Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj and welcome to the first installment into what I like to call the Idol arc. Throughout the month of May I’ll be reviewing anime’s that center on idols and dive a little into the history of idols. With that being said let’s take a look at a personal favorite anime of mine AKB0048. This anime centers around a group of girls in the future who want to become idols of the group AKB0048 who travel the galaxy bringing smiles, hope, and love to people. Now you can’t really talk about the anime without first talking about the group the anime was based off of. AKB0048 is actually based off the real pop idol group AKB48 that got its start back in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan in 2005 by Yasushi Akimoto who is still the producer of the group to this day. The idea of the group was to create a girls group that unlike regular pop groups would perform concerts on a daily basis at its own concert hall located in Akihabara for all the fans to see. The group is considered the biggest pop group in the world with 88 members total that range from the ages of 13 to mid-20s who are broken down into three subgroups with 2 teams having 21 members, one team having 22 members, and the remaining are considered understudies or trainees who step in when a regular can’t perform for some reason. With these many members and subgroups the group can perform concerts on a daily basis at their concert hall, while another goes on tour, and another group makes TV appearances taking the stress off one group entirely and allowing each group to focus on their goal. The understudies work under the idols and as I said step in when one regular can’t perform and when a regular decides to graduate from the group (leave) an understudy is chosen to take her spot and becomes a full fledge regular. Auditions for the group are held yearly for new members to join and it’s been said that the group is working on expanding overseas. To this day the group has won multiple awards and first hit singles through Japan and continue to be one of the most famous idol groups in the world. In 2011 production of the anime began and it made its debut in the summer of 2012. Right from the get-go this series has a lot of talent behind it; the production studio heading the project was Statelight the same studio that made Shugo Chara and are working on the Hellsing Ultimate OVAs and the anime was screen written and directed by Shōji Kawamori who created and wrote a vast majority of all the Macross shows and specials. Plus, the characters are all voiced by real understudies from AKB48 with the successors being voiced by actual voice actors for the series. Well, I’ve wasted enough time giving backstory and history, let’s start the Idol arc off with a bang and take a look at AKB0048.
Opening and Ending theme
Our opening song for the anime is Kibou ni Tsuite sung by No Name which is the group name of the understudies who do the voices for the main characters in the anime. The song is actually quite good. It’s beautiful and addicting to listen to. It’s a song that says they will work hard to make our dreams come true, never giving up, and overcoming all the obstacles in their path. Quite inspiring if you ask me. The ending is Yume wa Nando Demo Umarekawaru sung by No Name again. At first I didn’t like the song for its dark and sad mood but as I kept listening to it and reading the lyrics I discovered that the song was quite deep and started to like the song. It’s the kind of song you would want to listen to while playing deep and meaningful video games.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts off on a planet called Lancastar, a mining/ industrial planet where our main heroines Nagisa, Chieri, Orine, and Yuka (yeah, I’m not even try to name all the voice actors in this anime because there are a ton of them) sneaking pass officers of DES and go to a secret concert being held by AKB0048 on the planet (also, a little nitpick I have with the anime is what is up with their hair and eyes? Every girl in this anime has a heart shape print in their hair and eyes. Don’t get me wrong I like it but where did it come from, why is it there, is it something their born with it, explain anime, explain!? And if you say it’s to make them look cute I’m gonna reach through your computer screen and slap you because they’re already cute without the heart). They reach the concert where the girls are blown away by what they see and make a vow that when they get older (their children right now) they will join AKB0048 together. We fast forward years later and the girls are all grown up and in their teen years (I would make a sex joke but their still underage and let’s face it you’ve already made up one in your head). Nagisa and Yuka are going to school, Orine is working at a factory because her parents died when she was young and she was adopted by the workers of the factory, and Chieri is nowhere to be seen because she comes from a different planet and was visiting Lancastar with her father. In class Yuka finds a message that says that AKB0048 is holding auditions for new understudies so Nagisa, Yuka, and Orine decide to apply for the