was all over Yuya and Avian’s relationship so much. It was like she was stirring up drama for them and that turned me off her because she hadn’t exactly established friendship with either but she was all up in their grill already. Avian definitely avoided her because of that and looks like they’re not much friends after either. I liked her more when she came back a few times after having officially left the house but man, Wez really burned her. I thought they would have had something good if they tried. But nope, Wez is an arsehole. I’m genuinely and positively curious about her ethnicity though, if she’s purely Japanese or has a bit of Southeast Asian blood in her, because her beauty is so unique (in a good way).
12. Mariko Nitta / 1991 / Private Banker
Sorry but this is purely personal: I think her face is really weird. She was good natured but she let Cherie walk all over her which really annoyed me. That’s all I can say.
11. Jennifer Mila Hasegawa / 1997 / Aspiring Fashion Designer
Mila was super cute but did not seem to contribute to the house/cast on a personal level. It seemed to me like she was the members’ sponge, taking in all their activities and happenings while nothing was happening to her. It was too bad because I felt she would have had a lot to offer. 11th place is all cuteness, and disappointment that she left the show so early and so abruptly which was for sure largely a part of editing and producers’ discretions. Too bad.
10. Eric De Mendonca / 1989 / Carpenter & Cafe Owner
Eric isn’t that attractive to me, physically and emotionally. He does possess qualities of a typical guy’s guy who has a potential of becoming an alpha male, or probably already is. I do like his very Hawaiian lifestyle of doing things at the bare minimum, like opening a pop up instead of a real cafe so he could maintain his social life, being chill and happy, and not so much chasing ambition. Can’t blame him for that, all respect. I also thought he was loads more interesting in Part 4 than he ever was during his stay in the house.
9. Naomi Lorraine Frank / 1993 / Undecided (Waitress in Hawaii)
Naomi is cute, good natured, but lacks strong-will. During her stay I felt like she let the girls overpower her but in her defense, she sees herself as totally Japanese with very minimal Western upbringing except her bloodline so she had a bit of a hard time mixing in the Westernized Lauren and Avian. It was also kind of a shame that she let her Yuya heartbreak dictate her exit of the house because it would have been interesting to potentially watch her grow as opposed to letting one or a few issues faze her then leaving because of it.
8. Taishi Tamaki / 1987 / Waiter & Aspiring Actor
Where do I begin? Taishi is the “ace” of Terrace House. He milked the hell out of it by enjoying the last year of his 20s and that’s something I can’t blame him for. At the end of the day, I respect him. Many of his actions, words, or decisions are elements I don’t necessarily agree with, but having good regard for his housemates and always looking out for them even though his methods aren’t properly communicated (e.g. intense scene of lecturing Yuya, like wtf right). His preference to date the girls one after the other in the house weren’t all to play them like he was Mr. Lothario but definitely his means of finding that one true love and I can’t blame him for that. I’m glad he found it! And all that crying, that was more funny than annoying to me. I never once thought that he was acting. He is just a big ball of emotion and intensity, and it happens to anyone.
7. Yuya Shibusawa / 1998 / Aspiring Actor
Yuya is no. 7 because he was the cutest guy for me when he entered the house. Many might think he’s a slacker but at 18 and already doing things outside his comfort zone and home country, that says something. Despite being young, I loved how he only set his eyes on Avian and went for the relationship in the end even though he had doubts in the middle. Say what you want about them but I feel like they balance each other out. I hope they last long.
6. Guy Sato / 1996 / Pro Surfer
Guy was just the best breath of fresh air for me all throughout the series. He is such a unique individual and positively so. He’s the perfect example of the saying, “If you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life,” or something like that. His surfing accident was so difficult to watch because it could have ruined his career, worse, his life. We could have seen the shift of his happy-go-lucky attitude to someone who lost his zest of life and I’m so glad that didn’t happen. I’m happy he got to bounce back and enjoy some late night frolicking with Niki.
5. Lauren Tsai / 1998 / Model & Artist
This was a difficult place because I have a love/hate thing going on with Lauren. At times her attitude kind of annoyed me, but as I kept watching and trying to understand her actions I realized she’s just so young, masked in sheer maturity as she makes her way through life. I could feel her genuine anxiety when she was trying to deal with things and issues in the house with other people even thought she wasn’t used to it at all, and I appreciated how she didn’t toy with Yusuke’s feelings and didn’t lead him on. She always maintained her stand and she’s someone who knows what she wants or doesn’t want and I liked that. She was also very family oriented which I appreciated.
4. Chikako Fukuyama / 1988 / Spa Receptionist
Chikako wasn’t an easy person to like for me. I had every right to get jealous of her. She’s my age, gorgeous, great effortless body, great hair, full of sex appeal and she didn’t even had to try. I appreciated how she guarded her heart without closing it, and got along fairly with the other members. It didn’t look like she she led Taishi on and I appreciate that she didn’t let him know she was truly interested until she was ready and closed all doors with her ex. One of my turning points in deciding my love for her was during the big Cheri altercation in the house when she didn’t buy into her shit at all and stood her ground which didn’t necessarily mean she was on Taishi’s side. Atta girl! I almost gave her a standing ovation for that. I hope this love is worth dying for her as well.
3. Niki Niwa / 1996 / College Student & Model
Loved Niki. She took no shit and genuinely enjoyed her stay in the house. Beautiful girl next door who didn’t seem like she was all caught up with anything. I loved her relationship with Guy from the beginning, how they were super comfortable with each other and how naturally things just went on from there. We still don’t know what their “status” really is but I hope they still hang out because they’re cute together and seem to just mindlessly get along. The date with Guy that didn’t turn out well was cute to watch as well, it was the first time I saw a different side of Niki and realizing what her aversions were.
2. Ryo Sekikawa / 1990 / Retail Marketing
Ryo for me is the best Aloha State member, if only we got to see more of him. He was my BGITC Martha, who I love and continue to love but sad that I never got to see more of. He had the greatest personality while in the house and I’m so glad he got to share that with us despite all the negativity he was brought into while in the house. He was like a cross between Hansan and Byrnes in the problem solving aspect, that you could get such great input from him as well as hard-hitting advice for self improvement. Don’t even get me started on his eyes, his gorgeous eyes, and his beautiful raspy voice that just melts me. I need to have more of him.
1. Avian Koo / 1990 / Sales Clerk & Entrepreneur
Avian is overall goals for me. A girl who’s got a good balance between her head and her heart. I’m glad she and Yuya got together because Yuya makes her happy and that she’s able to “tame” Yuya as well and lead him to maturity. She has a bangin’ body and is cute when she smiles. She was everyone’s friend and didn’t take bullshit from anyone and even though she was good friends with Lauren, she chose to be honest with her (this was during Naomi farewell scene) so that everything got solved. I obviously have very little to say about Avian because it’s been a while since I’ve watched her but I sincerely miss her and didn’t hate her one bit during her whole stay. She was always a joy to watch for me from her interactions, her work, her passion, her friendship with others, her relationship with Yuya, and even up to now on social media as she navigates into life.
God I had never seen anything like Cheri. I haven’t even met anyone remotely like her in real life. The house meeting scene annoyed me to the bone- her whole “you can’t talk to me that way but somehow I can talk to you however I want because people grow by getting hurt” and “I’m disappointed in you, you had potential to be my friend but now you lost your place on my list” arguments almost made me vomit. Totally wish Avian was in the house at the same time as Cheri. She would’ve eaten Cheri’s ass alive. Also was disappointed that Wez and Mariko failed to stand up to her or even had remotely any logic to be slightly annoyed by her vileness and immaturity. Straight evil.