auditions by sending in videos of themselves singing, dancing, and saying why they want to join AKB0048 (okay, getting tired of writing AKB0048. From now on I’m just gonna call it AKB for short). Later on at home we see that Nagisa’s dad is anti-entertainment and doesn’t want Nagisa to join AKB or have anything associated with AKB in her room. I went through a similar problem with Isis not too long ago (*flashback* (Isis): Alright troll, you’ve been locked up in the basement for 26 hours, are you gonna remove your ecchi manga in your room? (Nitsuj): Are you gonna remove your secret stash of yaoi novels from my laptop? (Isis): See you in 12 hours troll. *flashback ends*. Anyway, the next day comes and the girls find out that they passed the audition (kanpai!) and they’re sent tickets to come to a venue for the next stage of the auditions. Nagisa tells her father but he says no and she runs out in anger where she sees Yuka slap a boy name Mamoru who she has a crush on because he said he won’t like her if she joins AKB. There’s a song to describe a guy like him I think it went something like this: (https://youtu.be/vpEfaICblNw). So the next day Nagisa makes a decision to defy her father and go to the audition (typical teenage girl right here folks). She sneaks out early but her mother sees her and rather than stop her gives her a handmade hair bow and tells her to go follow her dream. She rushes to the space station on her bike and boards the ship before it takes off with Orine and Yuka already on board.
In episode 2 the girls meet other girls who are also going to the 2nd part of the auditions. We have Suzuko a smart young girl who tells it like it is, Sonata the youngest and energetic of the girls who gives people nicknames based on their character (in that case I will call her sugar rush), and Makoto the no confidence girl who always panics about every little thing you swear that she was the offspring of C-3PO and that annoying chick from Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom. The girls also find out that Cheiri has snuck onboard the ship and split up to look for her. Nagisa finds her but Chieri says that they’re rivals and that they shouldn’t get too close to each other (ah, the childhood friend who’s become cold and a total bitch. Oh yeah, I WILL insult an underage girl). The girls meet back up where the ship comes under attack by DES who board the ship and start searching for the girls (so these guys open fire on a ship carrying innocent civilians, takeover the ship, attack said civilians on the ship, and are willing to shoot at a group of girls just to arrest them? Wow, these guys are the physical incarnation of assholes and douchbags). Nagisa gets captured by them but luckily AKB shows up and saves her along with everyone else on the ship. As the group escapes Nagisa realizes she dropped her hair bow that was given to her by her mother and runs back to get it where a DES soldier grabs her again (don’t go Princess Peach on me, you’re the main character I will not stand for it). Cheiri sneaks up from behind and takes the guard out but a chandelier falls on her and she tells Nagisa to leave saying that their rivals but Nagisa refuses and goes into the whole friendship and teamwork speech. Yuuko, one of the members of AKB finds them, saves them both and they all escape to end the episode.
We open up episode 3 with Tsubasa the manager and proudcer of AKB telling all of the potential candidates that the only way to become understudies is to do a successful performance of the song Beginner. After that they begin their training to become idols by fighting robots and learning how to work semi-automatic guns (I bet you thought they were gonna do dance and vocal lessons). Actually they’re being trained to fight against DES because they’ll be bodyguards for an upcoming concert and the only way to become understudies is to protect the concert until the final note of Beginner is sung. As the girls have a hard time adjusting to their new surroundings they slowly start to get better and are able to defend themselves and beat training robots. The day of the concert comes and as the successors begin to sing Beginner which is a good song by the way, the candidates get attacked (scene here: https://youtu.be/2f169h3_qaQ, Jesus! Oh my God they are getting destroyed out there! Good Lord, bodies are flying, explosions are happening, people are crying, bullets are going through the air, I swear it’s crazy. Just make it all slow motion and have girls with giant boobs in the scene and will have created Michael Bay’s wet dream. Oh, and don’t forget the obligatory advertisement). Once the concert ends and the dust has settled Tsubasa comes out and tells them that it was all just a stimulation to see if they would stand their ground to protect the concert and the stage of their dreams; in which they all respond well to (the correct response would have been, “fuck you bitch, you nearly killed us, fuck you!). Only are 4 main heroines together with Makoto, Suzuku, and Sonata stood their ground and fought while everybody else ran away like idiots. The episode ends with all 7 of them becoming the official 77th generation understudies of AKB0048.
In episode 4 the girls arrive on the planet Akibastar which is the home planet of AKB0048 and looks like a futuristic version of Akihabara (I hope they have video games and manga stores still around). There, the girls see the two 75th generation understudies known as the “cursed generation” because they’re the only girls of their generation who haven’t graduated yet or quit like the other members of the generation.
Actually, I should explain the graduation process for this anime. In Akibastar they have a cave where all the kirara live and they show images of the understudies who they say are ready to graduate and who they will replace in the group once the successor has decided to graduate. Personally, I find the whole leaving the choice of who graduates up to an unknown species unfair not only for the understudies but also for the successors. It’s unfair for the understudies because they’re constantly being forced to be someone else entirely while losing themselves and their identity that made them unique and special. It’s unfair to the successors because that means if an understudy comes along and has the character traits that matches the original idol more than them it can be seen as unfair and unjust for them to graduate just because of that. Like for example, imagine playing an MMORPG with your friends and one day they decide to kick you off the team because they found another player who specializes in the character you created or use better than you. At the end of the day you’re gonna be pissed and upset at what they did and you’ll probably never play the game again.
Anyway, getting back to the story the girls meet the members of the 75th generation since they’ll be training with them from now on. First we have the sexy Mimori a kind hearted upbeat girl who is always hardworking and maintaining a positive attitude. The other understudy is Kanata a serious hardheaded girl who is actually the older sister of the energetic Sonata (yet they look nothing alike. Family genes mean nothing in anime does it?). Kanata wants Sonata to go back home because she doesn’t want Sonata to feel the pain and hardships of being an understudy and not being good enough to succeed an original member like herself. We get a flashback which tells us that her father used to be the leader of a militia that fought against DES but he got killed one day so Kanata joined AKB0048 to seek revenge against DES by becoming a member of the group (seems logical to her but to me it sounds crazy and ridiculous). No wonder she hasn’t succeeded yet, she’s just doing this out of anger instead of love like she’s supposed to. We also learn in this episode that AKB use to have a position known as the center nova position which was the most important position in the group but after Acchan the last center nova graduated from the group the position was retired for some reason. Why? Well I’ll get to that later. The next day they go to dance lessons where they meet their instructor and choreographer Ushiyama who likes to cross-dress and act like a girl (I’m just a sweet transvestite from transsexual transeastar~ uh huh). During the dance lessons Kanata messes up one too many times and after a short confrontation with Chieri storms out of the studio (You donkey! Get out! Fuck off with ya!). She winds up in the park where Mimori finds her who tells her it’s okay to like singing and dancing (yes I agree. YOU ARE TRAINING TO BECOME AN IDOL AFTER ALL, THIS IS ESSENTIAL). The rest of the girls (except Chieri) show up and they all begin to sing in the park to end the episode.
Episodes 5-9
In episode 5 the girls along with the successors have a day off and they all go off and do their own thing only to get dragged into lessons with the members. Kanata and Makoto get dragged away by Kojiharu who teaches them how to use their pheromones and luscious legs to be sexy (sure, let’s teach the underage girls how to act sexy, I’m sure it won’t be awkward or disturbing for the fans). Mimori gets dragged off by two other members, Sayaka and Sae who try to train her to be less sexy and more tomboyish (I don’t know I think that might add to the sexiness of Mimori, I mean look at Chie from Persona 4, tomboyish but still cute and a bit sexy). Yuka and Orine go to Tomomi’s (another succesor) home where they meet her family who carries the blood of the original Tomomi and have succeeded Tomomi’s position in AKB for generations. In fact, every member of the family resembles Tomomi in some way, the family even goes as far as marrying men who resemble Tomomi so that children will look more like Tomomi, and each female member undergoes special training to become the next Tomomi (okay, if anybody thinks this family is a little crazy please say yes. (Nitsuj): Yes, (Isis): Yes, (Audience): Yes. (Nitsuj): I thought so). Nagisa and Chieri spend the day walking the town with Yuuko, and Sonata and Suzuko follow Tsubasa around to see what they can learn about Sensei-sensei. We also find out why the center nova position was retired after the last Acchan. It turns out that the last Acchan didn’t leave but instead mysteriously disappeared in the middle of a concert like all the other past center novas of the group (https://youtu.be/HQoRXhS7vlU).