Also agreed that Ryo was the chillest. The real deal. Very considerate. He tried to resolve the issues by going on a 1-on-1 picnic with the devil herself, and came up with the idea for the 4 to leave early, totally aware that the house had zero chemistry and the only good thing going on in the end was the couple. Those other members didn’t deserve him. Ryo, Han-San, Martha, Avian, Mizuki and Guy should have a whole other TA series with just the 6 of them. It’ll be the most boring but calm reality show of all time.
I second all your emotions….including those last six members you mentioned….especially poor underappreciated Mizuki.
I like Naomi Lorraine Frank because she is pretty much like me!
Yeah wezs Instagram song was just horrible. I felt embarrassed just watching that scene.
Thank you for this ranking article. Also enjoyed your previous ranking (City). Can’t say I agree totally on the ranking, but I do agree with your comments on each of the housemates. I would’ve ranked Yusuke and Taishi higher because their personalities added so much to the series–entertainment-wise, I mean. My heart went out to them both since they were basically good-hearted guys despite being socially inept. Kind of interesting that one was the youngest and the other the eldest. *LOL*
I’m surprised by how much I agree with this ranking, and how swayed I am by the descriptions for the placements that I (mildly) disagreed with!
-Taishi is a difficult one to rank for me, because his “love worth dying for” was so preposterous and dominated too much of the show, but his character was unambiguous and gave the panel some of their best commentary moments
-Best couple = Niki and Guy. Their final scene felt like the best and happiest ending, full of potential beyond the show, for anyone in the Aloha State arc, even if they weren’t an actual couple at the end
-Starting lineup was fairly unappealing to me …with the exception of Avian! But I was still surprised to see her top the list
-Ultimately, my MVP for Aloha State was the commentary panel, which kept me invested in the show and got me through the frustrating moments and episodes. Especially Yoshimi Tokui, whose speculative digressions made me laugh hardest
Anyway, well done and thank you for sharing!
YESSSSS!!! I just finished the series i was just hoping you would do a list for Aloha State too! I agree with ALMOST all of your rankings, except for just a few! But yes, lets all just agree that Cheri is clearly the worst. Yucks. Worst character on all the Terrace House seasons.
1. Mannn putting Yusuke that low hurt. He wasn’t my favorite member, but i liked that he was talented, didnt brag about it and had a good natured personality. I would probably put him higher, around the 10th ranking.
2. Taishi for me is a wild card. In terms of adding entertainment to the show, he’s the best. Most of the drama and interesting interactions come from him. But personality wise…i go back and forth. I hated that scene with him and Yuya just like him, but he did grow to be more empathetic in the end. Plus he’s hardworking as hell so i respect him. I would put him in the top 3.
3. Lauren! I’m sorry, but i unabashedly love her the most among all the members. This is really biased but shes the most relatable for me with her social anxiety and natural awkwardness. Plus, her paintings are legitimately good, and shes by far the prettiest imo. She came across as genuine, but she left too early sadly. If i had to do a biased ranking, i would want to put her as No 1, but she probably deserves like a 3rd ranking.
Everything else though, spot on! Man i’m gonna miss this show, thank you so much for writing this, and hope you’ll continue to write it for the next series!!! (whenever it comes on). Going to spend the next few months roaming the reddit forums with you guys haha!
Cheers 🙂
I agree with most of what you said about Wez, although I wouldn’t call him lazy or even self-centered. Detached – yes, but not lazy. He seemed to be actively pursuing his dream and working productively outside of the house. Yuya on the other hand, seemed to be lazy, even to the point of irritating Taishi. I wouldn’t judge Wez to be self-centered either, I did not hear him voice his opinion to the point where it could be determined that he was self-centered – like Cheri. But as you said, this is a subjective list, not a fair judgement of character by the same set of standards for all members of the house.
The “Wez is lazy” dig is just innacurate. He’s one of the few cast members who accomplished anything. He put on a concert and made a music video. You’re conflating his laidback, laconic social demeanor (and perhaps stereotypes associated with his race?) with what he actually achieved. Look at the facts.