Out of all of the episodes this season, episode 6 is my favorite. In this episode the girls are getting ready to make their public debut at a handshake event (now there’s an innuendo if I ever heard one). A few days before the event Orine receives a video letter from a hater (so even in outer space they have trolls) telling her to quit being an idol, saying that her singing and dancing suck and that if she doesn’t quit he’ll bomb the handshake event to get rid of her (he’s bluffing, go back under your bridge and brew your sewer water stew). This in turn scares Orine causing her to worry about the event with everyone trying to calm her down saying that this is something all idols face (it’s a 12-year old kid he ain’t gonna do shit to you). So why do I like this episode so much? Well, it’s because of what they did with the hater. They could have gone the easy route and just made him a straight up asshole and it would have totally been justified and understandable from the viewer’s p.o.v but instead they actually give him a character and a justifiable reason why he’s hating on Orine (albeit childish but still an understandable reason and at the end he does learn his lesson). I think everybody has a hater out there in their life and chances are I have some as well but the lesson this episode gives to counter haters is just amazing and something I intend to carryout. I won’t spoil the episode but when you watch the anime pay close attention to this episode and if you have watched the episode you know what I’m talking about and understand why this episode is so good.
In episode 7 Cheiri, Kanata, and Mimori are selective to be stand-ins for a concert that’s happening soon but members from the 76th generation are unhappy that Cheiri gets to be a stand-in before them since they’ve been around longer (it’s called hardwork ladies, look it up, apply it to your life and maybe you’ll get selective. Lazy broods). We also find out in this episode that Cheiri’s dad is a large supporter of DES and the mechs that the group fights against are made by his company Zodiac. Once every one hears about this Cheiri decides to leave because she feels responsible for bringing pain and hardship to the group because of her dad but Kanata comes in and stops her from leaving saying not to worry about it and that she has friends here who will support her (you know your typical friendship speech crap). While that is going on Yuuko and Takamina (the captain of the group) see how Kanata has skills that are on par with theirs and they go to Tsubasa to see if they can get her to be a successor. They follow Tsubasa at night to the temple where Sensei-sensei resides and they step in the Kirara cave where the Kirara show that Kanata’s personality and characteristics resemble the original Takamina more than the current Takamina and that in order for Kanata to become a successor the current Takamina must graduate. Takamina not knowing how to handle this runs out of the cave and the others vow not to tell anyone what they saw to end the episode.
Episode 8 starts off with the concert in which Kanata, Mimori, and Cheiri do a good job. Later on we find out that the group is going to be having a guerilla concert on a planet called Tundrastar and the understudies of the 77th and 75th generation have all been selective for stand-ins. On their way to the planet they receive intel that the planet is too heavily guarded by DES and Tsubasa makes a decision to retreat but Takamina says they’ll fight and beat them. And in good time because DES launches a surprise attack on them and Takamina along with other members lead an attack on them (do a barrel roll). While fighting we see the inner struggle Takamina is having with herself about if she’s worthy of carrying the name Takamina, wondering if it’s right for her to continue being Takamina when Kanata is a better fit for the name, and feeling bad that as long as she remains Takamina Kanata will never become a successor and her dreams will never come true. See, this is why the selection of successors is totally unfair and unjust for both Takamina and Kanata. Takamina loves AKB and wants to continue singing and dancing for the fans but at the same time she feels it’s unfair to crush Kanata’s dream for her own dream. Kanata respects and looks up to Takamina but also wants to be a successor but she can’t do that unless Takamina graduates and I’m sure that if Kanata knew that she would be replacing Takamina she would feel bad about crushing Takamina’s dream in pursuit of her dream. Because of this mental struggle Takamina gets distracted and taken out (FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX! I mean Takaminnnnnnnnnnna) but Kanata shows up and saves her from getting totally wiped out (Takamina: I guess I should be thankful). The episode ends with Takamina finally crying under the stress of her struggle and Kanata feeling bad that she wasn’t strong enough to support Takamina.
In episode 9 the group arrives on Tundrastar where the planet has winter weather all year around (I’m expecting to see AT-AT’s on this planet otherwise this trip will be a complete failure). Tsubasa says that Takamina is too injured to perform so she has Kanata stand in for her. While that’s going on the understudies go outside where they come to a small town where they see everyone is depressed and in low-spirits (geez, haven’t seen so many sad faces since the Super Bowl). In the village they come across a group of young girls who recognize them and Tsubasa informs them that they’ll hold multiple coordinated concerts to confuse the enemy. That night the understudies execute their plan by performing a coordinated concert in the town distracting the DES soldiers while the people get to the venue for the main concert. Before the main concert can begin Takamina shows up and says she’s going to perform no matter what. Kanata sees her determination and steps down so that Takamina can perform the opening song River which is one of my favorite songs from the group. The main concert goes off great inspiring people to rise up against the ban act and during the credits we see the understudies perform a small concert of their own in the town square which is very good as well.
Episodes 10-13
In episode 10 nothing really happens; they just go on a gravure photoshoot on a tropical planet called Atamistar (I would have called it the Bahamastar but that’s just me). There’s a little fanservice but not a whole lot and there’s a side story with Suzuko trying to help Makoto lose weight and look sexy for her photos. If there’s anything really worth mentioning in this episode is that the camerawoman Mikako used to be a member of AKB0048 who graduated and Tsubasa was also an idol who graduated. Tsubasa also says she has plans to bring back the center nova position which Mikako says she will do everything in her power to stop her from doing that.
We open up episode 11 with an announcement that says the understudies are going to have a debut concert on Lancastar, with Nagisa getting a solo, and the understudies singing a brand new song that was composed by Sensei-sensei (what more could you ask for at a debut?). The brand new song comes as a big surprise because a new song hasn’t been written for a very long time for the group (so Sensei-sensei was just sitting on his ominous ass in a cave doing nothing this whole time? Okay, time to hold interviews for a new leader this guy sucks). The group arrives on Lancastar where we see that the planet has become a lot worse than when they left (the best way to describe the planet is imagine a cross between the cities of Detroit and Pittsburg). They arrive at the school where they meet Mamoru (who is a supporter of Suzuko) and the liberation group who inform Nagisa that her father has been arrested because she joined AKB. After that, the school is attacked by DES mechs (it’s a Gundam!) and the liberation group fights back so that the girls can escape. They split up to confuse the enemy but as they’re escaping Orine gets cornered by one and she notices that one of the gears is a gear that she created back in the factory she worked in before leaving. The episode ends with her piecing together that the factory she worked at was a factory that manufactured parts for DES mechs (wait, you mean to tell me that the whole time she worked there she never once asked what the parts were being used for? Who does that!?).
Episode 12 picks up where episode 11 left off with the DES mech pointing its gun at Orine, firing at her and missing at point blank (how the fuck do you miss a girl at point blank!? Oh, don’t get me wrong I’m pissed that they’re firing at a young girl but still point blank! No AI could possibly be that stupid and poorly programed). The group meets back up and make plans to rescue Nagisa’s father. They infiltrate the prison and find Nagisa’s father who refuses to go with them and calls Nagisa a traitor to Lancastar (and I now have the urge to use The Fist of The North Star on him). They escape and return to the ship where they begin practicing but Nagisa can’t concentrate because she feels responsible for the situation her family is in. Because of the stress she loses her voice and Cheiri takes on the role for her solo. The day of the concert arrives and as they prepare Yuka goes to give Mamoru words of encouragement and Mamoru confesses that as long as Yuka remains in AKB he’ll love her as a fan but he doesn’t love her as a non-member of AKB (how’d that song go again, https://youtu.be/vpEfaICblNw, ah thank you). The concert begins with another one of my favorite songs from the group Oogoe Diamond. They start off very good but DES shows up and overwhelms the group causing them to retreat to end the episode.