It’s not entirely inaccurate. Sure, he’s driven, full of ambition, and hardworking WHEN IT COMES to his music. What I meant about his being lazy is his interest and ability to form relationships with people in the house. Idk, maybe it has improved now because we see him in a lot of events with the housemates and he hangs out with them a lot, or it could be attributed to camera work. Like I said, this is all based on what I saw on the show and my observations and reactions about them all.
*inaccurate
I like your ranking a lot! I would have put Yuusuke higher, because while I agree he didn’t really fit in, I think he should get more points for pure talent and that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, if socially awkward. Ahead of Wez at least. I’d also probably put Guy in at the top of my ranking. He was just such a weirdo airhead, but in a sweet way, and a lot of his parts were the funniest moments on the show. That juxtaposed with his surfing talent made him my favorite. I like that you appreciated Ryo too. He wasn’t around for long, but he seemed like a great guy and I wish we had seen more of him. Definitely also agree with Avian being the top girl.
And yes, Cheri was THE WORST.
I agree on most but Wez was super cool. His instagram song is lame but guess what, the hook is still in your head. Actually that’s how I discovered Terrace House – through his song haha
Haha thank you for your comment! I know, the “INSTA-GRRRAM” hook will forever be imbedded in us even though it was such an annoying song.
Just watched this series and I had to check your list to make sure Cheri was ranked the lowest. She is a certified narcissistic sociopath! I almost expected her head to spin 360 when she told Taishi not to speak to her. She’s not human. I’m sorry but she seemed like a cyborg with a bad glitch. Ugh! Toxic and emotionally abusive. Taishi and Chika were the only two who weren’t afraid of her.
Loved how Taishi and Chikako didn’t succumb to any of her bullshit!
I love this show. Real people. Real emotions. Don’t like commentators putting Taishi down for “bawling”. He is just so sweet. He’s not perfect but has some great qualities. He hasn’t found the perfect girl. There’s nothing wrong with being picky.
If the show took place in Japan, some of these guys like Niki, Guy, Lauren, Mila would allow more to happen. It’s my personal experience, it can be very boring for foreigners when you only know a handful of people in town. Taishi had done all those ‘no, he didn’t!’ moments to keep the show going. Now I really think Chikako were really playing along after getting influenced by him on the banana bathing suit scene. I still don’t get why some of these guys were on the show…
Haha you mean they could be more reckless in their actions? Well, rumor has it that Mila left abruptly because of underage drinking. She wasn’t 21 in the US yet, but we all know you can drink at any age in Asia.. so she must have been used to that.
It’s pretty interesting how other people see people’s behavior in the house differently.
To me, the first cast member were the best of the whole Aloha season. There might have been not that much romance in the first couple of episodes, but I liked the way how the members developped their freindship.
I personally didn’t think that Cheri was that bad. She just did whatever she wanted to and she was one of the strongest female characters I ever saw on TH. She might have rubbed with her housemates in a wrong way from time to time, but she was just so human.
I couldn’t stand Taishi from the beginning. After he joined the show, everything went downhill. Only Guy’s carefree and childish character stopped me from skipping this season. I would’ve loved to see more of Mila, but unfortunetaly she couldn’t seem to cope with the others. Her and Guy’s sudden moving-out made me wonder if the whole atmophere in the house might have changed at some point. Taishi was super annoying with his “I want a love to die for”. Everything about him seemed fake. And the way Wez talked was annoying, too.
Taishi and Chikako together almost made me puke. It’s like they forcefully wanted things to happen between them. After they got together, I skipped every episode and only watched the last which was more than disppointing. I liked the season B&GIC ended with everyone making up and leaving the house together, but the last episode of Aloha State was just a Taishi x Chikako show!!
[…] Yuya rose to stardom when he featured in the aforementioned Netflix reality show “Terrace House: Aloha State”, earning a slot in the famous Reality Stars list for his appearance. In this show, strangers come together to live in a wonderful house together; all they’re provided with is shelter and vehicles. The show is unscripted and there are no written rules – they just need to stay together. Yuya was on the show with a number of other members. Some of them are: […]