In the final episode the group begs Tsubasa to continue the concert but she hesitates out of the fear of them getting captured or worst killed. However, after hearing the spirit of Acchan and seeing the radiance of the Kirara that pierces the smog clouds covering Lancastar they make their way back to Lancastar to continue the concert. They hold the concert right in front of the prison facility (that is some badass shit right there. Holding a concert right at the doorsteps of your enemy and rubbing it in their face). They open up with Nagisa no cherry the song that Nagisa was supposed to sing but is now being sung by Cheiri who halfway through the song passes the mic over to Nagisa. Nagisa hesitates at first but once she sees her mother (eagle eyes on that girl) and her father who the liberation group freed in the audience the stress fades away and her voice comes back and she sings so wonderfully that the Kirara that’s been following Cheiri the whole season splits into two with one becoming Nagisa’s. Once the song ends we cut to the encore performance where they sing the new song Sensei-sensei wrote which is basically the full version of the ending theme of the anime. While they sing the Kirara radiance continues to shine brighter and brighter (these girls are so bright they’re blinding me. *Boo~* Oh come on, how do you pass up a line like that?). The final song they sing for the concert is the opening theme of the anime where they shine so bright that they almost disappear but come back. The concert ends and Nagisa goes to see her folks before leaving. Even her father says he’s proud of her and even though he’s still against Nagisa being a part of AKB he respects her decision. As the credits roll all the girls say goodbye to their fans and loved ones and Tsubasa tells Takamina that the Kirara showed that she can still be a successor and the season ends with them promising a second season next year.
Final Thoughts
This anime was awesome. The story and setting are great, idols traveling the universe singing songs while on the run from the government allows for a lot of great stories and development to occur. They do a very well job balancing all the girls in this anime as well and trust me there are a ton of them I didn’t even name half of the girls in this anime I just focused on the main ones. Each girl has their own personality and character that makes them unique and separate from each other but at the same time they feel and sound real. Everytime I see them I feel as if I’m actually watching the voice actor do a live performance in front of me. The animation is nice, it can be bright and colorful to look at but it can also be dark and rough when it needs to be (as evidence on Lancastar), and during the performances the idols turn into 3-D animation which you can easily see but its good and understandable because the actual dance routines are hard to animate so I think they made the right call using 3-D animation for the performances. The songs are amazing, when I watched this I didn’t know a thing about the group but after listening to these songs and doing a little history on the group I became a fan. The action is decent, while not a major focal point of the anime the action scenes are well done for the most part and while mechs aren’t as interesting or cool as the IS’s they’re still well animated and deserve a good look.
My complaints for this anime outside of the succession process is we never get a clear reason why the Entertainment Ban is an affect. We keep hearing about it but we never get a reason why it’s being carried out in the universe. My other complaint is probably a nitpick but something I’ve heard a lot of people who watched the anime also felt; the final concert was a bit underwhelming, it’s still good don’t get me wrong but I feel that we could have made the stakes higher as to why this concert had to succeed that this concert has to be successful at all cost no matter what. Another nitpick is what the hell is Sensei-sensei? He’s an ominous being that not even the members of the group know anything about and for some reason is the leader of the group. Why? Where did he come from, why does Tsubasa follow him, and if he isn’t human then what is he? We never get an answer to any of these questions and they don’t give any signs or hints to answering them.
Final Score
The final score AKB0048 is an 7.5/10 with a much watch stamp of approval. If you’re a fan of AKB48 you’ll enjoy this anime and if you’re looking for J-pop music to listen to or a fan of J-pop like myself then this anime is worth checking out as well as the group the anime is based off of. And for those of you wondering, yes I know the second season has ended and yes, I will be reviewing it next week on the show (it’s been over a month so it meets the deadline and even if it didn’t I still would have reviewed it). The Idol Arc has just begun and I’ve got a lot in store for you guys that I think you’ll enjoy. Thanks for reading, stay tune and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All clips, videos, pictures, and music don’t belong me and belong to their respected owners. All rights reserved.*
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